Silver trowel
This silver trowel with ivory handle and red case was presented to Sir Henry Irving by Annie and Merton Russell-Cotes on 5 January 1905. It was a souvenir of his laying the first stone of the marble fountain in the grounds of the Royal Bath Hotel. The trowel is engraved with ‘Presented to Sir Henry Irving by Mr and Mrs Russell-Cotes as a loving souvenir on the occasion of his laying of the first stone of the marble fountain in the grounds of the Royal Bath Hotel Bournemouth 5th January 1905.’ When the fountain was finished the water supply was switched on by the actor. The trowel was returned to Sir Merton by H.B. Irving, Henry Irving’s son, as a memento following his father’s death.
