It’s been a perfect opportunity in the lead up to Christmas to invite project volunteers to attend a Thank-you lunch for all their hard work over the year, thus acknowledging their contribution and providing an opportunity to meet other people working on different aspects of the project and discussing how the various tasks differ and how they all contribute to the whole.

Volunteers are a mainstay of projects such as this and it was a real pleasure to bring everyone who contributes to the smooth running of the County Record Office together.

Somewhat strangely, there are very few christmas cards or anything remotely festive within the Graham archive collection.  There is a scrapbook album which was prepared as a christmas gift by the Stobart siblings for their mother whilst they were tenants at Norton Conyers, but it isn’t obviously seasonal, save for a small inscription giving the date as Xmas 1877.

The one christmas card example there is, comes from the papers of Beatrice Spencer-Smith, later wife of Sir Richard Graham – 10th Baronet, who was in touch with a cosmopolitan crowd, following her posting as Lady-in-waiting to Lady Tweedsmuir and her time in Canada between 1935-1937. The rather exotic postcard, shown below is from the Far East and features some additional colouring. ‘A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’ is printed on the reverse.

Christmas postcard. Copyright : North Yorkshire County Record Office.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone well for the festive season and I look forward to bringing you further interesting snippets from this wonderful collection in the New Year.

Merry Christmas!

Maxine