Joan Wake

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(29 February 1884 – 15 January 1974) is best known as a historian who led a successful campaign to save

Delapré Abbey Delapré Abbey is an English neo-classical mansion in Northamptonshire. The mansion and outbuildings incorporate remains of a former monastery, the Abbey of St Mary de la Pré (the suffix meaning "in or of the Meadow"), near the River Nene s ...

from destruction.

Background

Joan Wake was born at Courteenhall, a daughter of Sir Hereward Wake, the 12th baronet, and his wife Catherine St Aubyn.

Historian and activist

Whilst studying at the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

, she developed contacts with the historians

Eileen Power Eileen Edna Le Poer Power (9 January 18898 August 1940) was a British economic historian and medievalist. Early life and education Eileen Power was the eldest daughter of a stockbroker and was born at Altrincham, Cheshire (now part of Great ...

Frank Stenton Sir Frank Merry Stenton, FBA (17 May 1880 – 15 September 1967) was an English historian of Anglo-Saxon England, and president of the Royal Historical Society (1937–1945). The son of Henry Stenton of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, he was edu ...

and

Doris Mary Stenton Doris Mary Stenton, Lady Stenton, (1894–1971) was an English historian of the Middle Ages. Life Born Doris Mary Parsons, she was the daughter of John Parsons and his wife Amelia Wadhams. She was their only child and was born in Reading, Berk ...

. Her own earliest major historical project was the full transcription of hundreds of medieval charters in the Hesketh Collection at

Easton Neston Easton Neston is situated in south Northamptonshire, England. Though the village of Easton Neston which was inhabited until around 1500 is now gone, the parish retains the name. At the 2011 Census the population of the civil parish remained le ...

. In 1918, she became a Fellow 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 ...

, and two years later was one of the founders of the Northamptonshire Record Society. Her activities during the rest of her life focused on promoting the preservation, safe custody and publication of the records of Northamptonshire. She was also active in the

British Records Association The British Records Association (widely known as the BRA, pronounced as three letters) is a British learned society founded in 1932 to promote the preservation, understanding, accessibility and study of historic records and archives. It is a regi ...

, founded in 1932. As well as the research and writing activities usually associated with historians, she was an activist who visited 36 solicitors' firms during the Second World War to ensure that archives in their care were not destroyed as part of the wartime paper salvage campaign. By the 1950s,

, a short distance south of the centre of Northampton, was owned by Northampton Corporation, disused and under threat of demolition. Through successful fundraising and political pressure, Joan Wake and the Record Society brought about a change of policy so that the building was saved; in 1959 it was officially opened as the

Northamptonshire Record Office The Northamptonshire Record Office is the county record office for Northamptonshire. The archives are held at Wootton Hall Park, Wootton, Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the ...

with accommodation for the Record Society’s library. In the following year, she was made a

C.B.E. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in recognition of her achievements.

Publications

Between 1911 and 1973, a total of over 80 works by Joan Wake were published, the majority of which related to various aspects of the history of Northamptonshire. As General Editor of the volumes of historical texts published by the Northamptonshire Record Society from 1924 to 1964, she composed prefaces or indexes to eight volumes. She had difficulty in carrying out this work on account of the copious quantities of face powder she applied whilst wearing her glasses.

Death and burial

Wake died on 15 January 1974, and is buried at Courteenhall church.

Background

Historian and activist

Publications

Death and burial

References

Further reading