Harriet Wheelock / Thursday 16 December 2010 Item of the Month – December 2010 December's item of the month is this rather unprepossessing small collection of burnt and dirty papers, but they are important items for two reasons. First of, what do we have? An envelope addressed to a Mrs R T Hearn containing a cheque for twenty five guineas, the refund of the fee required by the College for all candidates sitting the membership exam. Mrs R J Hearn was Mary Ellice Thorn Hearn, the first female Fellow of the College. Born Mary Cummins in Cork in 1891, she was studying medicine at University College Cork when she met the Rev Robert Thomas Hearn. Mary discontinued her studies to marry HearnHearn worked at the Victoria Hospital Cork and the Lapp's Charity, Cork. Robert Thomas Hearn went on to become Church of Ireland archdeacon and later bishop of Cork, he died in 1952 and Mary died in 1969. Secondly, what has happened to the letter? As you can see the items have suffered considerable damage, and not as a result of neglect in the archive. The envelope is stamped 'Salved from GPO Dublin', seeming to indicate that the damage was done while the item was in the postal system. In November 1922 Ireland was in the middle of Civil war and it seems this letter was a casualty of the conflict. Despite being burnt round the edges, the post office still managed to deliver the item, although it is not clear if it reached Hearn or was returned to the College. The post mark of the new Irish postal service is also rather nice, exhorting its citizens to 'learn Irish'.