By the autumn of 2012 our FEWC archive project was coming to a close. Tony Macer and I started to tidy up the many loose ends so that we could assemble the digital archive. Then we realised that October 2013 would be the 140th anniversary of William COWLE's auction of The Field estate. We can't let that go by, we thought, and went to talk to the staff at the Museum in the Park. The consequence is:
The Cowle Legacy exhibition - starts on 1st October 2013
For the month of October, Gallery 2 at the Museum in the Park will hold an exhibition about the life and times of William COWLE in Stroud. There will be a static display of material from the archive, a programme of afternoon talks, and automatic short slide shows with commentary. More details are now here. We had hoped to have the digital archive finished too, but this work has had to be parked until after the exhibition. We now plan to get it finished over the winter months, in time for a repeat of The Cowle Legacy exhibition at the Gloucestershire Archives. This will be a good opportunity to hand over the completed FEWC archive.
William Cowle of Stroud - a biography
An unexpected consequence was that the Museum asked for a biography! This will be launched at the exhibition. and more details are here. Stroud Museum has commissioned a local actor to create the character of William Cowle, which will be a splendid addition to our understanding of how this ambitious grocer became one of Stroud's Great and Good.
Teaching resource packs
The FEWC archive is rich in detail and will provide excellent material for teaching schoolchildren about Stroud's Victorians. We have successfully tested a pilot scheme in a local primary school, and more will be prepared once the excitement has died down a bit!
Funding
We have received generous grants from the Langtree Trust and from Stroud Town Council, to help cover the costs of the exhibition material and the teaching packs. More funding has been promised and we are really grateful that local organisations are supporting us in such a practical way.
What started out as a quiet, academic piece of social research has blossomed into a much noisier project, largely due to the enthusiasm and help of our neighbours and local community.