Book hidden in fireplace returned to Australian library 150 years overdue

A book borrowed 150 years ago has finally been returned to an Australian library, with the culprit linked to the Houses of Parliament in London.

Antiquities of Athens was borrowed from a local library in Kiama, a seaside town about 120km (75 miles) south of Sydney, some time in the mid-1870s.

The book on classic Greek architecture was stored in a tea chest hidden behind a boarded-up fireplace for decades before it was recently discovered by a family member.

Ross Simmons, 77, thinks his great-grandfather, John Simmons, might have borrowed the book to help with his career, having worked as an apprentice stonemason in Westminster in the mid-1800s before becoming an architect in Australia.

Simmons, a self-confessed family history buff, said his great-grandfather studied in London between 1839 to 1844.

"After his studies in London, he was apprenticed to other stonemasons to help in the construction of the Houses of Parliament," Simmons said.

In 1857, aged 27, John Simmons emigrated from the UK to Australia, first living in the Sydney suburb of Newtown before relocating to Kiama after leading the construction of a sandstone church in the coastal town.

"He had quite an interest in architecture, construction and building," Simmons said, adding that the overdue book "probably sat on a shelf at his house" and was used as a reference.

The book somehow ended up in a tea chest - along with other family records - which was placed in a fireplace that was covered up.

About 30 years ago, the tea chest was uncovered during renovations and the books - including the overdue one - were given to Simmons for safekeeping.

But it wasn't until about a fortnight ago that he went through some of the books in greater detail.

"I looked inside the front cover and, lo and behold, on the second page there was a Kiama Library stamp," Simmons said, with the library's borrowing conditions also detailed on the inside cover.

For instance, library members could only borrow one book at a time, unless it could be proved that six people in the same household could read, in which case, three books could be lent out.

Anyone intoxicated was barred from borrowing and members returning books past their due date would be fined three pence for every week it was late.

Kiama Library staff worked out that the fine would be £97 - or in today's currency AU$28,000 ($20,000; £15,000), allowing for inflation. But luckily for the Simmons family, the fine has been waived.

Kiama Council libraries manager Michelle Hudson said the unusual find had attracted a lot of attention.

"People have travelled 40 minutes away to come and actually hold the book... it's a beautiful little book and it's got an amazing story to tell," she said.

The cloth-bound volume has some water damage but otherwise, is in good condition, Hudson said.

"It does have beautiful illustrations in it and some pages that fold out to show you they were using exact measurements of some of the monuments in Greece."

She said in 1872, the council got a £200 grant to establish the town's library and and it had fewer than 1,000 books in its collection, with the overdue book marked as number 506.

There's no way to know exactly who borrowed the book or when, Hudson said, as the library's borrowing records from that period have since been lost.

However, the book is no longer available to borrow, having been added to the library's collection of special items, which can be viewed on request.

"It won't be able to go out again... we don't want to wait another 150 years for it to come back," Hudson joked.

As for the book's much-delayed return, Simmons said he believes his great-grandfather would be pleased with the final chapter of its journey.

"I think he'd be happy to see the book returned and he'd probably have a bit of a laugh about it."