Note 50 — Chapter IX · NEWTON PARK AND FAIRFIELD HOUSE

To be quite exact, its lodging for the first five years is matter of inference from the fact that in 1698 it is described as being at Fairfield, without any indication of a change of ownership. One transfer however there must have been. The place of discovery made it the property of Sir Thomas Wrothe; and as Nathaniel Palmer was his mother’s brother, it is easy to understand the gift of the nephew to his uncle, who may have been a man of antiquarian tastes. We can also understand the desire of Nathaniel Palmer that this precious relic should go to Oxford, as he, with many others of his family, had been educated at the University, of which Alfred was the reputed founder. Appendix G.