Staff Spotlight: Isabel Hesketh, Archivist

When did you join Merchant Taylors'?

September 2024

Tell us about your subject. What excites you about it? How did you get into it?

I have started as the MTS School Archivist which is an incredibly exciting opportunity. I have spent the last two weeks opening boxes and finding out about some of the treasures that are kept in the store, which is on the Maths corridor. So far I have found some Byzantine coins, some sort of optical instrument encased in a beautiful wooden box, a 16th century edition of Copernicus and a lots and lots of copies of the Taylorian (the School magazine).

I started my career as a curator, working in exhibition management in museums and galleries in London and Sydney, and more recently I have managed various art collections and school archives. I am looking forward to locating and documenting all of the pictures that belong to the school in order to tell the rich story of MTS's history. I plan to roll out a program of displays in the corridors to share some of our fascinating history incorporating objects, photos and archival documents. One of the first displays will be about the Triennial held at St Paul's Cathedral on 18th October.

I have recently qualified as a preventive conservator, so I am also interested in ensuring that the collections are preserved in the best possible conditions. I will be checking light levels, humidity and temperature levels and very importantly making sure that no harmful pests have taken harbour in the Archive over the summer holidays.

What are you most proud of outside of your work at school?

Definitely my three daughters and our new dog Mudgee (named after a town in New South Wales, Australia). Last year I finished a Masters in conservation management and collections care at West Dean College – it was a juggle – the girls, the new dog and lots of essays but all worth it in the end. I graduated with a distinction which I was pretty proud of! Here is a picture of me removing decades of dust and grime from a 19th century Sudanese Jibba (tunic) and one of me and the puppy outside West Dean College in July 2023.

What did you study at A-Level?

French, Geography and Art History

What piece of media would you recommend and why?

Anything made by the Japanese anime studio Ghibli, but especially the film Whisper of the Heart. My whole family love the films and we recently went to see the stage productions of Totoro and Spirited Away in the West End. Both were utterly magical and I highly recommend going to see them if possible.