A death

I have very sad news that Keith Priestman, former Keeper of
Conservation at Liverpool Museums, has passed away.

Keith started work with Liverpool Museum as young man, assisting the
redoubtable Elaine Tankard, Keeper of Archaeology, in the 1950's.
He was initially based in a dank and crumbling manor house in the
leafy suburbs of South Liverpool, where many of the collections were
re-assembled in 1946 after their dispersal for protection during the
Second World War.  Due to the devastating damage caused to the
museum during the May Blitz of 1941 it was not until the mid-1950's
that the collections and staff were able to move back into the
building.  Work then began on building the first conservation
workshops and in 1960 Keith became Liverpool Museum's Keeper of
Conservation, heading up the first department of conservation to be
established in a regional museum.  He also set up a Centre for
Archaeology for the new North West Museum and Art Gallery Service,
which meant his staff would also be available to museums outside
Liverpool.  Keith saw many changes in the organisation over the
years, from the development of the rebuilt museum throughout the
1960s to the creation of the new Merseyside Maritime Museum in the
renaissance of the dockland area in the 1980s.  He was gratified to
see the establishment of the Conservation Division after we were
granted national status in 1986.

Keith was quiet and unassuming but always ready with an amusing
anecdote or a breathless description of his current classic car, be
it the Riley, the 1932 Aston Martin or the 1950's DB Aston Martin.
Above all, he was regarded by everyone that met him as a 'gentleman'
and was overwhelmed at the mass of staff waiting for him at his
surprise retirement party in June 1993.

Keith had spent the past two years being cared for in a nursing home
and passed away quietly in his sleep, aged 86, on 31 March 2016.

Tracey Seddon ACR
Senior Organics Conservator
National Museums Liverpool
Midland Railway Building
1 Peter Street
+44 151 478 4843


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 29:45
                 Distributed: Saturday, April 16, 2016
                       Message Id: cdl-29-45-001
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