‘Lifting the Lid’ on the Archives
Black and white photograph of Keble College staff, 1925 [KC/STA 1 F1/1 ]
Peter Monteith, Archivist and Information Compliance Manager, writes:
A recent donation of biographical material relating to David Talboys, the College’s longest serving member of staff (employed for 68 years, 1875-1943), prompted the Archivist and Information Compliance Manager to investigate what records exist in the archives about non-academic staff.
David Talboys, the College’s longest serving member of staff, was employed for 68 years, 1875-1943.
Noting a relative wealth of material on a topic which could arguably be described as one of the ‘patchiest’ areas of most institutions’ recorded memory, he decided to use this as the theme of the first in a new series of ‘Lifting the Lid on the Archives’ exhibitions. All members of the College community were welcome but, in order to allow staff working different shifts to attend, there were two showings (Tuesday 20 February, 3.00-4.00pm, and Wednesday 21 February, 10.00-11.00am).
The exhibition was presented in thematic sections. It started with a ‘Working at Keble’ section which included details about pay, accommodation and general life as a ‘College Servant’ (as non-academic staff were once known). Then there were sections on a significant office move (which saw the Bursary move from what is now the MCR to their current location), caricatures, selected notable (long-serving) non-academic staff, and group photographs.
Among the surprises on show were the mention of staff receiving board and ‘beer money’, and a memorandum of proposed salaries for Keble College staff, dated 27 June 1870, which suggested higher salaries for married staff. There was also a catalogue of the Servants’ Library, which was well stocked with newspapers and works by the likes of Sir Walter Scott and Dickens, as well as including a two-volume commentary on the New Testament. There was some astonishment that despite the longest-serving current member of staff having started in 1965, he has a few years to go before he matches Talboys’ record. Some visitors to the exhibition recognised the names of those featured in the profiles on notable staff and were finally able to get a fuller sense of why these people are remembered. One has a plaque in Hall (Mr FWM (Tom) Colborn), while another even has a room named after them (Mrs Jean Robinson). The fact that Mrs EA Butler ‘dispensed tea, anchovy toast and cream buns at 4pm daily’, left people with a sense that while not practical nowadays, it was a shame some traditions had been lost.
Jean Robinson was an important presence in the College from 1966 until 1994.
Other highlights included an all-staff photograph taken in 1925, with names; caricatures of current staff members Ade Roche (Gardens and Grounds Manager) and Richard Brain (Senior Facilitator); and Butterfield drawings showing accommodation in the ‘Servants’ Building’ (now referred to as the Clocktower).
The section on notable staff has been turned into a webpage on the Heritage Microsite, which can be viewed here.
