The Man: Dr George Herbert Fowler
The Collection
Dr George Herbert Fowler (1861-1940)
Dr George Herbert Fowler was a professor of Zoology, but after retirement at the age of 48, began to be interested in the conservation of historical records and archives.
Fowler set up the Bedfordshire Historical Records Association in 1912. The following year, Fowler founded the first County Record Office in Bedfordshire and the whole concept of county archives. He was the first County Archivist and devised an archive classification system still in use today.
Using his scientific background, Fowler taught himself to repair and conserve old documents. He published The Care of County Muniments in 1923 and the collection copy contains Fowler's handwritten manuscript amendments for the second edition.
Fowler wrote over 50 humorous limericks to illustrate the proper pronunciation of Bedfordshire place names.
“Said a General staying at Riseley
Who had dined very well but not wisely,
As he laid his poor head in a strawberry bed
'Pray call me at seven precisely'”
Dr George Herbert Fowler