David Menhennet CB (4 December 1928 – 5 February 2016) was a British librarian. As librarian at the

House of Commons Library The House of Commons Library is the library and information resource of the lower house of the British Parliament. It was established in 1818, although its original 1828 construction was destroyed during the burning of Parliament in 1834. Th ...

from 1976 to 1991, he oversaw a period of modernisation and other improvements to the library, transforming the library into a modern research facility.

Life

Early life and education

Menhennet was born in

Redruth Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also inc ...

, Cornwall, the son of William and Everill Menhennet. He attended Truro School on a scholarship and excelled in languages, going on to graduate with a first in French and German from

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

. He then moved to Queen's College to study for a D.Phil. in 18th-century French literature.

House of Commons career

He became a clerk in the Commons Library in 1954. When given responsibility for the research area in 1964 he introduced a system of comprehensive daily briefings for MPs, and he was promoted to Deputy Librarian in 1967. When Speaker George Thomas appointed him 10th Librarian of the Commons Library in 1976, he began a process of modernisation. He set up the Public Information Office (now the

House of Commons Information Office The House of Commons Enquiry Service, formerly known as the House of Commons Information Office, is a section within the Department of Information Services of the House of Commons. The chief role of the office is to provide the public with inform ...

) in 1978, and electronic publication began the same year, when the Library contributed to the Prestel viewdata system, which at one time had 90,000 subscribers. Computerisation of the Library's information systems began in 1979 with the creation of the Parliamentary On-Line Information System (POLIS). He also established a service for schools. The new systems introduced by Menhennet enabled MPs to find and check information far more easily, and were used particularly often by Gordon Brown and Tony Blair while in opposition. Menhennet hosted international conferences at Westminster, and also acted as an adviser to other parliaments. His last reform was to ban smoking in the library.

Other activities

In 1964 Menhennet was a founder member of the Study of Parliament Group, and also chaired the British Library's Advisory Committee on Bibliographic Services from 1986 to 1992. He also wrote a number of books about Parliament. After his retirement in 1991 he was a visiting research fellow at Goldsmiths College. Menhennet was a life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a

freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

and a liveryman of the

Stationer's Company The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (until 1937 the Worshipful Company of Stationers), usually known as the Stationers' Company, is one of the livery company, livery companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Compan ...

. He was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB) in the Queen's

1991 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 1991 for the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, New Zealand, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, were announced on 14 June 19 ...

Personal life

David Menhennet married Audrey Holmes in 1954. He died on 5 February 2016, survived by Audrey and their two sons.

Books

* 1967: ''Parliament in Perspective'' (with John Palmer) * 1972: ''Erskine May’s Private Journal 1857-82'' * 1991: ''The House of Commons Library: A History''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menhennet, David 1928 births 2016 deaths People from Redruth Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford English librarians Companions of the Order of the Bath People educated at Truro School House of Commons of the United Kingdom