Bridget Atkinson

Bridget Atkinson (née Maughan) (1732–1814) was an English farmer and shell collector who amassed a collection from around the world. She was recognised at the end of her life by the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1813 she was made the Society's first honorary member, for her extensive coin collection. and she was educated at Mrs Paxton's Academy in Durham.

George's youngest brother was Richard Atkinson (1738–1785), Member of Parliament for New Romney, a slave-owner and a government contractor for rum who made a fortune. Bridget was left an annuity of £200 on his death. His son, George III (1795–1849) is identified on the UCL Legacies of British Slavery site as a supplier of the contract labour of enslaved people to the British government.

Collecting Bridget Atkinson had friends and relatives collect shells for her from around the world. Her brother-in-law, sons, and grandchildren also sought shells when on journeys made whilst conducting colonial business for the East India Company or relating to family plantations in Jamaica.

In 1813, Atkinson was appointed the first honorary member of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne at its inaugural meeting, more than 60 years before the first woman was elected a full member. To the society's collection, Atkinson donated a celtic hammer, a silver penny of Henry II, a silver penny from the reign of Edward I and one from Edward II, and a Swedish copper dollar of Charles XII. Sarah's brother was the antiquarian John Clayton. Sarah and John lived together for their whole lives and when Sarah died, "Bridget's" collection (as it was still called by the family) was absorbed into the wider Clayton Collection. After his death in 1890 "Bridget's" collection formed part of the Clayton Estate, mentioned as "Shells" in Clayton's will, where he made provision for the major Clayton Collection, mostly Roman antiquities, and a museum for those to be built at Chesters Roman Fort.

In the 1930s, around 1000 shells that were kept in the Temple Sowerby house were sold in an estate sale. Apart from a giant clam shell, the remains of Atkinson's collection were on long term loan to the Zoology department at Armstrong College, later part of Newcastle University. and were returned to the Clayton Collection Trust in 2023. Bridget Atkinson's shell collection was then the subject of a 2024 exhibition at Chesters Museum One of the species is Distorsio cancellina, from the sea snail genus Distorsio, described in 1803 by Lamarck, and believed to be extinct.

Atkinson's membership certificate from the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne forms part of the Blair papers, which were acquired by the society in 2019.