Charlie Barber Archive

mayoral portrait of Charlie Barber

I have a collection of various diaries, photos, papers and artefacts relating to my grandfather Arthur Charles Barber, who rose from a hard upbringing to serve terms as mayor of Lewes in East Sussex, England. He and his wife Dorothy were mayor and mayoress in 1964-65, 1965-66 and 1968-69.

I have now passed on the key artefacts to The Keep archives in Brighton, so that they can be accessed by parties interested in Sussex local history. The specific item link is: https://www.thekeep.info/collections/getrecord/GB179_AMS7475.

Diaries

Charlie Barber kept comprehensive diaires while mayor, detailing official functions and meetings, but also personal reflections on local, national and international events, together with family news. They are all available here for download in PDF format:

From
To
PDF download
Guide to family names in diaries barber_people_guide.pdf
20 May 1964 15 Mar 1965 1964_05_20_to_1965_03_15.pdf
28 Mar 1965 03 Oct 1965 1965_03_28_to_1965_10_03.pdf
03 Oct 1965 14 Mar 1966 1965_10_03_to_1966_03_14.pdf
02 Jun 1966 02 Oct 1966 1966_06_02_to_1966_10_02.pdf
04 Oct 1966 21 Aug 1968 1966_10_04_to_1968_08_21.pdf
22 Aug 1968 26 Nov 1969 1968_08_22_to_1969_11_26.pdf
27 Nov 1969 16 Nov 1970 1969_11_27_to_1970_11_16.pdf
20 Nov 1970 12 May 1972 1970_11_20_to_1972_05_12.pdf
13 May 1972 04 Sep 1972 1972_05_13_to_1972_09_04.pdf
05 Sep 1972 27 Jan 1973 1972_09_05_to_1973_01_27.pdf
28 Jan 1973 16 May 1973 1973_01_28_to_1973_05_16.pdf

Additionally the following folders of loose items are in the collection:

Content
PDF download
Speeches by Charlie as mayor charlie_speeches.pdf
Speeches by Dorothy as mayoress dorothy_speeches.pdf
Essays by both Dorothy and Charlie some_essays.pdf
Memorial pamphlets, eulogy, biographical pieces memorial_biographical.pdf
Other bits and pieces bits_pieces.pdf

Audio Recordings

I have digitised some interviews with Charlie and his wife Dorothy which were on audio cassette, knowing that it will not be long before it is impossible to find a machine to play them on. Click to play each track directly, or do right click... save if you want to download a local copy.

Graham Mayhew interview with Charlie and Dorothy:
part 1 MP3
part 2 MP3

Ted Nalchett reminiscences of Charlie and other Lewes characters:
MP3

John Jacobs interviews with Charlie:
part 1 MP3
part 2 MP3
part 3 MP3
part 4 MP3
part 5 MP3
part 6 MP3

Photos

Charlie and Dorothy with daughters and husbands
Charlie Barber on the mayoral throne
Set of diaries from start of mayoral career and beyond, ~10 years
First page of diaries, first day as mayor 20-May-1964
Suitcases of memorabilia
War medals and small artefacts
Pre-mayoral published one-page biography
Freeman of Lewes award certificate
Freeman of Lewes cup
Testimonial of thanks for mayoral service
Past mayor medal
Past mayoress medal
Various Charlie pictures inc marching with Home Guard
Line-up with some dignitaries
Baxters long service caricature award

To avoid spam, here is my email addresses -- but you'll need to type it in properly:
charlie .at. wartnaby (dot) org


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