Goodbye, Charlotte!

Charlotte with her leaving present; a Moomin inspired ‘Shoemin’

This month we said Goodbye to our Head of Collections, Charlotte Berry, who left the Trust to return to her hometown and take up the exciting role of Archivist at Hereford Cathedral.

Charlotte has worked for the Alfred Gillett Trust for five years and has achieved a great deal in this time. She was instrumental in moving the archive from its cramped home to a new purpose-built facility and growing the team from 3 to 12.

We are sorry to see her go; not only will we miss her obsession with all things Moomin-related and Scandinavian film noir, but her passion for the archive collections and never-ending knowledge of the Clark family history. We never did get to hear her play the viola though!

One of the many things that Charlotte has done is oversee the restoration project of ‘Eureka’, our Latin Verse Machine. Created by John Clark, one of the more eccentric Clarks and cousin to James and Cyrus Clark, Eureka is currently residing at the University of Exeter where it is being restored and conserved. She has also recently collated the collections overviews for this website, which, if you’ve had a look around you will see we have A LOT of collections!

To celebrate all her work at the Trust and her new job, we did a few things. Firstly the Chairmen of the Trust invited us all for a Tea Party one beautifully sunny afternoon. This was idyllic and a lovely chance for him to share with us all some wonderful stories about the history of the family house.  Built in 1807 by Joseph Clark I, it has remained an important setting for the family through the generations.

We also all went out for dinner at Bocabar in Glastonbury. It was a great chance for our new Director, Rowan to meet the growing team and to finally have a nearly complete picture of us all. It was a beautifully warm Wednesday evening, and we all enjoyed spending some time together outside of work.

It was a fitting end, sat near the old Morlands’ factory, Good luck, Charlotte in all you do. May you enjoy every medieval manuscript that passes your way and rejoice in the knowledge of never having to deal with another shoe again!

Karina Virahsawmy
Documentation Assistant