My wife, Margaret O’Sullivan, who has died aged 75, was the county archivist for Derbyshire for 20 years from 1989, and a local historian, in particular of women’s lives.
She wrote extensively for the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, on historians and antiquaries of Derbyshire, and contributed to the dictionary’s expanded coverage of women – including two of Josiah Wedgwood’s designers, Elizabeth, Lady Templetown, and Emma Crewe.
Born in Acton, west London, she was the daughter of Mary (nee Keogh), who died when Margaret was eight, and Patrick O’Sullivan, a building worker. After school in Acton, she went to Queen Mary College (now Queen Mary University of London) in 1964 to study English, then did her doctorate there (1974). Her topic, political prophecy in literary texts, is now fashionable and she is cited in many bibliographies in the field.
Her professional career was spent as an archivist with local authorities. Her first post was at Guildford, Surrey (1972-74), where she and I met when I was appointed assistant curator at Guildford Museum. We married in 1974, then moved to Staffordshire, where I was the county arts officer, and Margaret was the assistant archivist (1974-86).
She then worked for Telford Development Corporation (1986–89), before arriving at Derbyshire Record Office, where she was the county and diocesan archivist until retirement in 2010. There, she oversaw the establishment of a new archive centre and the beginning of electronic cataloguing.
Margaret never ceased to have a scholarly frame of mind. Publications included the Derbyshire section for English County Histories: A Guide (1994) and The Derbyshire Medieval Dance Project, in the Journal of the Society of Archivists (1999). Her discovery of the c1500 Gresley Dance manuscript led to it now being a staple of the early music and dance circuit.
From 2012, in retirement, Margaret began to research and write in earnest on feminist interests. She wrote extensively for Local History News and for the Local Historian, with a last piece on Selina Bracebridge, “spiritual mother” of Florence Nightingale, in the former’s spring issue. The article Wedgwood’s Women Designers will be included in The Staffordshire Archaeology and History Society Transactions next year and an article on Theodosia Hinckes, a West Midlands philanthropist and patron of the arts, will be published in the transactions in 2022.
Margaret’s commitment to the users and readers of archives led her to a leading role in the British Association for Local History as a trustee, and later its chair (2001-04).
A great archivist, Margaret had a remarkable life of patient, diligent work and generosity to all. She was loved and respected by more people than perhaps she realised.
She is survived by me and her brother, Patrick.
