106 
On a Copper Seal Discobered at Darley Abbey, 
Derbyshire, 
By H. R. GaRsutrt. 
discovered a short time since in a cottage at Darley 
a Abbey, where it had done duty for a long period as 
a weight inside a pincushion: the handle only being visible. 
The pincushion is supposed to have come from Allestree Hall 
many years previously. 
The seal is oval in shape and formed of copper, with a 
boxwood handle fitting into a brass socket on the back. It 
measures 2} in. long by 1{ in. wide, and bears in the field a 
large anchor between the words SPES ANIM. The marginal 
legend is: SIGILLVM NATH: ELLISON ARCHIDIACONI 
STAFFORDIZ 1682. 
Nathaniel Ellison, M.A., whose official seal this was, was a 
Prebendary of Durham. He was appointed Vicar of Newcastle- 
on-Tyne, and in 1682 became Archdeacon of Stafford. This seal 
was accordingly made on his entering on his new preferment. 
Archdeacon Ellison died in 1721, and was buried in his own 
church at Newcastle. 
The seal is now in my possession. 
