Many archivists and others who have worked in Norfolk and the East of England over the last half-century will be sorry to hear of the death of Paul Rutledge, archivist, historian and editor.

A Norfolk man from first to last, almost his entire working life as a local authority archivist was also spent in the county, following his appointment as the first Borough Archivist at Great Yarmouth in 1961. From 1969, when the Yarmouth archives became part of the Norfolk and Norwich Record Office (renamed Norfolk Record Office in 1974) he served as Senior Assistant Archivist - in effect, the County Archivist’s deputy. His particular interest in Great Yarmouth remained, however, and his Guide to the Great Yarmouth Borough Records, published by the Norfolk Record Office in 1972, was a pioneering work, much used as an example by borough archivists nationwide. Newly qualified archivists who gained their first professional posts at the Norfolk Record Office in the three decades before Paul’s retirement in 1996 will have warm memories of Paul’s rôle as a mentor, and an abiding awe of his ability, as an exceptionally accomplished and productive cataloguer, to process vast amounts of complex information in his head.

The number of distinguished historians whose published acknowledgements cite Paul Rutledge’s assistance, in particular for alerting them to sources which they might otherwise have missed, bears witness to his dedication to this aspect of an archivist’s work, and something he particularly enjoyed. He was, however, also an extensively published local historian himself, particularly on Great Yarmouth, but also on New Buckenham, in south Norfolk, and a distinguished editor, acting as honorary editor of Norfolk Archaeology from 1973 to 1990 and as early modern honorary editor for the Norfolk Record Society from 1997 to 2009.

Paul is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, also an archivist - they met as colleagues at the Norfolk Record Office - and two grown children.

A memorial service for Paul will be held on Thursday, 2 April at 2.30pm, in New Buckenham church.

Gary Tuson and Susan Maddock

Tel: (01603) 222599

Join us on Facebook www.facebook.com/norfolkrecordoffice
Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/NorfolkRO

Visit our blog http://norfolkrecordofficeblog.org

Find and book our events on Eventbrite http://norfolkrecordoffice.eventbrite.co.uk