Richard Saul Ferguson

Richard Saul Ferguson (28 July 1837, Carlisle – 3 March 1900, Carlisle) was an English antiquary, specialising in the local history of Cumberland and Westmorland. Life Ferguson was born on 28 July 1837, the elder son of Joseph Ferguson (1794–1880) of Carlisle, by his wife Margaret (died 2 November 1841), daughter of Silas Saul of Carlisle. The family settled in Carlisle about 1700, and founded the cotton industry in the city. He was educated at Carlisle Grammar School, entered Shrewsbury School in 1853, and was admitted at St. John's College, Cambridge, as a scholar on 14 March 1856. He graduated B.A. in 1860, M.A. in 1863, and LL.M. in 1864. He was admitted a student of Lincoln's Inn on 11 October 1858, and was called to the bar on 13 June 1862, when he commenced practice as an equity draughtsman and conveyancer, and joined the northern circuit. He was examiner of civil law for Cambridge University in 1868–9. From January 1871 to June 1872 he travelled in Egypt, Australia, and America for the sake of his health, and on his return gave the public an account of his experiences in a series of letters in the Carlisle Patriot, which were reprinted, with the addition of Leaves from a Theban Guide Book, as Moss gathered by a Rolling Stone (Carlisle, 1873). After his return Ferguson settled at Carlisle, and devoted himself to the study of local antiquities. He associated with others of similar tastes, including Michael Waistell Taylor, Robert Harkness, and Sir George Floyd Duckett. Already in 1866 he had assisted to found the Cumberland and Westmorland Archæological and Antiquarian Society, and from 1868 he edited the society's Transactions. Under his guidance nearly the whole of Cumberland and Westmorland were explored, and record made of castles, churches, houses, manuscripts, and old customs. On the death of Canon James Simpson in 1886, Ferguson succeeded him as president of the society. His own special period was that of the Roman occupation of Cumberland, and under his care the collection of Roman antiquities at the city museum, Tullie House, became extensive.