Letter 0893

Thoresby communicates an account of the earthquake that occurred in the North of England on December 28, 1703. It took place 3-4 minutes past 5 in the morning. Thoresby was walking at the time and the bustle of the streets meant that he did not feel it himself. It was, despite this, almost universally felt. Thoresby relates anecdotes of friends and family who felt it. One of his corespondents linked the earthquake to scripture and concluded that humanity deserves their wrath. Thoresby was an antiquary and topographer. He expanded his fathers Musaeum Thoresbyanum impressively, and his collection brought him into discussion with many important political and scholarly figures (P. E. Kell, Thoresby, Ralph (16581725), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27334, accessed 27 June 2013]).