History of the Friends
The following Friends History was compiled by Mark Tosdevin, Programmes Manager and Lawrie Thorne, one of our Friends and past Secretary. My thanks go to them for the arduous task of compiling this information and the final result which follows. Michael Moore -(Chairman until 2018)
The Friends organisation was founded on Tuesday 27th November 1951, with its 60th anniversary celebrated in the Officers Mess at Stonehouse Barracks with its Patron HRH The Duke of Edinburgh KG KT in attendance, in June 2011. But it was not the first Friends group to be established to help Plymouth Museum.
The concept of groups of supporters creating a formal organisation to help Museums seems to have started in the early 1900’s and the first Friends was established at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in 1909. From the beginning these groups had a specific purpose to raise money to acquire new items for their collections.
In January 1923 Thomas Vere Hodgson, the Curator of Plymouth Museum, set about forming a ‘Friends of the Museum Fund’. In his printed appeal leaflet he explained the purpose of such a group would be to receive voluntary donations of ‘a few shillings upwards’ towards purchases which can be made as opportunites present themselves. The Committee of the Museum and Art Gallery took this step because they felt ‘very severely handicapped owing to the small amount of money available ( ) and thus many objects of great interest are declined when offered for sale because of the lack of funds’. (I think we could still argue this point today, even with the generous help of our Friends!).
Furthermore the leaflet continues to explain that the Committee has ‘decided to concentrate it’s attention on developing the collections of Old Plymouth China and Devonshire minted coins of the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods.’ On the subject of Old Plymouth China, the Committee felt ‘It should be a point of honour that our town should own a good selection of those works of art which owe their existence to our townsman, Dr. Cookworthy.’ It is interesting to note that the first acquisition by the later Friends group was a piece of Cookworthy porcelain and in subsequent years they have helped to build the collection, so that today we have probably the largest collection of Plymouth porcelain in the country.
What happened then is still a mystery. I have found one reference in the minutes of the Museum and Art Gallery Committee to a donation of £5 from the President of the Plymouth Law Society to the Friends of the Museum Fund in September 1923, but nothing thereafter; neither have I found any details about these Friends. Was there a committee? Did they have terms of reference? Were there any benefits? Did they meet and organise events and activities? I suspect that there was no formal organisation and perhaps it was nothing more than a name for an acquisitions fund and a means to encourage the public to donate. The initiative does not appear to have been successful and probably folded with the death of Hodgson in 1926.
Twenty years pass and we pick-up the story of the Friends again in mid1940’s. In between, Britain has faced a Second World War and was dealing with the aftermath. People are looking to re-establish the conditions of a society now living in peace and to re-build the devastated cities such as Plymouth. People were receptive to social change and eager to create a better world. Culture and art were cherished as vital to this process, simultaneously reconnecting people with their roots and inspiring creativity in a brave new world. In this context the refurbishment of Buckland Abbey can be seen as an example of that desire to value and preserve the heritage of the past whilst the world around was adjusting to a new environment, exemplified by the radical plans for the redevelopment of Plymouth.
In 1946 the Buckland Abbey estate came up for sale. Viscount Astor spotted an opportunity to secure for the nation an important symbol of our heritage, the home of one of Plymouth’s famous sons, Sir Francis Drake. Astor’s friend, Captain Rodd of Yelverton made the purchase in November 1946 as part of a strategy to then offer it to the National Trust. Plans to preserve the Abbey and open it to the public were complicated by the fact that the Abbey had been severely damaged by fire in 1938. The plan therefore was for the National Trust to manage the restoration with the assistance of Plymouth Corporation, funded by a substantial grant from the Pilgrim’s Trust obtained by Astor. It was also proposed that Plymouth Corporation establish a Museum in the Abbey dedicated to Drake, with maritime and folk displays, and take responsibility for the care and management of the site on a long lease.
The negotiations came to a head at a meeting of the Council’s Special Purposes Committee. Some members felt that it was unjustified for City residents to shoulder the ongoing running costs and that the responsibility for the estate should be a national burden, not a Plymouth one. However, the motion to accept the proposals for Buckland Abbey was passed.
The first meeting of the Buckland Abbey Committee took place on 7th November 1947 with the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe as Chair, and Alex Cumming, City Curator, as the Hon. Advisor. In the proceeding years plans and surveys were produced and preliminary work started on the restoration.
A year later in November 1948 Sir Harold Harmsworth secured for the City Museum the silver Eddystone Lighthouse salt. This was yet another generous and significant contribution from this important philanthropist to the Museum. In a speech on his behalf, Mr. J Nott, Director and General Manager of the Western Morning News, conveyed Harmsworth’s suggestion that a Friends of Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery should be formed, ‘to raise by individual subscriptions a fund to purchase art treasures at short notice’. The Plymouth Public Library and Museum Committee welcomed the idea and Cumming was asked to bring forward proposals.
It is noteworthy that the name of the Friends organisation proposed by Cumming was the Buckland Abbey Association, but the Committee shelved the idea. Clearly Cumming’s main concern at the time was raising funds for the Abbey project, but this wasn’t in keeping with Harmsworth’s idea and this may be the reason why his proposal was put on hold. The financial imperative for the Abbey project was soon revealed when in 1949 extensive dry rot and death watch beetle was discovered in the building.
An appeal sub-committee was formed to find an extra £2,000 (roughly equivalent to £50,000 today). Their efforts actually succeeded in raising £2,430. One of the novel ways they obtained money was to negotiate the proceeds from the premiere of the film ‘The Happiest Days of Your Life’, held at the Royal Cinema in Plymouth on May 24 1950.
The Committee thought it would be good to have the leading actress, Joyce Grenfell, to open the film, so Cumming was asked to contact Lady Astor to see if she could ‘pull some strings’. Unlike the Committee, he was oblivious to the familial relationship and he dutifully called and explained the request.
‘You mean my niece’, answered Lady Astor.
‘No’ replied Cumming, assuming that she had misheard his request. ‘Joyce Grenfell, the radio and film star, she plays one of the leads in the film’.
‘Yes’ came back the reply. ‘Joyce Grenfell, she’s my niece. I am sure she will come.’
Timed to be part of the Festival of Britain celebrations, Buckland Abbey was opened to the public on July 10th 1951. Originally the Duke of Edinburgh had agreed to open the Abbey, but at the last minute he had to withdraw and the Earl of Mountbatten took his place.
Following the success of the fund-raising for the Abbey project, and the recent interest in establishing a Friends group, the Buckland Abbey Committee suggested to the Public Libraries and Museum Committee the formation of a ‘Society of Friends of Buckland Abbey’.
They approved the proposal and the first meeting of the Friends Committee was held at the Museum on Tuesday 27th November 1951. Those present were members of either the Museum, or Buckland Abbey Committees, with 2 exceptions. John Nott was the Manager of the Western Morning News and J. Walford was the Manager of the Westminster Bank in Plymouth. Following elections at the meeting Walford became the treasurer and two influential figures were elected President and Vice-President, the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and Sir Harold Harmsworth respectively.
This meeting was a culmination of a movement which started back in 1946, combining the experience of the fund-raising and team work for the restoration of Buckland Abbey with the support from Harmsworth and the Western Morning News.
The key outcome of the first meeting was the acceptance of Cummings’ draft constitution, an adaption of one he had prepared a few years earlier. It defined the Friends main purpose to ‘enrich the collections in the City Museums and Art Gallery and Buckland Abbey by the acquisition of suitable works of art and other appropriate material’.
At the second meeting in December it was decided to call the new organisation ‘The Friends of Plymouth Art Gallery and Buckland Abbey’. This was changed to its present form (The Friends of Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery) in 1986 after the Abbey was returned to the responsibility of the National Trust.
The first proposal agreed by the Friends was to provide assistance in staging a production of a play, ‘Queen Elizabeth’ in the tithe barn at the Abbey. In return for their help the Friends were to receive part of the proceeds. The performance in June 1952 involved numerous local drama groups who went under the name of the Buckland Abbey Players. It was a total success, over 500 people attended and £350 (the equivalent of about £8,000 today) was given to the Friends. However the next production staged in 1954 was a flop costing the Friends £150. It was this loss which partly prevented them from acquiring the Sutton Cup, a work of Elizabethan silver associated with Drake.
1952 was also significant for the acquisition of the first item for the Museum by the Friends, a porcelain figure made by Cookworthy at his Plymouth factory. It depicted the element Air and complemented the other 3 elements already in the Museum collections. Nothing could have demonstrated so well the ambition and ideals behind the founding of the Friends.
Social events dominated the first year of the Friends and in March 1952 the inaugural meeting held at the Museum produced a membership of 201 and £193 (about £4,000 today). This was followed by an Armada Day pageant on the lawns of the RN barracks; a Buckland Abbey anniversary ball; Coronation day banquet at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel; and a garden party with a flower arranging demonstration event. The high point of the year though was in October, when the Duke of Edinburgh accepted the invitation from the Friends to attend the Lord Mayor’s tea party at Buckland Abbey. It was at this event that he was approached and agreed to become their patron. Amusingly the Duke recalled this event when he attend the Friends anniversary dinner in 2011 and asked for anyone who was there in 1952 to put their hands up – he was the only one!
Sadly 1952 ended with the deaths of both Vice-Presidents, Viscount Astor and Sir Harold Harmsworth, two people who had been so influential in the development of the Museum and the Friends.
To conclude this overview of the creation of the Friends group there is a selection of images mainly of the items they have acquired through the years along with photos of some of the dignitaries from its formation during the 1900’s.
The Friends organisation was founded on Tuesday 27th November 1951, with its 60th anniversary celebrated in the Officers Mess at Stonehouse Barracks with its Patron HRH The Duke of Edinburgh KG KT in attendance, in June 2011. But it was not the first Friends group to be established to help Plymouth Museum.
The concept of groups of supporters creating a formal organisation to help Museums seems to have started in the early 1900’s and the first Friends was established at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in 1909. From the beginning these groups had a specific purpose to raise money to acquire new items for their collections.
In January 1923 Thomas Vere Hodgson, the Curator of Plymouth Museum, set about forming a ‘Friends of the Museum Fund’. In his printed appeal leaflet he explained the purpose of such a group would be to receive voluntary donations of ‘a few shillings upwards’ towards purchases which can be made as opportunites present themselves. The Committee of the Museum and Art Gallery took this step because they felt ‘very severely handicapped owing to the small amount of money available ( ) and thus many objects of great interest are declined when offered for sale because of the lack of funds’. (I think we could still argue this point today, even with the generous help of our Friends!).
Furthermore the leaflet continues to explain that the Committee has ‘decided to concentrate it’s attention on developing the collections of Old Plymouth China and Devonshire minted coins of the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods.’ On the subject of Old Plymouth China, the Committee felt ‘It should be a point of honour that our town should own a good selection of those works of art which owe their existence to our townsman, Dr. Cookworthy.’ It is interesting to note that the first acquisition by the later Friends group was a piece of Cookworthy porcelain and in subsequent years they have helped to build the collection, so that today we have probably the largest collection of Plymouth porcelain in the country.
What happened then is still a mystery. I have found one reference in the minutes of the Museum and Art Gallery Committee to a donation of £5 from the President of the Plymouth Law Society to the Friends of the Museum Fund in September 1923, but nothing thereafter; neither have I found any details about these Friends. Was there a committee? Did they have terms of reference? Were there any benefits? Did they meet and organise events and activities? I suspect that there was no formal organisation and perhaps it was nothing more than a name for an acquisitions fund and a means to encourage the public to donate. The initiative does not appear to have been successful and probably folded with the death of Hodgson in 1926.
Twenty years pass and we pick-up the story of the Friends again in mid1940’s. In between, Britain has faced a Second World War and was dealing with the aftermath. People are looking to re-establish the conditions of a society now living in peace and to re-build the devastated cities such as Plymouth. People were receptive to social change and eager to create a better world. Culture and art were cherished as vital to this process, simultaneously reconnecting people with their roots and inspiring creativity in a brave new world. In this context the refurbishment of Buckland Abbey can be seen as an example of that desire to value and preserve the heritage of the past whilst the world around was adjusting to a new environment, exemplified by the radical plans for the redevelopment of Plymouth.
In 1946 the Buckland Abbey estate came up for sale. Viscount Astor spotted an opportunity to secure for the nation an important symbol of our heritage, the home of one of Plymouth’s famous sons, Sir Francis Drake. Astor’s friend, Captain Rodd of Yelverton made the purchase in November 1946 as part of a strategy to then offer it to the National Trust. Plans to preserve the Abbey and open it to the public were complicated by the fact that the Abbey had been severely damaged by fire in 1938. The plan therefore was for the National Trust to manage the restoration with the assistance of Plymouth Corporation, funded by a substantial grant from the Pilgrim’s Trust obtained by Astor. It was also proposed that Plymouth Corporation establish a Museum in the Abbey dedicated to Drake, with maritime and folk displays, and take responsibility for the care and management of the site on a long lease.
The negotiations came to a head at a meeting of the Council’s Special Purposes Committee. Some members felt that it was unjustified for City residents to shoulder the ongoing running costs and that the responsibility for the estate should be a national burden, not a Plymouth one. However, the motion to accept the proposals for Buckland Abbey was passed.
The first meeting of the Buckland Abbey Committee took place on 7th November 1947 with the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe as Chair, and Alex Cumming, City Curator, as the Hon. Advisor. In the proceeding years plans and surveys were produced and preliminary work started on the restoration.
A year later in November 1948 Sir Harold Harmsworth secured for the City Museum the silver Eddystone Lighthouse salt. This was yet another generous and significant contribution from this important philanthropist to the Museum. In a speech on his behalf, Mr. J Nott, Director and General Manager of the Western Morning News, conveyed Harmsworth’s suggestion that a Friends of Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery should be formed, ‘to raise by individual subscriptions a fund to purchase art treasures at short notice’. The Plymouth Public Library and Museum Committee welcomed the idea and Cumming was asked to bring forward proposals.
It is noteworthy that the name of the Friends organisation proposed by Cumming was the Buckland Abbey Association, but the Committee shelved the idea. Clearly Cumming’s main concern at the time was raising funds for the Abbey project, but this wasn’t in keeping with Harmsworth’s idea and this may be the reason why his proposal was put on hold. The financial imperative for the Abbey project was soon revealed when in 1949 extensive dry rot and death watch beetle was discovered in the building.
An appeal sub-committee was formed to find an extra £2,000 (roughly equivalent to £50,000 today). Their efforts actually succeeded in raising £2,430. One of the novel ways they obtained money was to negotiate the proceeds from the premiere of the film ‘The Happiest Days of Your Life’, held at the Royal Cinema in Plymouth on May 24 1950.
The Committee thought it would be good to have the leading actress, Joyce Grenfell, to open the film, so Cumming was asked to contact Lady Astor to see if she could ‘pull some strings’. Unlike the Committee, he was oblivious to the familial relationship and he dutifully called and explained the request.
‘You mean my niece’, answered Lady Astor.
‘No’ replied Cumming, assuming that she had misheard his request. ‘Joyce Grenfell, the radio and film star, she plays one of the leads in the film’.
‘Yes’ came back the reply. ‘Joyce Grenfell, she’s my niece. I am sure she will come.’
Timed to be part of the Festival of Britain celebrations, Buckland Abbey was opened to the public on July 10th 1951. Originally the Duke of Edinburgh had agreed to open the Abbey, but at the last minute he had to withdraw and the Earl of Mountbatten took his place.
Following the success of the fund-raising for the Abbey project, and the recent interest in establishing a Friends group, the Buckland Abbey Committee suggested to the Public Libraries and Museum Committee the formation of a ‘Society of Friends of Buckland Abbey’.
They approved the proposal and the first meeting of the Friends Committee was held at the Museum on Tuesday 27th November 1951. Those present were members of either the Museum, or Buckland Abbey Committees, with 2 exceptions. John Nott was the Manager of the Western Morning News and J. Walford was the Manager of the Westminster Bank in Plymouth. Following elections at the meeting Walford became the treasurer and two influential figures were elected President and Vice-President, the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and Sir Harold Harmsworth respectively.
This meeting was a culmination of a movement which started back in 1946, combining the experience of the fund-raising and team work for the restoration of Buckland Abbey with the support from Harmsworth and the Western Morning News.
The key outcome of the first meeting was the acceptance of Cummings’ draft constitution, an adaption of one he had prepared a few years earlier. It defined the Friends main purpose to ‘enrich the collections in the City Museums and Art Gallery and Buckland Abbey by the acquisition of suitable works of art and other appropriate material’.
At the second meeting in December it was decided to call the new organisation ‘The Friends of Plymouth Art Gallery and Buckland Abbey’. This was changed to its present form (The Friends of Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery) in 1986 after the Abbey was returned to the responsibility of the National Trust.
The first proposal agreed by the Friends was to provide assistance in staging a production of a play, ‘Queen Elizabeth’ in the tithe barn at the Abbey. In return for their help the Friends were to receive part of the proceeds. The performance in June 1952 involved numerous local drama groups who went under the name of the Buckland Abbey Players. It was a total success, over 500 people attended and £350 (the equivalent of about £8,000 today) was given to the Friends. However the next production staged in 1954 was a flop costing the Friends £150. It was this loss which partly prevented them from acquiring the Sutton Cup, a work of Elizabethan silver associated with Drake.
1952 was also significant for the acquisition of the first item for the Museum by the Friends, a porcelain figure made by Cookworthy at his Plymouth factory. It depicted the element Air and complemented the other 3 elements already in the Museum collections. Nothing could have demonstrated so well the ambition and ideals behind the founding of the Friends.
Social events dominated the first year of the Friends and in March 1952 the inaugural meeting held at the Museum produced a membership of 201 and £193 (about £4,000 today). This was followed by an Armada Day pageant on the lawns of the RN barracks; a Buckland Abbey anniversary ball; Coronation day banquet at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel; and a garden party with a flower arranging demonstration event. The high point of the year though was in October, when the Duke of Edinburgh accepted the invitation from the Friends to attend the Lord Mayor’s tea party at Buckland Abbey. It was at this event that he was approached and agreed to become their patron. Amusingly the Duke recalled this event when he attend the Friends anniversary dinner in 2011 and asked for anyone who was there in 1952 to put their hands up – he was the only one!
Sadly 1952 ended with the deaths of both Vice-Presidents, Viscount Astor and Sir Harold Harmsworth, two people who had been so influential in the development of the Museum and the Friends.
To conclude this overview of the creation of the Friends group there is a selection of images mainly of the items they have acquired through the years along with photos of some of the dignitaries from its formation during the 1900’s.
