150-Year Old Silver Plate Jugs from Yorkshire Found in New Zealand Charity Shop

Imagine popping into your local charity shop. You might be looking for a book, a new-to-you coat, or maybe just a quirky bit of furniture. Usually, you find things from your town or maybe the next one over. But what if you found something that had travelled over 11,000 miles and was more than 150 years old? That's exactly what happened in a hospice shop, not in Yorkshire, but all the way over in New Zealand. A little piece of North Yorkshire's history turned up in the most unexpected of places, sparking a proper mystery.

A surprising find in Queenstown

It all started at the Queenstown Hospice Shop, a place that does brilliant work for its community. The shop, located on Gorge Road in the stunning town of Queenstown, received a donation like any other. But amongst the items were two old, silver-plated pots. They looked special, the kind of thing you might see on your gran's mantelpiece. It was the shop's Retail Manager, John “Boggy” McDowell QSM, who realised they were more than just a pair of old jugs. John, who holds a Queen's Service Medal (QSM) for his services to the community, took a closer look and found an inscription that connected these pots directly to Yorkshire's industrial past.

The discovery on Gorge Road, was pretty remarkable. It's not every day that a link to Victorian-era miners from the other side of the planet appears. The team at the Queenstown Hospice Shop knew they had something that told a story, a story that needed to find its way back home. This find in Queenstown, New Zealand, kicked off a search to reunite these historical items with their roots.

A message from the past

So, what did this secret message say? Engraved on the pots was a dedication that has stood the test of time. It reads:

"Presented to S Emmerson Esq as a token of respect by the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Mining Association October 7th 1873."

Let's break that down a bit. S Emmerson Esq was clearly a well-respected chap. "Esq" or Esquire was a formal title used for men of high social standing in those days. And the group giving him the gift, the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Mining Association, was a big deal. Back in the 1870s, this part of Yorkshire was at the centre of a massive ironstone mining boom. Think of it like the tech industry today – it was huge, creating jobs and shaping the entire region. The fact that the miners' own association wanted to give Mr Emmerson a gift shows he must have been a good bloke. The hospice shop in Queenstown did a bit of digging and found that he was known as a great supporter of the miners, which makes this gift even more special. It wasn't just a formal present; it was a genuine thank you.

The date, October 7th 1873, places this gift right in the middle of that industrial boom. It paints a picture of a time when communities were built around the mines, a time of hard work and strong bonds. This inscription isn't just a set of words; it's a window into the lives of the people who powered Britain's industry.

The journey across the world

This is where the story gets really interesting. How did two pots, presented as a gift in North Yorkshire in 1873, end up in a hospice shop in Queenstown, New Zealand, in the 21st century? That's a journey of thousands of miles and a century and a half. Did S Emmerson's family pack up their lives and emigrate to New Zealand, taking these treasured possessions with them? It's a real possibility. Many families from Britain sought new opportunities in places like New Zealand during that time. You can just imagine the pots being carefully wrapped and packed in a trunk, surviving a long sea voyage to start a new life Down Under.

Or perhaps they were passed down through generations. Maybe a great-grandchild of S Emmerson moved to Queenstown and the pots came with them. Over the years, the story behind them might have faded, until they were eventually donated to the local Queenstown Hospice Shop on Gorge Road. Whatever the story, it’s a brilliant mystery. These pots silently travelled the globe, carrying their Yorkshire story with them, waiting for someone like John “Boggy” McDowell to spot their significance. The journey from a mining community in Cleveland to the tourist hotspot of Queenstown 9300 is one for the history books itself.

A search for a new home

When John “Boggy” McDowell QSM and the team at the Queenstown Hospice Shop understood what they had, they knew they couldn't just put a price tag on them and sell them like any other item. These pots belong somewhere they can be appreciated for their history, somewhere their story can be told. So, they decided to reach out across the world, all the way from Queenstown, New Zealand, to Yorkshire.

The hope is that a museum or a local history society in North Yorkshire or Cleveland might be interested in giving these pots a forever home. It would be a fantastic way to bring a piece of the region's heritage back where it belongs. The team at the Queenstown Hospice Shop has kindly offered to ship the pots to an interested party in exchange for a donation to their hospice and covering the cost of postage. It’s an incredibly thoughtful gesture that shows a real respect for history. This is an open call to anyone connected with Yorkshire's heritage. A unique piece of the past, discovered in Queenstown, is waiting to come home.