Museum of Oxford's Volunteer Newsletter April 2013

M USEUM OF O XFORD

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N EW B IKE R IDE J OURNEY The interactive bike ride, or GuidA, has had a bit of an update. Some of you may have noticed that there is an additional journey (when on the museum screen, there is a question mark on the door to the gallery) taking visitors down into the medieval crypt of the Town Hall. Along the way there are images and bits of information about Oxford’s Jewish heritage with particular focus on

David the banker. Oxford Jewish Heritage (OJH) have researched this area and have worked together with the illustrator who did our People of Oxford timeline to create this brilliant insight into the Medieval Jewish Heritage of Oxford and particularly the link to St Aldate’s and the Town Hall. As we are still making sure that all is correct with this journey

and it is how OJH envisaged it, we are yet to publicise it; however, do expect more hype in the coming weeks. Also, OJH will be coming to the Town Hall and the Museum of Oxford to give a talk about Oxford’s Jewish history. In the meantime, head to www.oxfordjewishherita ge.co.uk for lots more information about this interesting aspect of Oxford’s history.

Q UARTER B OYS For whom the bell tolls?

Well, for the quarter boys it used to be every fifteen minutes of each passing hour. The jacks, or Jerry and Terry as Kiran calls them, perch merrily a top the mantelpiece in William White’s office space.

However, as of the 8th/9th of April they will be taken off of their pedestals to have some very scientific conservation work done. And why you may ask? Well, the idea here is to determine the original colour

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of the Quarter Boys and what pigments were used to paint the little fellows. The current Quarter Boys, the 1960’s replicas, will also be removed so samples can be collected and due to wear and tear, are in need of repair and restoration. They will be taken down and restored as well as the adjoining bells, clock hands and mechanism. While they are being restored, there will be some stone cleaning and decoration works carried out on the

12th century Carfax tower. Ceri Gorton, Cultural Development Manager at Oxford City Council, says: “Carfax Tower is a much loved tourist attraction and it is important for our cultural heritage to preserve these historic figures as well as all that comes with the tower. The quarter boys will be taken down and restored to their former glory and we will be using the ones we already have in Explore Oxford to compare with. it the city each year.”

AND SEE WORK BEING DONE ON THE Q UARTER B OYS

T HE H ERITAGE L EARNING C ENTRE M ONDAY THE 8 TH OF A PRIL

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D AVID . JULER @ OXFORD . GOV

Everyone’s an Artist are hosting our exhibition in the gallery space called ‘A Sense of Place’. This is a fun, interactive, multimedia exhibition with a full list of events and activities suitable for all ages. There will be lots of great art,

singing and dancing involving experienced artists and community groups. It would also be great to have volunteers available to support the various events and activities so please have a look at the Museum of Oxford

website for more information. And why not come along and check it out for yourself? Remember to spread the word to friends and family!

Plate display and the Oxford Time Line and solve simple tasks related to the objects. There will be laminated flowers with letters in them stuck to the cases and families will also have to note down letters in the petals on their sheet. If they come

up with the right word, they receive a souvenir prize! Please do promote this great trail to families and remember to point them to the gift shop to buy the trail and to receive their prize once it’s completed.

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Lea, the Museum of Oxford’s learning assistant, has designed a brilliant new trail that will be available between the 30th of March and the 14th of April. For this trail, families have to spot objects decorated with flowers in Explore Oxford, the Civic

R EMINISENCE T RANSCRIBING WITH H ELEN

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10% OFF IN THE G IFT S HOP E ASTER T REATS G ALORE !

Helen does great work with reminiscence sessions where a plethora of fantastic stories and memories are eked out and recorded. With a range of topics, including Living in East Oxford, Working in East Oxford, The History of the Railway in Oxford, Oxford Waterways, Ox-

ford Pubs, Old Oxford Shops, What we used to wear in the old days, A Wartime Childhood and Oxfords Sporting History, there is a real need to transcribe the recordings from the sessions so that they can be archived, used and shared. This would be particularly good experi-

ence for someone looking at a career within museums as well as being interesting and rewarding work. Do get in touch with Helen if you are interested in helping helen.fountain@oxford.gov. uk

C OMMUNITY V OLUNTEERING Q UALIFICATION The OCVA have a whole host of brilliant training opportunities but a particularly useful and rewarding one to take part in is the Community Volunteering Qualification. The course is free (a £10 de-

posit is required, which is refundable at the end of the course) and there will be a Taster Session on the 23rd April 2013, following this there will be a one-to-one session and then the course starts on

the 14th of May and runs for 10 weeks on Tuesday mornings (excluding 28th May). Head to www.oxnet.org.uk for more details.

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H ISTORICAL F EATURE : W ILLIAM M ORRIS , L ORD N UFFIELD : A P ORTRAIT This full length portrait by Frank S Eastman (1878-1964), to be seen in the Assembly Room, was painted in 1955 when both men were well into their seventies. Here Morris is pictured in Coronation robes made of crimson silk velvet, trimmed with white ermine (the winter coat of the stoat).

Around the full width of the cape are two rows of black sealskin spots, which reveal a Peers rank. Morris holds a coronet with a silver-gilt circlet and six silver balls set on the rim (again revealing the rank) trimmed

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The Surgeon of Crowthorne tells the fascinating story of the growing friendship between William Minor and James Murray, the lexicographer in charge of the Oxford English Dictionary. Dr William Minor was a madman and a convicted murderer. Born in Ceylon of religious parents, he had studied medicine at Yale University in the USA, then joined the army as a surgeon, serving during the American Civil War, where his experiences started the decline in his mental health.

After leaving the army and travelling for some form of respite to England, Minor’s madness gradually got worse and a paranoid fear of Irishmen, stemming from the War, resulted in his shooting in London of an Englishman, believing him to be an Irishman who was persecuting

with a band of ermine around the base. The ceremonial robes were all made by Ede & Ravenscroft. It should be noted that William Morris is shown here in the robes of a Baron rather than a Viscount.

This is because Lord Nuffield attended the coronation of George IV in 1937 when he was still a Baron. He became a Viscount in 1938. He did not attend the coronation of Elizabeth II so presumably did not feel the need to update his robes.

C ROWTHORNE him. Dr James Murray was born in Scotland and also of religious parents. Coming from a poor background, Murray nevertheless had an insatiable hunger for knowledge and taught himself from books, learning several languages, including classical Latin and Greek, as well as geography, geology, botany, astronomy and history. By 1869 he was one of those in charge of the Philology Society in London, in 1878 becoming editor of the Dictionary.

Murray based the work on a huge team of unpaid amateurs, all of them working as volunteers (!!), responding to an Appeal from the Philological Society.

These volunteers offered their services in reading certain books: ‘ . . . they would be asked to read and

Researched and Written by Prue Drew and Karin Osborne make word-lists of all that they read and then would be asked to look, superspecifically for certain works that currently interested the Dictionary team.

Volunteers would, for each word, take a slip of paper, write at its top left-hand side the target word, and below, also on the left, details of the work cited: these were, in order, the date, author, title of the book or paper, volume and page number. Below that would appear the full sentence that illustrated the use of the target work.’ (See pages 91 to 95.)

‘A copy of the Philology Society’s appeal for volunteers in the early 1880s found its way to one of the two large cells on the top floor of block 2 of the Broad-

moor Asylum for the Criminally Insane in Crowthorne, Berkshire (where it) was read voraciously by William Minor, a man for whom books, with which one of his two cells was lined from floor to ceiling, had become a second life. . . . Offering his address as merely Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berks, Minor offered his services.’ (See frontispiece and pages 90 and 100) From his room in Broadmoor, Minor sent in thousands of contributions to the dictionary.

His working partnership and friendship with Murray lasted nearly twenty years.

A copy of The Surgeon of Crowthorne was given to the Museum a few weeks ago by a visitor. Ask David if you’d like to read the copy.

Researched and Written

by Prue Drew

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Flower Power Family Trail Available from now until the 14th Apr Do you like flowers? Come to our Explore Oxford Galleries and the Town Hall and discover who else was fond of them - from Romans to Alice in Wonderland! Whoever solves the riddle wins a prize!

Clowning Around, FUNomusica Sun 21st Apr, 3pm-4pm, £2/£8 Roll up, roll up and join Alasdair Malloy and his cavalcade of Philomusica clowns for an afternoon of circusinspired shenanigans.

Exploration Station Saturdays as well as Tue-Thur during school holidays The exploration station returns with the making of a kitty-cat mask!

Daughter Tue 23rd Apr, 7pm, £13 Daughter are an English indie folk band originating from London. Originally the solo work of Elena Tonra, they are now a trio with guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella.

Town Hall Tours Every Wed and Sat at 11am A brilliant way to find out more about this magnificent building (£2.50 pp)

The Vintage fair Sat 27th Apr 12pm-5pm Over 50 stalls of the UKs best traders selling Mens & Womens Vintage clothing from the 1940s-1980s, accessories, cupcakes, jewellery, art, homewares & gift ideas. Plus Vintage Hair Salons & a Vintage Tea Party with cakes.

Ancient Artist, Family Day 30th May 10am-4.30pm Could you have been an artist in Roman times? Watch re-enactors doing Roman crafts, find out if people in Oxford had the same taste as you and help us creating a mosaic for Tamesibugus the Roman potters' house.

Seth Lakeman Fri 17th May, 7pm, £19 Celebrated folk-inspired singersongwriter and virtuoso fiddler Seth Lakeman comes to the Town Hall.

Tickets available in the gift shop!

Memory Lane 18th April, 13th May , 30th May (see below for more info)

H ELPING O UT : M EMORY L ANE AND F AMILY D AY Helen’s great work with the reminiscence sessions are a great opportunity to get involved with oral history in the making! So she needs help with ML meetings on 18th April – Growing up in West Oxford in the HLC 13th May - Morris Motors Cen-

tenary Reminiscence event at Oxfordshire History Centre ( also might need a bit of help in the few days beforehand to help OHC prep for the session) 30th May Morris Motors Centenary Reminiscence event at MINI Plant Cowley

Contributors: Prue Drew, Karin Osborne, the Museum Team Want to contribute? Email david.juler@oxford.gov.uk to find out more

Also Lea has organised a brilliant Family Day. We need volunteers to help on the 30th of May for this event which focusses on art in Romans times. There will be reenactors and lots for families to do. Please get in contact with Helen for ML and Lea for the family day if you are interested!