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ViGiLO - Din l-Art Ħelwa
ISSUE 56 • NOVEMBER 2021
From the
DIN L-ART ĦELWA
A LETTER FROM JOAN DU PLAT TAYLOR
T
here is an interesting letter in the Din l-Art Ħelwa archives from Joan Mabel Frederica du Plat Taylor, dated 12 April 1967. Joan du Plat Taylor (1906-83) was born in Glasgow into a military family. She was brought up in Cyprus and was heavily involved in the archaeological scene from a very young age. She had no formal training but became well known for her work and writings on Cypriot archaeology. After the war she was appointed librarian to the Institute of Archaeology, University College, London and took an interest in underwater archaeology. Although not a keen active diver herself, she was in charge of many nautical expeditions of the period. A good friend of Honor Frost, they were early promoters of the committee for Nautical Archaeology at the Institute and edited the definitive book Marine Archaeology published in 1965. John Woods, leader of the Imperial College team, acknowledged her as an invaluable adviser to their 1961 Malta expedition at Xlendi. There is also correspondence between du Plat Taylor and Olof Gollcher at the archives of the Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum. The Din l-Art Ħelwa letter is addressed to Vera Greer, a keen supporter and activist for Din l-Art Ħelwa and who probably hosted her at ‘San Clemente’, her home at the foot of Saqqaja Hill in Rabat. Vera Greer was a prominent British resident in Malta, involved in conservation and the mother of the author Dame Penelope Lively. It is interesting to keep in mind that Honor Frost investigated the Mellieha Bay wreck later in 1967 but this April letter was written earlier and there is no mention of the Mellieha wreck in it. She enclosed two photographs of sites mentioned in her letter.
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