Gillian Carol Gear, (1943 – 29 September 2015) was an English

local historian The British Association for Local History (BALH) is a membership organisation that exists to promote the advancement of public education through the study of local history and to encourage and assist the study of local history throughout Great Bri ...

who was archivist of north London's

Barnet Museum Barnet Museum is in the London Borough of Barnet. It has displays on topics including the Battle of Barnet, Barnet Fair and Barnet Market. It is a centre for local and family research and its archives, library and reference collection are av ...

and helped to ensure the survival of the museum after funding was withdrawn by the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest ...

Early life and family

Gillian Carol Pymm was born in 1943 and received her basic education at Mount Grace School. She married Michael Gear and they had three sons, Nicholas, Timothy and Christopher."Obituary: Dr. Gillian Gear (née Pymm) B.E.M. 1943-2015" by Brian Warren in ''The Newsletter'', Potters Bar & District Historical Society, Vol. 32, No. 3 (May 2016), p. 3.

Career

Gear was a specialist in local history who gained an MA in social and industrial history from

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

and a PhD on

industrial schools Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. She was archivist of

and helped to ensure the survival of the museum after funding was withdrawn by the

."Tributes for museum's 'tireless' campaigner", ''

Barnet & Potters Bar Times The ''Times'' series is a group of north London newspapers published weekly by Newsquest in the London Borough of Barnet and surroundings. The series includes the ''Barnet & Potters Bar Times'', ''Borehamwood & Elstree Times The ''Borehamwood ...

'', 8 October 2015, p. 2. She was secretary of Barnet Museum and Local History Society and of the Hertfordshire Association for Local History.Dr Gillian Gear BEM.
Barnet Museum, 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015. She was co founder and long term Chair of East Barnet residence association and was central to the preservation of Church Farm Fields , oak hill park . Long term secretary of the Church farm family swimming club aka sunday morning swimming . Gear was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

in the 2014

Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are presen ...

, "For services to History in the London Borough of Barnet and Hertfordshire".Birthday Honours 2014: the Prime Minister's list.
Gov.UK. Retrieved 25 October 2015.

Death

Towards the end of her life, Gear suffered from ill health and received hospital treatment. She died on 29 September 2015 and was survived by her husband and sons.

Selected publications

*''The Boys' Farm Home Church Farm East Barnet''. Barnet Museum & Local History Society, 1986. (revised 2010) *''Barnet and District Local History Society celebrates 60 Years of Local History 1927 - 1987''. Barnet & District Local History Society, 1988. *''Barnet and the Hadleys in Old Photographs: A Second Selection''.

Sutton Publishing The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...

, 1996. (Britain in Old Photographs) *''Community Life in Hertfordshire 2000''. Hertfordshire Association for Local History, 2001. *''Little Grove House and Grounds''. Barnet Museum & Local History Society, 2006. *''The Diary of Benjamin Woodcock Master of the Barnet Union Workhouse 1836-1838''. (Editor) *''A Caring County? Social Welfare in Hertfordshire from 1600''.

University of Hertfordshire Press University of Hertfordshire Press was formed in 1992 as the publishing wing of the University of Hertfordshire. Its first publication was a book celebrating the institution's change in status from polytechnic to university. ''Our Heritage'' (Unive ...

, 2013. (With Steve King)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gear, Gillian 2015 deaths Historians of Hertfordshire Recipients of the British Empire Medal Alumni of the University of London 1943 births Alumni of Middlesex University