Book hidden in fireplace returned to Australian library 150 years overdue

Image source, Kiama CouncilImage caption, A former apprentice stonemason who helped build the Houses of Parliament is thought to have borrowed the book in the late 1800sA 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.Image source, Kiama CouncilImage caption, The book was a little water damaged but otherwise in a good conditionSimmons, 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 P...