Two posters that featured in a dramatic 19th century general election campaign in County Durham have been added to the archives at The Bowes Museum.
The posters, promoting the candidacy of John Bowes and James Farrer in the election of 1841, had been sitting in a shop in Lancashire until relatively recently. They were brought back to the county by Sedgefield resident Chris Lines, who has donated them to the museum.
John Bowes, founder of the museum in Barnard Castle, was one of two Liberal candidates standing in the 1841 election for two seats in the South Durham constituency.
Fairly late into the race was a new Conservative Party candidate, James Farrer, and what followed was a lively campaign, which featured the two posters.
Chris Lines acquired the posters from his friend Ed Fordham, who runs Brockwell Books of Chesterfield, and who had them among items from the stock of another business that he acquired.
Chris brought the posters back to County Durham and decided that the best place for them in the long-term would be The Bowes Museum.
Assisted by a Barney county councillor Richard Bell, he made contact with the museum’s collections manager Jane Whittaker and offered to donate the items.
Chris visited the museum recently to hand over the posters for Jane to add to the archive.
Chris Lines said: “I was grateful to Ed for letting me know that he had the posters and helping me bring them back to County Durham.
“However, once I had them here in Sedgefield, it was clear to me that rather than sit in an envelope at home, it would be much more appropriate for them to be looked after by the team at The Bowes Museum, which has such a connection to them and the story behind them.
“So, with help from Richard, I was delighted to hand them over to Jane and hope that they are a useful addition to the archive.”
