The Bowes Museum Blog

I volunteer for the library and archives at The Bowes Museum, this role involves entering data on to the Museum’s online database called Adlib. This system is devised for the management of collections and archives. I am currently working mainly with John Bowes’ bills and receipts from the 1870s when he was living in Paris. This can range from bills for items as mundane as heating, lighting, groceries (including lots of rosé champagne!), periodicals (lots!) and staffing expenditure; to more interesting things like importing game and wine, the cleaning or repairing of furniture and paintings, and trips abroad (often to England of course); and gems, like buying crates for transporting items to Barnard Castle and paying specialist master craftsmen to travel from Paris to Barnard Castle to lay the wooden and ceramic flooring in the Museum.

There are 3 main elements which contribute to my enjoyment of the volunteering. Firstly, whilst I have regularly visited the Museum in the 30 plus years I have lived in Teesdale, my volunteering work has given me a much fuller picture of the man John Bowes. This in turn has led to a greater understanding of the Museum, the collection and the stories associated with both.

Secondly, I am keeping my brain active and I stimulate my curiosity. Before I retired, my day job had nothing to do with archives, or history, or the management of collections and archives such those which exist within The Bowes Museum. I wanted to do something entirely different, so I chose to volunteer in the library and archives.

Thirdly, I hope that what I am undertaking will eventually allow research students, or those carrying out personal, academic or other cultural research, to access the wealth of information which is contained behind the scenes in the Museum.  The documents contained in the library and archives are a valuable supply of information for any such research, and I feel passionate that this resource should be available to anyone who wishes to access it.

Written by Rosie Bettison, May 2024