Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society 85

Obituary for George Storey, a former Chairman of the Society and one of its Vice-Presidents. Originally from Motherwell, George's career was in chemical engineering, and it was this that first brought him to Cheshire. He retired to Chester in 1985 and was then able to indulge his long-held interest in archaeology, becoming an active and valued member of the Society. LD

This article follows the career of Sir John Handford, from the hundred of Macclesfield, who, with members of his family, served in France under Henry V and Henry VI. It shows him involved in both military and civil capacities, winning the trust of successive royal lieutenants in France and Normandy and sometimes obliged to defend at law the material rewards of that service. As the evidence shows, it was possible for a man to pursue an active military career, helping to extend and then defend the English occupation of Normandy while, through visits home, maintaining fairly regular contact with his native county and its affairs. In spite of an absence of some thirty years, Cheshire was probably never far from Handford’s mind as, with years of service and ever-growing experience to offer the crown, he became a linchpin of English rule across the Channel.

A hoard of five denarii of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, dated AD 194--8, was found at Acton, near Nantwich, during a metal-detecting rally in December 2014. The find was reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer, and subsequently to the coroner as treasure. This short note outlines the definition of 'treasure' under the 1996 Treasure Act, and describes and illustrates the coins and the conical lead container they were found in. The concealment of the coins in a container apparently made especially for the purpose suggests that it was a ritual deposit rather than a savings hoard that was intended to be recovered. LD