Lawrence Burgess, born in 1901, was appointed Deputy City Librarian in 1934 and spent the next 32 years working for the library service, retiring in 1966. He had previously worked for Cardiff libraries. He was active in the fields of local history and archaeology and took a keen interest in the preservation and exploitation of the town’s archives. He was a founder member of the Friends of Old Southampton, and a supporter of the Archaeological Society and the City of Southampton Society. He published a number of books and many articles for the Daily Echo and other local journals. Together with H. S. Faircloth he produced in 1954 a series of ten historical perspective maps of Southampton 250 BC to 1950 AD (images 1 and 2). For the Southampton Record Series, he edited the volume on the Southampton Terrier of 1454. During World War Two, what is now known as the Page and Moody Collection in Southampton Archives was rescued by Burgess from a refuse skip.

He retired from the library service in 1966 and died in 1983. He lived for much of his life at Warwick Road in Shirley.

1. Southampton in 1250

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One of the ten historical perspective maps of Southampton.

2. Southampton in 1900

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One of the ten historical perspective maps of Southampton.

3. L A Burgess as Deputy Librarian, 1935

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From a Library Staff Album.


Further reading:
Familiar and Forgotten, by Southampton City Art Gallery. (HS/t)


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