17th-century Busby memorial ring found in Lancashire heads to auction

A gold memorial ring found by Amanda Parker in a Catforth, Lancashire field in August 2024 is heading to auction in London, and its inscription ties it directly to Richard Busby, the long-serving headmaster of Westminster School. The late 17th-century ring is engraved inside with “Ri Busby STP ob 5 Ap 95 aet 89,” a memorial formula that turns a small jewel into a record of death, age and identity.

Parker’s detector signaled about 20 steps into the field, and the ring came up from roughly eight inches underground. She later researched Busby and visited Westminster School after the discovery. Parker has said she does not metal detect for money, and this is the only find she has put up for sale, a detail that sharpens the contrast between the ring’s private origin and its public sale.

The piece is a gold memorial ring for Dr Richard Busby, who served as headmaster of Westminster School from 1638 until his death in 1695. Westminster Abbey says Busby held the post for 55 years and is buried beneath the black-and-white marble pavement of the Choir. His pupils included John Dryden, Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, and the Abbey’s monument in the south transept records his birth in 1606 and death in 1695.

The ring itself carries a skull motif, floral engraving and traces of black enamel. The Portable Antiquities Scheme identifies the inscription as a reference to Richard Busby, died 5 April 1695, aged 89, and says gold inscribed memorial rings like this were often handed out after a death, sometimes funded by money left in a will for commemorative gifts. That makes the ring more than a relic: it is evidence of how personal jewelry worked as remembrance long before modern bespoke services turned names, dates and hidden messages into selling points.

JCK says this example is one of about 20 Busby memorial rings with a skull motif, while Westminster School records show 90 foliate rings were produced in total. Noonans valued the ring at £2,000 to £3,000 for its June 23, 2026 sale, placing it among the highlights of the auction house’s two-day Jewellery, Silver & Objects of Vertu sale on 23-24 June 2026.