Collection: Knicky Chapman Collection

Description

The collection comprises colour slides, negatives, and prints, produced by Knicky Chapman, and dating from the 1940s to the 1990s. Chapman, born Dorothy Eileen May in 1912, was an amateur photographer who worked for several professional photographic companies over the course of her career. She was interested in architecture, heraldry and church monuments, and was a member of the Monumental Brass Society. She died in November 1994.

The main part of the collection, series one, contains approximately 5,200 colour slides taken by Chapman between the 1970s and the early 1990s. These have been organised by county, and geographically cover the majority of the country. The slides focus primarily on historic buildings, including churches, cathedrals, country houses, castles and abbeys. There are also street scenes and vernacular architecture. There is extensive coverage of church interiors including monuments and effigies, stained glass, and other fittings.

Series two contains 375 colour slides showing waterways and water transport structures, including canals, docks, aquaducts and tunnels. Series three contains 86 colour slides of railways and steam engines. Series four contains approximately 200 colour slides showing inn signs and village signs, again dating from the 1970s to early 1990s.

There are also a set of black and white negatives, series five, showing historic buildings and street scenes around the country, probably dating from the 1950s - 1960s. Some of these have corresponding prints.

Alongside this material is a set of black and white photographic prints of military subjects originating from Chapman's time with the WAAF during the Second World War, where she was stationed at Iver Heath and later at Pinewood Studios. The prints include images depicting British and American aircraft, including Flying Fortresses and Hurricanes, propaganda film stills, including 'Operational Height', 'Coastal Command', and 'Big Park', paratroops at Ringway, VIP visits, including Mrs Roosevelt, King George VI, and Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), and group shots from the signing of the Anglo Soviet Treaty, including Churchill, Anthony Eden, and Molotov.

The final part of the collection is made up of colour slides of locations in Wales, Scotland, and countries in Europe including Italy, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Holland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Archival History

Aquired by Donation from Janet Carr (daughter of Knicky Chapman). The slides were indexed by Janet Carr before deposition with the NMR. Slides are in numbered slide boxes and have been transferred to 5 archival boxes.

Box 1 Slides, Inns and Village Signs, Waterways, Railways, Bedforshire - Gloucestershire Box 2 Slides, Gloucesterhsire - Oxfordshire Box 3 Slides, Oxfordshire - Yorkshire Box 4 Slides, Negs and Prints - Misc and Europe including the Monumental Brass Society. Box 5 Prints.

Content

Rights

© Historic England Archive