A Free-dom of the Borough of Lyme Regis certificate will be brought home after being discovered in an Australian antique shop.

Australian coffee shop owners Jeff and Debi Johnson, from Crystal Brook, South Australia, will repatriate the certificate at 10am in Lyme Regis Guildhall on Monday, October 13.

Its return comes 76 years after it was presented to former Lyme Museum curator Cyril Wanklyn in 1938. The certificate will be received by museum director David Tucker at the exact spot where it was awarded.

Mr Wanklyn, one of Lyme’s foremost historians, sav-ed the museum and the ancient borough records from oblivion.

His work on the records saw them transcribed and placed in safe custody and it was for that the award was given, recorded in a brass plaque in the Guildhall.

Debi Johnson bought the certificate for its beauty in Hazel’s Antiques in Blakeview, just north of Adelaide, 20 years ago.

She had no idea of its significance until an internet sea-rch gave information about Cyril Wanklyn on the Lyme Regis Museum’s website.

Debi then contacted researcher Graham Davies and offered to come over to the UK and present it to the museum, in exchange for a digital copy to display in their coffee shop.

How the certificate got to Australia remains a mystery, but Cyril may have many Australian connections besides his known chairmanship of mining syndicates.

Jeff said: “Debi and I are excited and intrigued that through sheer luck and coincidence we are a part of the mystery of this certificate.

“We have discussed things over and would love to return the certificate to Lyme personally.

“It’d be nice to display it, along with the related story, in our coffee shop here in Crystal Brook.”

Mr Tucker said that Lyme has the most complete set of records of any small borough, dating back to the 14th century.

He added: “The certificate is a beautiful example of calligraphy and it bears the old town seal.

“It will become a key exhibit in a new display about Cyril Wanklyn.

“The museum is pleased to provide a secure home for this piece of Lyme Regis history and to be able to honour Cyril Wanklyn for what he did for the town and the museum.

“A massive thank you must go to Jeff and Debi.”