Sarah Jacqueline Tyacke, (''née'' Jeacock; born 29 September 1945) is an English historian of

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...

and travel and a former

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

and

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...

. From 1991 to 2005 she served as Keeper of Public Records and Chief Executive of the UK

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was ...

, overseeing its transition to be the new National Archives in 2003.

Early life and education

Tyacke was born Sarah Jeacock in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, on 29 September 1945: her father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been school headmasters. She was educated at

Chelmsford County High School for Girls Chelmsford County High School for Girls or "CCHS", is a selective grammar school for girls aged 11–18 located in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Entrance to the school is by an academic selection test. CCHS is traditionally rated among the most co ...

, before studying history at Bedford College,

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 ...

, and graduating in 1968. During vacations from 1962 to 1968, she worked as a volunteer at

Essex Record Office The Essex Record Office is the repository for records about the county of Essex in England. The office is run by Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It ...

Career

In 1968, Tyacke became an assistant keeper in the Map Room of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. From 1973 to 1985 she was Deputy Map Librarian in what had now become the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

; and from 1986 to 1991 she was its Director of Special Collections. At the end of 1991 she was appointed Keeper of Public Records, the first woman to hold the post. Her tenure at the

included the building of a much expanded repository on the office's site at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

in 1995, and subsequent removal of services from the old Public Record Office building in

Chancery Lane Chancery Lane is a one-way street situated in the ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. It has formed the western boundary of the City since 1994, having previously been divided between the City of Westminster and the London Boro ...

; the opening of a

Family Records Centre The Family Records Centre (FRC) provided access to family history research sources mainly for England and Wales. It was administered jointly by the General Register Office (GRO) and The National Archives. It opened in March 1997 and was fully op ...

for family historians in 1997; and merger of the office with the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts in 2003 to form the National Archives. At the merger, Tyacke was appointed its Chief Executive and sole Historical Manuscripts Commissioner. She also oversaw numerous technical initiatives, including the launch of the 1901 census website as a pay-per-view service in 2002 and development of strategies for preserving

born-digital The term born-digital refers to materials that originate in a digital form.NDIIPP"Preserving Digital Culture,"Library of Congress. This is in contrast to digital reformatting, through which analog materials become digital, as in the case of fil ...

records. She retired in 2005.

Scholarship

Tyacke's personal scholarly interests cover the history of

and travel. She has written or edited several books and articles on these, and others on broader archival matters and archive management.

Activities and honours

Tyacke was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1968; of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

in 1984; of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

in 1992; and of the British Cartographic Society in 1994. She served as President of the

Hakluyt Society The Hakluyt Society is a text publication society, founded in 1846 and based in London, England, which publishes scholarly editions of Primary source, primary records of historic voyages, travels and other geographical material. In addition to it ...

from 1997 to 2002, and as a Vice-President from 2002 to 2006. She was a Vice-President of the Royal Historical Society from 2000 to 2003, and has been an Honorary Vice-President since 2004. She has also sat on the Council of the

Society for Nautical Research The Society for Nautical Research is a British society that conducts research and sponsors projects related to maritime history worldwide. Founded in 1910, the Society initially encouraged research into seafaring, ship-building, the language and ...

. She was Vice-President of the

International Council on Archives The International Council on Archives (ICA; French: ''Conseil international des archives'') is an international non-governmental organization which exists to promote international cooperation for archives and archivists. It was set up in 1948, wi ...

from 1996 to 2000. She was a trustee of the International Records Management Trust from 1995 to 2004, and has been its Chair since 2004. In 1999 she became an honorary fellow and visiting professor of Royal Holloway, University of London. She received honorary doctorates from London Guildhall and

Universities. Tyacke was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1998. On 25 November 2010, she was awarded the President's Medal by the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

"for her service to historical records, in particular through her work as head of the National Archives".

Other activities

From 2009 to 2011 Tyacke chaired the Mount Everest Foundation, a non-profit-making humanitarian and development body active in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. From 2009 to 2012 she sat on the Hillsborough Independent Panel investigating the Hillsborough disaster of 1989.

Personal life

Tyacke is married to the early modern historian Nicholas Tyacke. She has one daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyacke, Sarah 1945 births Living people English archivists Historians of cartography Employees of the British Library People associated with The National Archives (United Kingdom) British women historians Companions of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Historical Society People educated at Chelmsford County High School for Girls Alumni of Bedford College, London Female archivists Recipients of the President's Medal (British Academy)