Preface

The premise for 'Sterikers Lot' is that following the 'sudden' death of a young Englishmen, Steriker Finnis', in 'Turkish Arabia' amongst his possessions found at his home in Highgate, London are two books written by an American traveller and adventurer, a 'notebook.' and a letter. Both volumes are 'dedicated' to Steriker Finnis and signed and dated by the author. The dates are the 20th May 1874 and the 28th September 1875 respectively. The letter is from Steriker's father and is critical of the Americans writing. The content of the notebook appears to be in response to the letter and retells part the story contained in one of the books. Because of his untimely death, the notes are incomplete in many respects, and the Englishman's father, also named Steriker, making the discovery attempts to complete the task. When Steriker Finnis senior dies in 1889, 'Sterikers Lot' eventually comes into the possession of his grandson Steriker Finnis born in 1885. Ownership of Sterikers Lot, now something of a 'family heirloom', passes to Valerie Steriker Finnis on the death of her father, Commander Steriker Finnis RN in 1965. 

Entries recorded in a diary kept by a 'local' employee of the company that Steriker represents, indicate the circumstances of Steriker Finnis's sudden death in Baghdad.

The diary is part of an ongoing collaborative research project at the University of Washington headed by the Principal project Investigators, Professor Walter G. Andrews, Emeritus Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization and Annie T. Chen, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, and Nowf Abdul-Majid Allawi collaborating partner in Iraq.

The 'notebook' and 'letter' are figments of my imagination - although, I hope, nonetheless plausible. I have updated the content of some of the 'notes' with information that would not have been available in 1881.

When Valerie Steriker Finnis, wife of Sir David John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, dies in 2006 'Sterikers Lot' is disposed of, and the proceeds (along with those from their art collection) goes to fund the 'Finnis - Scott Foundation.'

The Foundation established under the will of Lady Montagu Douglas Scott (Valerie Finnis) in 2006. Their website displays the following statement:

The Trustees can make grants for any charitable purpose, but their present policy is to focus grant-making in the areas of horticulture and plant sciences, as well as fine art and art history. By doing so, they acknowledge the two enduring preoccupations - art collecting and gardening - of Sir David Montagu Douglas Scott, K.C.M.G., O.B.E., (1887-1986) and his wife, Valerie Finnis V.M.H. (1924-2006).

Of the copies of the books owned by Steriker one sold at auction at Sotheby's in 2007 bought by an unknown bidder, Ohio State University posses the other.  

I'm not a historian - family or otherwise. I am more akin to a 'detectorist'. Those hobbyist's that spend their leisure time in the middle of a ploughed field often clad in an anorak. Sweeping before them what appears to be a mine-detector but is, in fact, a metal-detector. The hope is that, with a bit of digging, a long-buried 'hoard' of Saxon coins will surface. Often, I imagine, the 'hoard' turns out to be a 'ring-pull' of dubious origin and little interest. Sometimes, a discovery results in further investigation by more 'qualified' people. Rarely, is the 'detectorist' also an archaeologist - although I may be wrong.

Replacing the metal-detector with a web-based search engine, I look for 'stories' having some family connection. The stories may feature an event which involved a family member, or a place they visited. My 'archaeologist' is the genealogist, who I regard as being the 'professional'. In my view, a 'Family Historian' does not a genealogist make.

Sometimes a persons life is overlooked (by family historians) because they contributed nothing in terms of 'progeny' and therefore have no living 'direct' descendants. Three such people feature in 'Sterikers Lot' - Steriker, his older second cousin and a former Lord Mayor of London and his great-niece a noted gardener.

Stamford, England July 2020
R. D. C.

Family Detectorist.