New Directors
Peter Brown and Hannah Phillip are the new Directors of the York Civic Trust and Fairfax House
Photocall: There will be the opportunity to photograph Peter Brown and Hannah Phillip, the new directors of York Civic Trust and Fairfax House on Friday 30 October at 2.30pm.
Peter Brown will become the new Director of the York Civic Trust and Hannah Phillip will step into the role as Director at Fairfax House as from 31 October 2009, which marks the date, 25 years ago, that Fairfax House first opened its doors to the public.
Peter Brown has held the director’s post from the beginning since Fairfax House opened to the public as a historic house museum in autumn 1984. He joined the organisation from the National Trust and told the Board at the time that he only intended to stay for a couple of years!
During his time at the helm, Peter worked closely with John Shannon to raise
£1 million which was used to supplement the magnificent Noel Terry collection of furniture and clocks. The pictures, silver and other decorative pieces have really helped to bring the House to life. He has also, co-incidentally, mounted no fewer than 25 exhibitions, starting with his famous initial Pyramids of Pleasure show in 1990, through all the various activities of Eating and Drinking and being Merry in Georgian England and latterly more eclectically into architecture, jewellery, chinoiserie, cartoons and most recently the stunning silver servers exhibition on loan from the V & A.
Peter has an international reputation and has toured extensively spreading the word about Fairfax House and its stunning collection. Within the House and in the City, Peter has led walks and talks about Georgian living and spread a wealth of knowledge to local residents as well as UK and overseas visitors.
In the newly created role as Director of the York Civic Trust, Peter will work closely with the recently appointed chairman, Sir Ron Cooke, to enhance the City of York. Peter commented: “The York Civic Trust has a huge body of knowledge about the City to pass on to new generations and there is a lot of important work to be done. There are developments on an unprecedented scale on the back-burner waiting to happen, these include York Central, the old sugar works site and the Coppergate development. I welcome my new position within the Trust and I am really pleased to have a more pro-active role.”
Sir Ron Cooke, Chair of York Civic Trust, added: “Peter is a tremendous asset to the organisation. His own knowledge of the city, and his ability to draw upon the world class expertise which is available to the Trust, means we can speak with authority and conviction when dealing with the local authority and wider field. His first 25 years have been a remarkable achievement and Fairfax House is in many respects Peter Brown’s creation. As its first director he has ensured the House and its contents are amongst the finest and best displayed in England. Now, and with a new Director of Fairfax House in place, he will be able to devote more of his time as the Trust's Director to developing further the activities of the Trust in the city."
Hannah Phillip, who joined the Fairfax House team in April this year, moved from
South Australia to take up this post. Hannah was born in Yorkshire but has lived for over 25 years in the wine growing region of the Barossa Valley in Australia.
Whilst in Australia, she managed historic flagship mansion, Ayers House. Named after its first owner, Sir Henry Ayers, and today managed by the National Trust of South Australia, it is one of the last remaining grand 19th century houses of North Terrace in Adelaide. During her time there she successfully achieved a range of milestone-making goals for the museum which has earned it recognition and respect as a major cultural tourism site.
Hannah is delighted to take up the Directorship of Fairfax House at this special juncture, in its landmark silver anniversary year. Of her new role at Fairfax House, Hannah said: “I look forward to taking the museum forward as we venture into our next 25 years. I believe we have an exciting time ahead of us with many opportunities to explore. I hope that I can bring a new perspective and perhaps some fresh ideas to the role. Over the next couple of months as we look ahead to 2010, I look forward to helping to set and achieve new goals for the museum and working on another innovative and diverse events programme.”
Ends
Press Contacts:
Melanie Paris
Tel: 01904 647408
E mail: hello@melanieparis.com
Peter Brown will become the new Director of the York Civic Trust and Hannah Phillip will step into the role as Director at Fairfax House as from 31 October 2009, which marks the date, 25 years ago, that Fairfax House first opened its doors to the public.
Peter Brown has held the director’s post from the beginning since Fairfax House opened to the public as a historic house museum in autumn 1984. He joined the organisation from the National Trust and told the Board at the time that he only intended to stay for a couple of years!
During his time at the helm, Peter worked closely with John Shannon to raise
£1 million which was used to supplement the magnificent Noel Terry collection of furniture and clocks. The pictures, silver and other decorative pieces have really helped to bring the House to life. He has also, co-incidentally, mounted no fewer than 25 exhibitions, starting with his famous initial Pyramids of Pleasure show in 1990, through all the various activities of Eating and Drinking and being Merry in Georgian England and latterly more eclectically into architecture, jewellery, chinoiserie, cartoons and most recently the stunning silver servers exhibition on loan from the V & A.
Peter has an international reputation and has toured extensively spreading the word about Fairfax House and its stunning collection. Within the House and in the City, Peter has led walks and talks about Georgian living and spread a wealth of knowledge to local residents as well as UK and overseas visitors.
In the newly created role as Director of the York Civic Trust, Peter will work closely with the recently appointed chairman, Sir Ron Cooke, to enhance the City of York. Peter commented: “The York Civic Trust has a huge body of knowledge about the City to pass on to new generations and there is a lot of important work to be done. There are developments on an unprecedented scale on the back-burner waiting to happen, these include York Central, the old sugar works site and the Coppergate development. I welcome my new position within the Trust and I am really pleased to have a more pro-active role.”
Sir Ron Cooke, Chair of York Civic Trust, added: “Peter is a tremendous asset to the organisation. His own knowledge of the city, and his ability to draw upon the world class expertise which is available to the Trust, means we can speak with authority and conviction when dealing with the local authority and wider field. His first 25 years have been a remarkable achievement and Fairfax House is in many respects Peter Brown’s creation. As its first director he has ensured the House and its contents are amongst the finest and best displayed in England. Now, and with a new Director of Fairfax House in place, he will be able to devote more of his time as the Trust's Director to developing further the activities of the Trust in the city."
Hannah Phillip, who joined the Fairfax House team in April this year, moved from
South Australia to take up this post. Hannah was born in Yorkshire but has lived for over 25 years in the wine growing region of the Barossa Valley in Australia.
Whilst in Australia, she managed historic flagship mansion, Ayers House. Named after its first owner, Sir Henry Ayers, and today managed by the National Trust of South Australia, it is one of the last remaining grand 19th century houses of North Terrace in Adelaide. During her time there she successfully achieved a range of milestone-making goals for the museum which has earned it recognition and respect as a major cultural tourism site.
Hannah is delighted to take up the Directorship of Fairfax House at this special juncture, in its landmark silver anniversary year. Of her new role at Fairfax House, Hannah said: “I look forward to taking the museum forward as we venture into our next 25 years. I believe we have an exciting time ahead of us with many opportunities to explore. I hope that I can bring a new perspective and perhaps some fresh ideas to the role. Over the next couple of months as we look ahead to 2010, I look forward to helping to set and achieve new goals for the museum and working on another innovative and diverse events programme.”
Ends
Press Contacts:
Melanie Paris
Tel: 01904 647408
E mail: hello@melanieparis.com