A rare opportunity to re-launch and manage a museum is open to applicants until 24 April 2022.
The Huguenot Museum was temporarily mothballed during the pandemic, and now needs an entrepreneurial manager to lead its re-opening. This is the first and only museum in the country dedicated to Huguenot history; it opened in 2015 with a £1.3 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Its exhibits illustrate the story of the Protestants’ flight from persecution in France between the 1500s and the late 1700s, and their resettlement in Britain.
Entrance to the Huguenot Museum
The museum was set up by the “French Hospital”, an almshouse charity founded in London in 1718 to help Huguenot refugees who had fallen on hard times. The French Hospital moved to Rochester in the 1950s and continues to operate today, just along the street from the museum. Their meticulous records of alms applied for and given are invaluable in uncovering the fate of Huguenot ancestors. Most of the Huguenot Museum’s collection is on loan from the French Hospital.
Rochester High Street
The museum has helped many hundreds of visitors research their Huguenot ancestors, and demand for this volunteer-run family history service is as strong as ever, with many people turning to genealogy over lockdown.
In keeping with the spirit of the French Hospital, the museum celebrates the legacy of the Huguenots through exhibitions of contemporary craft and a programme of talks and workshops. It explores the links between the Huguenots of the past and refugees today, working with groups of refugees on creative projects.
There can be no doubt that the museum is much loved and appreciated by its visitors.
To apply for the role of Operations Manager, see the details on the website of the Huguenot Museum https://huguenotmuseum.org/
Be quick! The closing date is 24 April 2022. Go for it!
Jo, you would make an excellent manager! I hope your post helps them to find a good one.
I would have loved that job when younger!
How fascinating to learn about the museum and the French Hospital in Rochester. I had no idea Rochester held such treasures, although I have been there on several occasions. Rochester has always been linked in my mind with Dickens; now it will be the Huguenots as well. Does Dickens ever mention the Huguenots I wonder?
Oh, what a good question! Another rabbit hole to explore! I wonder.
Lyn, there are several (tenuous) connections;
In 1853 Charles Dickens published Elizabeth Gaskell’s article ‘Traits and Stories of the Huguenots’ in his magazine ‘Household Words’. In it Gaskell tells of the escape of the great-great grandmother of ‘A friend of mine, a descendant from some of the Huguenot refugees’.
The founder of the Huguenot Society was a Minett and Charles Dickens has a Dr Manet in ‘Tale of Two Cities.’
Hablot Knight Browne, better known as ‘Phiz’, helped Dickens create some of his most memorable characters, from Sam Weller to David Copperfield, illustrating key novels over 23 years. Phiz was the descendant of Huguenots who anglicised their name to Browne early in the 18th century.
It’s worth adding the Spitalfields Life article, which gives a good feel for the French Hospital. https://spitalfieldslife.com/2015/07/29/the-huguenots-of-rochester/
I am so pleased to see this post. I hope they find someone good to take it on.
It’s the most fantastic opportunity for the right person. If I were several millennia younger, I would definitely go for it.