Time & Location
23 Jul 2023, 14:45
Adastra Hall, Keymer, Hassocks BN6 8QH, UK
About the event
As a Society we were very privileged to have John Cannon as a Vice President and archivist and it was a great loss for us all when he died about three years ago. We were, however, delighted when John’s family donated his collection of Gilbert and Sullivan- related presentations to Laurence who has now begun their exploration and digitisation so that we can go on enjoying such a rich set of material.
On Sunday, 23rd July, Laurence gave the Society a fascinating presentation, drawing on John’s work, which included information about early D’Oyly Carte recordings, vintage photographs of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society in London and the D’Oyly Carte Centenary celebrations in 1975. The presentation concluded with lovely images of Melvyn’s legendary Gilbert and Sullivan museum at Oak Hall, Sheffield Park.
While the presentation was highly informative, we all also enjoyed the associated anecdotes such as Laurence attending the D’Oyly Carte Centenary and being sat next to someone who had been a housemaid to Gilbert at Grims Dyke in her youth.
The great care with which Laurence is curating John’s collection is evident and we look forward to further presentations in the future, not to mention Sylvia’s lovely scones!