Obituaries M


Christopher Makepeace


embers will be sad to hear of the death of Christopher Makepeace on 30 April 2025, aged 81. Chris grew up in Coventry and graduated in history at Manchester University before gaining a Postgraduate Diploma in


Librarianship.


He started his professional career in the Local Studies Depart- ment of Manchester Central Library where he became known as an expert in the history of Manchester and the surrounding area, to the extent that he was asked to compile the questions for Mastermind when a contest- ant chose the history of Manchester as their special subject.


An active member of the Library Associa- tion Local Studies Group, he was awarded the prestigious Dorothy McCulla Memo-


rial Prize in 1992 in recognition of his services to local studies librarianship. He next worked in the Planning Department of


Garry Humphreys L


ike many of his generation, Garry Humphreys entered librarianship by accident. Having acquired poor A-Levels at grammar school (“owing more to laziness than to stupidity”, he later admitted), and not knowing what to do after the summer holidays, a chance conversation with Peter Bradley, librarian of his home town, Hucknall, near Nottingham, set the wheels in motion and he became a library assistant at Notting- ham Central Library, initially for a year before, as he thought, going on to theolog- ical college and training for the Anglican priesthood.


After experience in various sections and branches of Nottingham Public Libraries


he eventually landed in the Commercial and Technical Library where, inspired by the then sub-librarian Michael Poppleston (a protégé of David Bromley, then at Sheffield), he took to the work like the proverbial duck to water, enjoyed engaging with the public, and soon decided that this was a career he could pursue, and in 1967 and 1968 was a student at the then North Western Polytechnic School of Librarianship, London, whose head was Edward Dudley, and on the staff were such legendary figures as Jack Mills, Derek Langridge, Peter New, Chris Needham, Stanley Brett, Brian Redfern and others.


He soon felt at home in London and, as well as his studies, enjoyed exploring the capital and immediately indulged his passion for singing and classical music and usually attended at least one concert a week (sometimes more than one in a day!) at the Royal Festival Hall or elsewhere. He soon made many friends in the musical world and, later, sang professionally in various en- sembles – such as the choirs of Southwark Cathedral, St George’s Hanover Square and the Temple Church in London – and as a soloist, including broadcasts and commercial recordings. After library school he returned to Nottingham Commercial and Technical Library as sub-librarian under Malcolm Stacey, who had first succeeded Poppleston and then the section head,


62 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL


John Toon. But Garry had got wind of the City of London’s plans for developing the long-established Commercial Reference Room at Guildhall Library to meet the growing demands of busi- nesses in the 1970s and was appointed assistant librarian from September 1969, leading up to the opening of the City Business Library in January 1970.


In due course he became sub-librarian, then City Business Librarian (succeeding Malcolm Campbell in 1988), while regu- larly lecturing on courses for Aslib. His very dry sense of humour (which he claimed to have inherited from Malcolm Campbell and from an early Nottingham colleague, Stephen Best) enlivened many a dull meeting! He was a recipient of the Library Associa- tion Centenary Medal in 1998.


He took early retirement at the end of 2003, glad to be out of a profession very different from the one he had joined nearly forty years earlier, managerialism now seeming to take priority over engaging with and helping the public, even in the Corporation of London, which had previously resisted the absurdities overtak- ing so many other local authorities, especially London boroughs. After retirement he expanded his freelance writing activities, including mainly, but not exclusively, musical obituaries for the Independent newspaper and music and arts reviews for the Church Times. Although when he retired he put reference librar- ianship firmly behind him, he admitted that he could not have undertaken his Somervell research without the skills acquired during his library career.


He was twice married, secondly to Linda Fullick, a former Haringey reference librarian, and took great pleasure in the musical achievements, as both a singer and cellist, of their daughter, Rhiannon.


Linda Fullick (wife), and Rhiannon Humphreys (daughter).


the Greater Manchester Council where his knowledge of historic buildings and streets was invaluable.


When the GMC was closed down Chris set himself up as a free- lance local historian. He taught many classes for the University of Manchester Extra-Mural Department, the WEA, and other organisations, and was much in demand as a speaker, leader of historic walks, contributor to local radio, etc. He was the author of several books including the series Manchester as it was, and wrote the introductory notes for over 200 of the Godfrey edition OS Maps. He became a regular stallholder at family history fairs all over the north of England where he sold maps, books and magazines.


He made his home in Disley, Cheshire, and was a leading member of the Disley Local History Society for many years. He is survived by his wife Hilary, son Peter and daughter Anna.


Julia Harrison, Retired Librarian.


Autumn 2025


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