From furthest away: Thom Richardson (Royal Armouries, Leeds), Matt Williams (BRLSI
Collections Manager), Brian Godwin (National Trust and BRLSI Weaponry Advisor).
Seen above and right is Thom Richardson FSA, Keeper of Armour and Oriental collections at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, on a visit to BRLSI to examine a set of 20 pieces of armour held in the Institution’s Collections. Thom identified the items as dating from roughly 1570 to 1630, and coming from a Parish Armoury for the use of a cuirassier or pikeman. Parish Armouries were set up during the time of the Armada so that weapons and armour would be available for the local men of a Parish to form a defensive force. BRLSI Weaponry expert Brian Godwin plans to clean and preserve the items, and put them on display in the BRLSI’s Online Museum.
Thom Richardson is a former editor of the Journal of the Arms and Armour Society and the author of numerous books and articles on armour and related subjects. These include The medieval armour from Rhodes, co-written with the late Chip Karcheski, which won the International Committee for Museums of Arms and Military History’s Justus Lipsius Prize in 2002.
BRLSI Collections Manager Matt Williams (left) has been approved for Associateship of the Museums Association (AMA), the result of a professional development scheme which the BRLSI has sponsored him to undertake. Associateship of the Museums Association is a formal acknowledgement of Matt’s competence as a museum curator, and demonstrates that the BRLSI takes its responsibility of caring for its collection seriously. Matt’s undertaking the AMA scheme was suggested by the Museums Libraries and Archive Council when BRLSI was formally registered as a museum in 2005.