O'Connor-Toulmin Family Collection
Scope and Contents
The collection contains photographs, including early family photographs of the O'Connor family, contemporary research, journal articles and books written by Vanessa Toulmin. Also included in the collection are manuscripts and newspaper cuttings.
Dates
- Creation: c1900 - 2001
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Items are available to view by appointment in the NFCA reading room
Conditions Governing Use
Copies may be supplied or produced at the discretion of National Fairground and Circus Archive, subject to copyright law and condition of the material
Biographical / Historical
The O’Connor-Toulmin family has a long tradition on the travelling entertainment coming from long standing show families from Ireland, Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Professor Vanessa Toulmin was born in Morecambe, one of seven siblings. Her mother was from a Lancashire show family, the O’Connors, who lived at Morecambe where her parents had set up at the Winter Gardens fairground and her grandmother was from a Yorkshire family that travelled the Pot fairs in Yorkshire and as far down as Cambridge. The family left Morecambe when Vanessa was 8 years old after the death of her grandparents. Vanessa spent her childhood working on the fair for her aunts and uncles, in Wales and in Lancashire spinning candy floss and minding children’s rides, amongst other things.
Extent
3 Box(es) (395 photographs, 1 box and 14 books)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Catalogued according to type
Subject
Cultural context
Occupation
Topical
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Created by Ian Trowell, updated by Arantza Barrutia on Finding Aid Date field date
- Date
- 2 March 2015
- Description rules
- International Standard for Archival Description - General
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the National Fairground and Circus Archive Repository
The University of Sheffield
Western Bank
Sheffield South Yorkshire S10 2TN United Kingdom
0114 222 7231
lib-special@sheffield.ac.uk