FINE PHOTOGRAPHICA HI FI AUDIO EQUIPMENT WATCHES & JEWELLERY BRONZE
Lot 82:
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A Victorian silver presentation spade Ropner Park Stockton on Tees
Description
In 1890, Stockton Council had identified the need for a public park in the town. They had identified a site at Hartburn Fields but they could not find the finance.
The news of this problem reached the wife of Major Robert Ropner. She persuaded her husband to pay for this piece of land and to offer it to the people of Stockton. He agreed and this gift was accepted by the Park Committee in June 1890 with the proviso that the local council would lay it out tastefully and keep it forever. Just over 3 years later, on 4th October 1893, the park was officially opened by the then Duke & Duchess of York .
The first sod was cut by Mrs. Ropner on 25th. July 1891. She was presesnted with a “magnificent large silver spade with an ebonised shaft.”
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