In the late 17th century, John Aubrey visited William Prynne, the Keeper of Tower Records, and was warmly welcomed at the Tower of London. Prynne ‘wore a long quilt cap, which came two or three inches over his eyes, which served him as an umbrella to defend his eyes from the light. About every three hours his man was to bring him a roll and a pot of ale to refocillate his wasted spirits’. Today’s curators generally refresh their ‘wasted spirits’ with tea instead.
More curators were required as the palaces became open to visitors on a formal basis. In 1892, Viscount Dillon was appointed first Curator of the Armouries and proceeded to try on many of the suits of armour himself. In 1899, Kensington Palace was opened to visitors and in 1912, the palace became home to the newly-created London Museum until it moved to its new home in the Barbican. Hampton Court Palace’s most flamboyant curator was the self-publicist Ernest Law, whose great tomes on the palace include many of the key historical documents.
