Obituaries H


Harry Clark


arry Clark, former librarian at West Sussex CC Library Service, died aged 98 on 12 June 2021. Born in Hastings in 1922, Harry spent most of the rest of his life in West Sussex.


The family moved to the County in 1930, when his father, a shell-shocked Great War veteran took on a Littlehamp- ton guest house.


Educated at Chichester High School for Boys, Harry volunteered to help run the school library, embarking on an association, and career, in librar- ies lasting nearly 50 years. He joined West Sussex County Coun- cil Library Service as war broke out in September 1939, as four


members of staff had been called up. As a ‘van boy’ on 15/- a week he took books to ‘village centres’, part-time libraries established in 1925 in village halls and other community buildings, often little more than a room or couple of cup- boards of books. In his teens Harry and friends put on plays at Littlehampton Congregational Church to raise money for the war effort and the family took in refugees and staff from RAF Poling radar station.


Called up in August 1942 Harry spent over four years in the RAF, serving mainly in India. He rejoined West Sussex as a library assistant at Library Headquarters in February


1947 under demobilisation arrangements. Whilst taking a correspondence course to qualify as a librarian, County Librarian Gordon Bearman deployed him overseeing volun- teers at village centres in Arundel, Rustington, East Preston and Ferring. In 1952, now fully qualified in 1952, Harry was promoted to Arundel Regional Librarian in charge of the above-mentioned libraries together with Storrington. Under new County Librarian Roy Huse, in 1974 he became solely responsible for Rustington Library from 1974 to retirement in 1982. By this time, he had bought a family home in Rusting- ton in 1969 and married Margaret (whom he met whilst at training courses), and they were to live in the village for the rest of their lives. Following his retirement, he was Chair- man of Rustington Heritage Association for over 30 years, steward at the Rustington village museum, gave numerous local history talks and walks, and he and Margaret were volunteers at West Sussex Record Office for over 43 years. In 2009 he received the Parishioner of the Year award from Rustington Parish Council.


Harry had no small role in the post-war transformation of West Sussex Libraries from an under-staffed, poorly funded organisation, with no purpose-built libraries, to the modern, thriving service it is today. He felt his greatest achievement was in overseeing the building of the first purpose-built library at Rustington in 1969 and just three years ago Harry gave a speech at the extended building’s 50th anniversary celebration event at the age of 94.


Martin Hayes


Morris Garratt M


any people involved in local studies in the North West will be sad to hear that Morris Garratt died on 5 September at the age of 84. His years of experience at Middleton Library and his involve- ment in a wide range of local history societies


made a him a familiar figure. He was born in Warrington in January 1937 and was edu- cated at Lymm Grammar School. He studied for a BA with the Open University and an MA at Manchester Polytechnic in his own time and he was a Chartered Librarian. In an early post at Stretford Library he met Eileen Hill who became his wife in 1962. This was followed by a move to Stafford, then back to Cheshire where he settled in Cheadle Hulme remaining there until his death. His final library post was at Middleton Library, a district of Rochdale MBC, where he was able to develop his interest in local


studies. He arrived in Middleton with limited knowledge of its history – so every weekend he took home a bound volume


52 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL


of the local newspaper to read through and get a sense of the area.


Morris was a founding member of the NW branch of the Local Studies Group (along with Chris Makepeace and Diana Winterbotham) which was formed in 1981. He remained an active member, serving on the committee, until the demise of the group in 2018. He organised many of the LSG NW day schools and events and edited a book on sources for religious history (Sure Coffers), and he oversaw the publication of further pamphlets for the group. His un- failing good nature and extensive knowledge of the history of the area made him a great support to the group. After early retirement he was active in many local history societies in the north west and, until recent years, seemed to have endless energy to study and promote local history. He was particularly associated with the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society which he joined in 1975 and served in many different offices over 44 years, including 34 years as Secretary. Many people involved in these societies remember his welcoming attitude and his support. Sadly Eileen died a few months earlier, but Morris is survived by his children Katherine, David and Richard.


Alice Lock, with help from Diana Winterbotham January-February 2022


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