The Cabinet of Curiosities

Wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosities, arose in 16 th Century Europe as receptacles for all kinds of wondrous objects and in some ways were the first museums. At Bell House we are going to make our own Cabinet of Curiosities, to help tell the story of Bell House’s past, present and future. Bell House has a thousand stories, so the problem is going to be what to leave out rather than what to include! A group of volunteers are putting together objects, photos and information and are thinking about how best to display everything.

Previously a shoe shelve, now a display of Bell House Cabinet of Curiosity

There’s an obvious place to house our collection. In one of its many past lives, Bell House was a boarding house for around 35 boys and we still have the shelving where they kept their shoes. It’s beside what was their common room (and is now the kitchen) and is perfect, as each niche can display an object that can tell us something about Bell House. Some will be about the people who used to live in the house, like Thomas Wright the paper merchant who built Bell House in 1767. Or the kind of events happening here now, like the making of quilts for babies in King’s neonatal units. Some will illustrate the plans we are making for the future, like the ground source heat pump which will supply green energy.

Once the house is open again (not long now!) visitors will be able to see what the group has been up to. In the meantime, perhaps you have ideas for objects we could display? They need to fit in a space the size of a shoebox. We also have a wish list of items that we need, perhaps you have some that you would be willing to donate? If you think you can help, please email [email protected]

Theft at Bell House

On Saturday 2 December 1769, Thomas Wright was the victim of theft in his new house at Dulwich. James Simpson was accused of stealing a woollen coat, value twenty shillings. Wright’s coachman, Rubon Cannicot, gave evidence at the Old Bailey:

The coachhouse where the theft took place

‘I am coachman to Thomas Wright; he lives at Dulwich; our coach was locked up, and the great coat on the coach box. The key was left in the door, on the outside; the yard gate was all fast, and the yard is walled all round; whoever got the coat must get over the wall. I know nothing of the prisoner, I never saw him to my knowledge before I saw him here at the bar, it, (the coat) was missing last Saturday morning.’

Was this the coat stolen from Thomas?

Simpson took the coat to Cheapside, offering it to a clothes-dealer called Hugh Riley. Riley and Simpson then went to a pub in Paternoster-row where Riley offered Simpson fourteen shillings for the coat but would not pay until Simpson could prove it was his to sell. Riley was also a watchman for the City police force and becoming suspicious the coat was stolen, took Simpson to the lord mayor. Rubon Cannicot (the coachman) accurately described the coat to the lord mayor ‘before he saw it’. The prisoner’s defence:

‘My brother was a coachman; I had this coat of him; he was coachman to Mr Hutchinson in Southampton. I offered it to this man; (I) am bricklayer; my brother has been dead some time; I am a Guernsey man.’

Simpson was found guilty and transported to the American colonies. Simpson must have reflected on his bad luck that when he stole a coat five miles from London he then tried to sell it a stone’s throw from Thomas Wright’s business, a place where its livery was likely to be recognised and that the person he offered it to was a member of the City's own police force.