A good day but sad
Today I had a trip down to the BM, mainly work related but more importantly, because today we paid tribute to a fantastic man, Geoff Egan.
Geoff was, to our minds, taken before his time. He suffered a heart attack just before Christmas. That act removed a kind caring geninue man, with a real passion for his treasures. It removed an irreplaceable individual, who was an incredible font of knowledge. You could hand him a small fragment of something, he would peer at it and then announce what it originally came from. If it was partially rareand unusual, he would take great pleasure into scurrying away and researching it. It may take him a bit of time but he would find a parallel for it.
Not only did he have an almost encyclopaedia knowledge of medieval and post medieval finds, but it was his enthusiam for his subject which got most people. He would talk to anyone and get them interested in some small scrap of lead. Those were his treasures. Not the gold or silver finds that other people considered to be treasure, but the base metal toys, trinkets, buckles, brooches and in particular cloth seals. Give him a buckle and he could read its life story into it.
It is partially down to his hard work and research that finds studies have developed the way they have. We are fortunate that he did take the time to publish his research. In that sense, he will live on. I really doubt that there isn't a finds person in the country, or probably even throughout Europe and the Americans who hasn't used one of his catalogues at some point in their career. I for one use his Medieval Catalogues an awful lot. So thank you Geoff for doing that.
I am very grateful i got the opportunity to talk to him about my folding strap clasps project. (scroll through the blog posts on finds.org.uk for more details). He thought it was a fantastic idea and was more than happy to help me out. I think he was also quite pleased that his work inspired someone else. I will be continuing the research, with a datasheet to publish first and it will be dedicated to an amazing man. Someone who I as only just getting to know was a person, but was very familiar to me through his published literature.
So farewell Geoff. May heaven be full of your treasures ready for cataloging. You will be missed, by significantly more people than you may have realised. However your memory and dedication will live on for a long time.
Geoff Egan. Medieval and Post Medieval Finds Advisor, Portable Antiquities Scheme. 1951 to 2010. Rest In Peace.
Geoff was, to our minds, taken before his time. He suffered a heart attack just before Christmas. That act removed a kind caring geninue man, with a real passion for his treasures. It removed an irreplaceable individual, who was an incredible font of knowledge. You could hand him a small fragment of something, he would peer at it and then announce what it originally came from. If it was partially rareand unusual, he would take great pleasure into scurrying away and researching it. It may take him a bit of time but he would find a parallel for it.
Not only did he have an almost encyclopaedia knowledge of medieval and post medieval finds, but it was his enthusiam for his subject which got most people. He would talk to anyone and get them interested in some small scrap of lead. Those were his treasures. Not the gold or silver finds that other people considered to be treasure, but the base metal toys, trinkets, buckles, brooches and in particular cloth seals. Give him a buckle and he could read its life story into it.
It is partially down to his hard work and research that finds studies have developed the way they have. We are fortunate that he did take the time to publish his research. In that sense, he will live on. I really doubt that there isn't a finds person in the country, or probably even throughout Europe and the Americans who hasn't used one of his catalogues at some point in their career. I for one use his Medieval Catalogues an awful lot. So thank you Geoff for doing that.
I am very grateful i got the opportunity to talk to him about my folding strap clasps project. (scroll through the blog posts on finds.org.uk for more details). He thought it was a fantastic idea and was more than happy to help me out. I think he was also quite pleased that his work inspired someone else. I will be continuing the research, with a datasheet to publish first and it will be dedicated to an amazing man. Someone who I as only just getting to know was a person, but was very familiar to me through his published literature.
So farewell Geoff. May heaven be full of your treasures ready for cataloging. You will be missed, by significantly more people than you may have realised. However your memory and dedication will live on for a long time.
Geoff Egan. Medieval and Post Medieval Finds Advisor, Portable Antiquities Scheme. 1951 to 2010. Rest In Peace.