Behind the scenes on Flickr

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Memento Mori under glass dome with wooden base inside photograph, angels and flowers in memory of Henry Hussey Vivian. Made by John Francis, Copper Refiner for David F. John to commemorate the death of Henry Hussey Vivian, Lord Swansea in December 1894. Born in 1821, Henry Hussey Vivian of Singleton Abbey, Swansea became a MP and divided his time between the family copper business and the House of Commons. Henry was raised to the peerage in 1893, taking his seat in the House of Lords as the 1st Baron Swansea, he died a year later in 1894. Memento Mori is a Latin phrase meaning "remember you must die". They are designed to remember a person with depictions of their life, and to remind the viewer of their mortality. Inscribed with the Proverb XIX 17 "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord."

Henry Hussey Vivian (1821-1894) was responsible for the success of the family's Hafod Works, Vivian & Sons, together with much of the enhancement of Swansea as a port and the creation of a railway to the Rhondda coalfield. He became the first chairman of Glamorgan County Council in 1889 and was made Lord Swansea in 1893.

This item is on display in th Cabinet of Curiosities at Swansea Museum.

Charity Music Maestros

The Swansea Museum lunchtime concerts during March and April featuring the Cwmtawe String Orchestra, Dragon Strings electric string group, and performances from ‘Bluegrass'  folk rock player Roland Emmanuel, and Cyril Wickham with early Banjo styles, that complemented the two month exhibition “Music Maestro Please” raised some £400 for the Wallich Homelessness Charity.

The exhibition – and the series of concerts – was organised and presented by local musician and stringed instrument expert John Carpenter of Swansea, and featured many rare instruments from his collection, and those of many other musicians and instrument makers in the region. Live performances also featured “Bear Bones” duo Huw Jones and John Howes, and “FiddleBox” musicians Helen Adam & George Whitfield, the music also presented on Radio Tircoed 106.5 FM.

Swansea Museum has presented many musical occasions over recent years, featuring everything from hard rock to choral  productions, the upper Gallery considered a perfect venue for the performances, catering for such diverse talents as the Storys, Spencer Davis, Dire Straits drummer Terry Williams, and the delicate but powerful notes of the violin of Andrew Millard, and Cello of Stefan Morris, the 2009 Texaco Young Musician of Wales winner.

The Wallich was established in 1978, to help the most excluded people in society, and deliver innovative solutions to homelessness that are as diverse as the people they help. Pictured are Wallich staffman Robin Millard (left) , John Carpenter (centre), and Marcia Williams (right), also a Wallich Officer.

http://www.thewallich.com/

Olga Competes in the Spring Race

One of Swansea Museums own vessels – the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Olga – racing last weekend in a series of “Spring Race” competitions organised by the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Owners Association. Olga sailed from Swansea on Thursday (May 28th) bound for Tenby, Dale and Milford Haven on the West Wales coast, competing for the Pilot Cup, Breaksea Rosebowl, and Westernman Cup, sailed by new Museum staff member Matthew Senior and a volunteer crew.

Bridgend Camp 1945

We would like to know more about and if possible display the items seen in the photographs below as part of an exhibition and activities for local school children during the autumn term. Visiting groups will be watching a production by Theatr na n'Og entitled ‘Halt! Who goes there?' about the escape of German POWs from the Bridgend camp in 1945.

If anyone out there has any details please contact Barry Hughes at Swansea Museum.

"In the police station, what intrigued Baverstock most, was the tail of a shirt. On it was a map, drawn with painstaking accuracy showing the main railway lines and ports in southern England and Northern France."

Maps drawn on shirt tails and handkerchief.

http://www.islandfarm.fsnet.co.uk/The%20Big%20Escape.htm