A HISTORY buff has discovered a century and a half old book full of Harwich memories including the story of a sailor marooned for four years on an island.

Brett Hammond, who runs Timeline Auctions in Dovercourt, bought the book called Harwich on a whim from an online auction without really knowing what it included.

It was misdescribed as a Harwich guide but is a “historical and archaeological sketch of the ancient town, Harwich” by Richard Cutler.

Brett said: “I’ve been collecting original Harwich documents and I managed to find this book that the British Museum doesn’t have a copy of.

“It is not known to exist in the Harwich Town archives, Essex Records Office or Harwich Society archives, and nothing can be found of the publication online.

“This could be the only copy of it and as far as we know no-one has read it since the middle of the 19th.

“It was printed in Church Street.”

The 103-page hardback includes chapters on Royal visits, Inns and their signs, the town hall, ecclesiastical remains, Beggar Smith’s Will and Jehu and Jezebel.

Brett added: “It was written by Richard Cutler of Queen’s Gardens, Hyde Park, London, a visitor at Dovercourt by railway, circa 1863.

“It says he attained comfortable lodgings at Orwell Terrace for what sounds like a number of weeks while he carried out his research and interviews of the town folk.

“One sketch, or chapter, is called Desolation Jack and is a first hand interview of Jack Nunn, a Harwich sailor, and his family.

“He was marooned by a whale ship on the uninhabited Kerguelen Isle in the South Pacific in 1825.

“He was rescued after four years and seven months, having survived on eating birds, eggs and sea-elephants.”

Brett, who has also been researching his home - the former Three Cups pub, said there are a list of other titles in the back of the book he now wants to trace.

The Visitors Guide to Harwich and Dovercourt from 1864, A Hand-Book to the River Orwell, Huggins’s View of Harwich and Steroscopic and Photographic Views of the most prominent public buildings and scenery in Harwich and Dovercourt.

Anyone with information is asked to call him on 07775 651218.