The Rev. Carus Vale Collier, M.A., F.S.A.
Obituary

By the death of the Rev. C. V. Collier Yorkshire Archaeology has suffered a severe loss. Though Heraldry was his special subject, he was deeply interested in almost every branch of Antiquarian Study and possessed a wide and accurate knowledge in many directions. But it is as the close personal friend of so many of us that his loss will be most widely felt in our Society. His genial disposition and willingness to give a helping hand to others endeared him to all who knew him, and probably no member of the Council was as well-known to the rank and file of the members as he was.

The youngest son of Mr. John Collier, of Sheffield, he was born there and educated at the Collegiate School in that City and at University College, Durham. He was ordained in 1887, and held curacies at Christ Church, Bridlington, St. Jude's, Sheffield, Great Ayton, and Burton Agnes. He was also, from 1892 to 1895, Chaplain of Davington Priory, Kent, where access to the late Thomas Willement's famous collection of Heraldic Manuscripts afforded him unrivalled opportunities of pursuing his studies in that subject. In 1904 he became incumbent of East Harlsey and Ingleby Arncliffe, and in 1911 was preferred to the Rectory of Langton.

He was not only a member of the Council of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, but at one time acted as Honorary Editor of the East riding Antiquarian Society's Transactions, was secretary of the York Diocesan Advisory Committee for the granting of faculties, and at the time of his death was secretary of the joint Board of Advisory Committees for the Northern Province.

Throughout his career he was a devoted friend of our society. He seldom missed either an excursion or a meeting of the council, and his gifts to the Library, both of printed books and manuscripts, were numerous and valuable.

Mr. Collier's exploration of the site of a Roman Villa at Harphan, in 1904, was an important contribution to the study of roman Yorkshire. At the time of his death he was engaged in the excavation of another villa near Langton, and in spite of failing health continued to take an interest in this important work to the last.

It has been impossible to compile a complete list of his contributions to various antiquarian publications, but it is hoped that the following will give some idea of the variety of the subjects in which he was interested and on which he was competent to write.

Yorkshire Archaeological Society

• XX, 237. A Sixteenth Century Note Book.

• XXI, 190. St. Martin's Church, Burton Agnes, the Heraldry.

• XXII, 189. Wressle Castle, the Heraldry.

• XXIII, 442. Thornthorpe Manor House.

• XXIV, 321. Carved Stone Found at Kirby Underdale

• XXVI, 326. A transcript of an Old Malton Document.

• XXVIII, 240. A Stone Panel at Sutton-on-Derwent.

In Collaboration with the Rev. H. Lawrance

• XXIV, 383. Ancient Heraldry in the Deanery of Buckrose.

• XXV, 71. Ancient Heraldry in the Deanery of Pickering.

• XXVI. 91. Ancient Heraldry in the Deanery of Harthill

• XXVI, 230. Ancient Heraldry in the Deanery of Holderness

• XXVII, 140. Ancient Heraldry in the Deanery of Bulmer.

• XXVIII, 34. Ancient Heraldry in the Deanery of Rydale, Cleveland, and Richmond.

• XXIX, 202. Ancient Heraldry in the Deanery of Catterick.

[other publications]

Other Books and Articles from His Pen Include

• Yorkshire Heraldry, 1893.

• Notes on the Heraldry in the Parish Church of Sheffield.

• Some Notes on the Heraldry in the Priory Church of St. Mary, Bridlington, Bridlington Free Press, 1893.

• Notes on a Barrow at Bradwell, (Brit. Archaeol. Assoc.)

• Davington Priory, (Archaeologia Cantinan, 1896.)

• Notes about Great Ayton in Cleveland, 1896.

• Roman Remains at Harpham. (Proceedings of Soc. of Antiquaries, 2 series XX, 215.)

• An Account of the Boynton Family, 1914.

• The Parish Register of Langton, East Yorks., 1653-1724. (Parish Magazine.)

• Kirkham Priory. (Brit. Archaeol. Assoc., 1923.)

• The Story of Malton from Earliest times. (Yorkshire Gazette, 1925.)

• The Earliest Register Book of St. Michael's, Malton (Parish Magazine.)

Orbituary (1929) The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, pp. 398-400.