It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Mrs Patricia Gill, the former County Archivist of West Sussex, passed away on Monday morning 5 October.
Mrs Gill joined West Sussex Record Office in 1956 and became County Archivist in 1968 following the retirement of Francis Steer. She played a pivotal role in the development of the office and its collections over a long period of time. In 1989 she was instrumental in delivering the new Record Office building in Chichester before retiring in 1993. For several years after this she continued to come into the office for one or two days a week on a voluntary basis to work on the collections, doing a great deal of valuable work until her health started to decline. She leaves behind a tremendous archival legacy and the reputation of the Record Office and the service that it provides owes much to her hard work and commitment to the County, its history and people.
Everyone in West Sussex has been reflecting on their memories of her and the time that they spent with her at the Record Office. Although I am relatively new in post, having crossed the border from East Sussex in 2013, I have nevertheless heard a great deal about her and her work here. Several themes seem to emerge from all of these conversations. Firstly her length of service, secondly her many achievements in building up the service and its collections and thirdly and perhaps most importantly those who knew and worked with her all share a deep respect and affection for her with many feeling a deep sense of personal gratitude to her for the way in which she helped and encouraged them in their work and their careers.
Mrs Gill’s funeral will be held on Tuesday 20 October at 1.15 at Chichester Crematorium. The family have requested that no flowers should be sent but any donations to the Chichester Hospice would be much appreciated.
http://www.stwh.co.uk/
Peter Wilkinson is writing her obituary for the ARA and if anyone has any thoughts or memories that they would like to share I would be grateful if you would send them to me separately:
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Best wishes
Wendy
Wendy Walker
County Archivist
West Sussex Record Office, 3 Orchard Street, Chichester, PO19 1DD
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