Guests

Richard Blakemore is Associate Professor of Social and Maritime History at the University of Reading. His research and teaching focuses on maritime communities during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. He is the author of Enemies of All: The Rise and Fall of the Pirates, co-author of The British Civil Wars at Sea, 1638-53, and co-editor of Law, Labour, and Empire: Comparative Perspectives on Seafarers, 1500-1800 and The Maritime World of Early Modern Britain. He has appeared on TV shows about piracy and maritime history for Discovery, Channel 5, and National Geographic, and on local and national radio and podcasts in the UK and USA.

David is a retired Chartered Engineer with a love of the sea and history, so naturally Scuba diving for lost shipwrecks was his hobby. In 1980 he linked up with the late Ed Cumming and his amateur team of underwater archaeologists surveying the ‘Earl of Abergavenny’ wrecksite off Portland. 40 years later both Ed and David were still working on the project but in their retirement now living in Weymouth within 2 miles of the wreck. As a trustee of Portland Museum David was pleased that the Receiver of Wreck gave ownership of the collection to Portland Museum where it is on display and being curated by a team of volunteers. A National Lottery Heritage Fund has enabled the Museum to train volunteers in condition assessing and 3D imaging of artefacts that can now be freely accessed by everyone along with the story of Wordsworth’s shipwreck through Portland Museum’s website.

Dr Kevin Clancy joined the Royal Mint in 1992. He is a historian who has written and lectured extensively on the history of the Royal Mint and the British coinage. As Director of the Royal Mint Museum he has played a central role in shaping the future of the Museum as a charity through its education, publication and exhibition programmes, including the creation of a permanent exhibition on the history of the Royal Mint at the Tower of London and at the Royal Mint Experience. His publications include Designing Change (2008), A History of the Sovereign: chief coin of the world (2015), The Royal Mint: an illustrated history (second edition, 2016) and Objects of War: currency in a time of conflict (2018). Since 2003 he has been Secretary to the Royal Mint Advisory Committee on the design of United Kingdom coins, official medals and seals. In 2016 he was elected President of the British Numismatic Society.

Dr Barrie Cook has been Curator of Medieval and Early Modern coinage in the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum since 1985. He has published widely in his area of specialism and curated many numismatic exhibitions, as well as contributing to many more general exhibitions at the Museum and elsewhere. He was curator of the major British Museum exhibition Germany: memories of a nation and adapted it for subsequent revivals in Berlin and Copenhagen. He was also the curator for Neil MacGregor’s four Radio 4 series. He has been Editor of the British Numismatic Journal and Secretary of the Royal Numismatic Society and is currently Treasurer of the UK Numismatic Trust.

With MAs in Medieval History (St Andrews) and the History of Art (Courtauld Institute), her first job as Assistant Curator, Dr Johnson’s House, Gough Square was followed a Museums Association Studentship at the Victoria and Albert Museum (1976-8). Thereafter a career in local authority (Bristol 1978-1985), university (Warwick 1985-1992; Ashmolean, University of Oxford 1992-2000) and national collections (National Portrait Gallery 2000-2004), always with a sculptural bias. Her influential exhibition catalogues include Michael Rysbrack, Sculptor 1694-1770 (1982), Let’s Not Be Stupid - Richard Deacon (1991), and Canova: Ideal Heads (1997). From 2004 to 2014 she was Editor of the Sculpture Journal. Kate continues to work with many public bodies, among them ArtUK’s ‘Your Sculpture’. She writes widely on sculpture and its contexts, from Britannia: Icon on the Coin (Royal Mint, 2016) to Lawrence Bradshaw's Karl Marx Memorial for the Henry Moore Institute/Whitechapel Art Gallery (2016). Her current book Hew Lorimer Sculptor is with the publishers (Forthcoming)

Sir Christopher Frayling is well known as an historian, critic and award-winning broadcaster. He has published extensively on popular culture, design and the history of ideas. He is the past Chairman of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee.

Marian Gwyn is a historian specialising in the Atlantic world and British imperialism. Her academic and professional interests focus on the heritage industry and the slave trade, and she is committed to fostering public engagement with the complexities of this past. Much of her current work supports museums and archives, helping them gain greater insight into their collections, and connecting them with diverse audiences to elicit more honest and engaging narratives around the artefacts and documents these institutions safeguard.

Beyond academia, she has influenced Welsh Government policy on diversity within the heritage and educational sectors, and as an educator, she teaches on Wales’s role in European global expansion. Her written work underscores the importance of broadening the stories we tell about our history, amplifying previously unheard voices. Her latest article, on diversifying museum practice, will be published by University of Wales Press in October 2024, and she is currently writing a book on the Jamaican sugar plantations of the Pennant family of Penrhyn Castle.

Victoria Ingles is currently Principal Curator (Portsmouth) for the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN), leading the team caring for the artefact collections across the Portsmouth area sites. She has more than 20 years’ experience working with the collections, with a particular interest in those relating to the Women’s Royal Naval Service, and has led multiple successful exhibition projects. Prior to joining NMRN she worked at National Museums Liverpool.

Alex is currently Head of Research and Curator of Ordnance and Human Remains at the Mary Rose Trust, having joined the project in 1979 as a graduate archaeologist. An archaeological supervisor during the 1979-1982 excavations, she has since directed the site monitoring, survey and excavations which culminated in recovering the stem in 2005.

Since 1982 she has been part of a small team responsible for evolving and delivering displays within the Mary Rose Museums. She has researched and published the weapons of the ship, producing one of the five volumes comprising the Archaeology of the Mary Rose in 2011 and in 2022 a Coffee Table Book. Her work with the human remains has been the subject of several documentaries and exhibitions.

A tutor in the formative years of the Nautical Archaeology Society, Alex has also delivered modules in underwater archaeology within the University sector. Alex has extensive experience on other underwater archaeological sites in the UK and has directed multi-season projects in Malta and Holland.

She has held posts as Chairman of the Institute of Field Archaeologists Maritime Affairs Group, ordnance advisor on the Government Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites and nominated archaeologist for 7 of the 57 protected wreck sites in England. Affiliations include the Chartered Institute of Field Archaeologists and the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Dr. Toby Jones is a nautical archaeologist and the curator of the Newport Medieval Ship, a 15th Century clinker built merchant vessel found in the River Usk in Newport, South Wales, in 2002. He has worked on several other projects around the world, including the Red River Wreck in Oklahoma, the Aber Wrac’h I wreck in Brittany and the Mica shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico. He has also participated in shipwreck surveys along the southern coast of Cyprus and in the Algarve in Portugal. Toby is a graduate of Oregon State University (BA-History) and Texas A&M University (MA-Anthropology – Nautical Archaeology), and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (PhD in Archaeology). He is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, an External Expert at the University of Bradford and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Hannah Matthews is Curator at the Mary Rose Trust, having worked previously at Burghley House Preservation Trust (2006-2010) and Historic Royal Palaces (2011-2020) in Operations, Project Management and Historic Building Conservation roles. She achieved a BA (Hons) in History, specialising in landscape archaeology at the University of East Anglia (2008-2011) before completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Architectural History at the University of Oxford (2014-2015). Hannah has also completed a MSc in Osteoarchaeology at the University of Sheffield (2020-2021). She is currently a part-time DPhil in Architectural History student at the University of Oxford, researching the life and career of James Nedam (c 1491-1544), Surveyor of the King’s Works for Henry VIII.

Stella moved to Portland from Yorkshire with her family in 1986. Having worked as a physiotherapist in the local hospital for 30 years, she retired in 2019, and became involved with a local research project based at Portland Museum. When the Museum re-opened in 2021, following COVID, she became a regular volunteer there. From November 2021 Stella was very involved in ‘Diving into the digital archives of the Earl of Abergavenny’ - a National Lottery-funded project to teach volunteers digital skills for photographing and recording historical artefacts. She was responsible for the majority of the collection documentation and have been involved in a number of outreach events, helping to increase public involvement in the project. Stella is also a Museum Trustee and is grateful to the Royal Mint Museum for the opportunity to spread the word about the invaluable work Portland Museum has done with the Abergavenny project.

Eric Nordgren is an ICON Accredited Conservator and Lecturer in Conservation at Cardiff University. He has 30 years experience as a conservator working with museums, universities, heritage agencies and private practice in the US, UK and around the world and a strong interest in the scientific understanding of metals, their properties and corrosion as they inform conservation. Through work on marine archaeological conservation projects such as the Queen Anne’s Revenge and USS Monitor in the USA and the London and Rooswijk with Historic England, Eric has had extensive experience working to conserve coins and other metal objects recovered from the sea.

Kate Rogers is Deputy Receiver of Wreck at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). The Receiver of Wreck (ROW) team administer the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 Part IX in relation to wreck and salvage, and are responsible for processing reports of wreck, and ensuring that the interests of both salvors and owners are taken into consideration by researching and establishing who owns wreck, and by liaising with finders, owners, and other interested parties such as archaeologists and museums. ROW also administers the Royal Fishes Prerogative for England, Wales, and North Ireland. Prior to joining ROW, Kate completed her PhD in archaeology at the University of Southampton, and has a background in commercial archaeology in the UK and Australia.

Island Trust are a registered charity providing life-enhancing, residential and day sailing activities for young people with special needs, disabilities, and those experiencing hardship and deprivation and the Johanna Lucretia is the largest of their vessels. As she is currently the only UK flagged topsail schooner in sail training, she is guaranteed to draw attention wherever she goes.

 Johanna Lucretia is rigged traditionally, with lots of sheets (ropes) on board and the wide array of sails. The topsail schooner is arguably one of the most versatile of all sailing rig types, being able to sail quickly close to the wind with her fore-and-aft sails like our other vessels, but also has excellent downwind performance with a square topsail and course. Her spacious decks are ideal for group activities, and her large size, sheltered cockpit and high freeboard mean trainees feel safe at sea.