Walford Dakin Selby (1845–1889) was an English archivist and antiquary.

Life

Born on 16 June 1845, he was the eldest son of Thomas Selby of Whitley and Wimbush Hall,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, by his wife Elizabeth, youngest daughter and coheiress of Ralph Foster of

Holderness Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common wit ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He was educated at

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

, and Tunbridge School. After leaving school he was placed with a Dr. Stromberg in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, to learn German and French. In 1867 Selby became a junior clerk in the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

, where he ultimately became superintendent of the search-room. In 1883, with his friend James Greenstreet, he founded the Pipe Roll Society, of which he was director-in-chief, and honorary treasurer for the rest of his life. Selby cut his own throat while suffering from

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

, dying at his residence, 9 Clyde Street, Redcliffe Gardens, London S.W., on 3 August 1889. He was buried on 8 August in

Kensal Green cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

Works

Selby compiled ''The Jubilee Date Book'' (1887), and edited: * ''Bond's Book of Dates'', 1875. New edition of a work of John James Bond. * ''Lancashire and Cheshire Records'', 2 pts. 1882–3. * ''Norfolk Records'', 1886; with

Walter Rye Walter Rye (31 October 1843 – 24 February 1929) was a British athlete and antiquary, who wrote over 80 works on Norfolk. Early life Walter Rye was born on 31 October 1843 in Chelsea, London. He was the seventh child of Edward Rye, a solicitor ...

. At the time of his death he was preparing: * a new edition of the

Red Book of the Exchequer The Red Book of the Exchequer (''Liber Rubeus'' or ''Liber ruber Scaccarii'') is a 13th-century manuscript compilation of precedents and office memoranda of the English Exchequer. It contains additional entries and annotations down to the 18th cen ...

, completed by

Hubert Hall Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers. ...

, and subsequently criticised, particularly by

J. H. Round (John) Horace Round (22 February 1854 – 24 June 1928) was an historian and genealogist of the English medieval period. He translated the portion of Domesday Book (1086) covering Essex into English. As an expert in the history of the British ...

; * an edition of Queen Elizabeth I's manuscript translation of ''

De Consolatione Philosophiæ ''On the Consolation of Philosophy'' ('' la, De consolatione philosophiae'')'','' often titled as ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' or simply the ''Consolation,'' is a philosophical work by the Roman statesman Boethius. Written in 523 while he ...

'' by

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...

; and * a new index to the ''Inquisitiones post mortem''. From 1884 to April 1889 Selby edited ''The Genealogist''. He was a contributor on literary subjects to '' The Athenæum'', '' The Academy'', ''The Antiquary'', ''Antiquarian Magazine'', and other periodicals. His papers on ''The Robbery of Chaucer at Hatcham'', and ''Chaucer as Forrester of North Petherton, in the County of Somerset'', were published as Nos. 1 and 3 in the ''Life-Records of Chaucer'',’ which Selby edited for the Chaucer Society, 1875 et seqq.

Family

Selby once put forward a claim to the dormant peerage of

Viscount Montagu Viscount Montagu was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 2 September 1554 for Anthony Browne of the Noble House of Montagu. It became extinct on the death of the ninth Viscount in 1797. The title Viscount Montagu was chose ...

. He abandoned it, not being able to prove beyond dispute a marriage on which the claim rested.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Selby, Walford Dakin 1845 births 1889 deaths English archivists English antiquarians People from Essex Suicides by sharp instrument in England Burials in England