Walpole Library Fellowships and Travel Grants for 2025–26
From The Lewis Walpole Library:
Applications due by 1 November 2024
The Lewis Walpole Library, a department of Yale Library, is now accepting Fellowship and Travel Grants application for the 2025–26 Fellowship year, which runs from 1 June 2025 through 31 May 2026. With strong collections of primary and secondary source materials focused on Britain in the long eighteenth century, located on a fourteen-acre campus located in the peaceful and scenic town of Farmington, Connecticut, the Lewis Walpole Library offers a unique scholarly experience.
Fellowships, which last four weeks, and Travel Grants, which last two weeks, afford scholars the time and space to focus on research without distraction. Delve into manuscripts, prints, ephemera, and printed texts, and more in the spacious modern reading room during the day, connect with other researchers informally in the eighteenth-century readers’ residence in the evening, and spend weekends thinking, processing, and writing or exploring the area. In this collegial environment, discussions with peers generate new perspectives and suggestions from staff lead to new discoveries. The application deadline is 1 November 2024. Details and an application link can be found here.
Zoë Colbeck Named Director of Strawberry Hill
From the press release, via Art Daily (8 June 2024) . . .
Strawberry Hill House announced that Zoë Colbeck will succeed Derek Purnell as Executive Director of the historic South West London attraction. Zoë joins the team from her previous role as Project Manager at the Solent Cluster, a major decarbonisation initiative based in Hampshire, bringing over 20 years of experience in the heritage sector to Strawberry Hill House and Garden.
Having read chemistry at university, Zoë worked for one of the UK’s largest retailers, specialising in logistics and people management, before joining the National Trust (NT) to combine her passion for heritage with her commercial background. She left the NT in 2021 after 18 years, ultimately as General Manager of the Chartwell Portfolio, one of the NT’s top properties. More recently, she was Commercial and Operations Director with the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth.
Zoë took up her new position at Strawberry Hill on 3 June—after her predecessor, Derek Purnell, left to take up an opportunity with the Frederick Ashton Foundation, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
Announcing the appointment, Paul Kafka, Chairman of Strawberry Hill Trust, said: “During her time at the National Trust, Zoë led three transformational projects, which, in turn gave her extensive knowledge and vital experience in the fields of climate change mitigation, sustainable management, and heritage conservation. She has a passion for working collaboratively and making a difference for museums, communities, and the planet.” He added: “I am delighted that Zoe is joining Strawberry Hill at this moment in our history. 2024 is going to be a year of change and new directions. Our quest for a sustainable business model continues, even as our reputation as a museum and cultural destination continues to grow.”
Zoë commented: “I am passionate about making a difference for our history and heritage and making it relevant for different audiences. Horace Walpole is such an interesting character, and I am looking forward to leading the team at Strawberry Hill House and Garden through the next stage of development, preserving his legacy and contributing to its future.”
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