Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Since we are on the Hound this month anyway - the William S Baring-Gould connection with Dartmoor

Noted Sherlockian scholar of some repute, William S Baring-Gould's
(photo of Sabine)
grandfather was Sabine Baring-Gould who was key in some of the early historical digs in the area.

From Wikipedia - "Baring-Gould, along with his friend Robert Burnard, organised the first scientific archaeological excavations of hut-circles on Dartmoor at Grimspound during 1893. This resulted in the formation of the Committee of the Devonshire Association for the exploration of Dartmoor. The committee co-opted R. N. Worth, R. Hansford Worth, the Revd W. A. G. Gray and Dr Prowse.[clarification needed][11] Baring-Gould was the Secretary and author of the first ten annual reports until 1905. The Dartmoor Exploration Committee performed many archaeological digs of prehistoric settlements on Dartmoor and systematically recorded and in some cases restored prehistoric sites. The current state of many prehistoric stone rows and stone circles on Dartmoor owes much to the work of Sabine Baring-Gould and Robert Burnard and the Dartmoor Exploration Committee. Baring-Gould was President of the Devonshire Association for the year 1896.[12]
He wrote much about Dartmoor: his works of this topic include:
  • Dartmoor idylls (1896)
  • A Book of Dartmoor (1900), London : Methuen, 1900. Republished Halsgrove, 2002"

Does anyone know if Sabine and ACD ever met?

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