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Dame Margaret Kate Weston, DBE, FMA (7 March 1926 – 12 January 2021) was a British museum curator who was the director of the Science Museum, London, between 1973 and 1986. She began her career as an electrical engineer before joining the Science Museum in 1955. Weston oversaw the expansion of the museum into the Science Museum Group, including the foundation of the National Railway Museum in York and the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford. She also played a key role in acquiring Concorde 002, which is now housed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton.

Early Life and Education

Margaret Weston was born in Oakridge, Gloucestershire, the daughter of two head teachers, Margaret (nee Bright) and Charles Weston, and educated at Stroud High School. Her degree in engineering was from the University of London.

Career

After graduation, she became an electrical engineer at the General Electric Company (GEC), one of only three women amongst 300 apprentices, and specialised in high-voltage insulation, and was eventually appointed to the senior technical staff of the company. In 1954, at the age of 28, she achieved the status of Chartered Electrical Engineer.

In 1955, she joined the Science Museum in London, as Assistant Keeper (First Class) of Electrical Engineering and Communications. She was promoted to Deputy Keeper of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Communications; in 1967, she was appointed Keeper of the Department of Museum Services at the Science Museum, the first time a woman was appointed as a Keeper there. In 1973 she was appointed Director of the Science Museum, succeeding Sir David Follett, and becoming the first woman to serve as director of a British National Museum. She held the position until 1986, during which time she oversaw a significant expansion of what is now known as the Science Museum Group.

On her first day as Director, Weston visited York and announced the city as the home of the National Railway Museum; the museum was opened in 1975. She also oversaw the acquisition of Concorde 002, the second prototype of the aircraft, for the Science Museum. She described how the Museum acquired Concorde, saying, "I had a telephone call – it was all telephone calls in those earlier days, not e-mails – and the man didn't give his name or his department. But he just said, do you want Concorde 002? It's coming to the end of its test service. And I said, well I want to preserve it but I have no place to put it. But yes I'll take it." The aircraft made its last flight to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton in July 1976, where it is housed.

In 1976, she oversaw the display of an extensive collection of biomedical objects from Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection, which were loaned to the Science Museum, broadening the museum's scope considerably. In 1980–81, two new galleries opened, "Glimpses of Medical History" and "The Science and Art of Medicine", to display the Wellcome material and other medical displays.

In 1980, Weston acquired a former Royal Air Force airfield at Wroughton, Wiltshire. The field was used to house large objects such as aircraft, trams and an inert nuclear missile, and was opened as the National Collections Centre.

Weston was instrumental in establishing the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (now the National Media Museum) in Bradford, which opened on 16 June 1983 and featured the UK's largest cinema screen and the country's first IMAX cinema.

In 1984 she was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. She chose the subject "The Science Museum and Change – Over the last Thirty Years". She was also the president of the Heritage Railway Association until 2011 and the patron of the Stroudwater Textile Trust.

On her retirement in 1986, Weston was presented with a motorbike by the museum staff. In retirement, Weston continued to work in the museum sector as a volunteer. In Stroud, she was chair of the Cowle Trust, which opened a Museum in the Park and a walled garden.

Weston died in January 2021 at the age of 94.

Honours

Margaret Weston was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1979 Birthday Honours. She was also made a Fellow of the Museums Association (FMA) in 1984. In 1984 she was made an Honorary Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge. She received honorary degrees from the Universities of Salford, Manchester (1984), Aston, Bradford, Leeds, Loughborough and the Open University.

In 2018, she was made a Fellow of the Science Museum. The fellowship was presented by Dame Mary Archer at Dame Margaret's home.

Bibliography

• Foreword for The Rise of the Science Museum under Henry Lyons by David Follett.
• Introduction for Beware of Trains by (the unrelated) David Weston.

References

1. ^ "Tuesday, 26th June 1979". London Gazette (47888): B51. 26 June 1979.
2. Pat Carrick, Catalogue of Research Material on Oakridge, Far Oakridge, Waterlane, Bournes Green, Tunley and Daneway, Part II Archived 13 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ "Honorary Fellows". Newnham College. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
4. ^ Highfield, Roger (18 January 2021). "Dame Margaret Weston obituary". the Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
5. "Happy 90th Birthday to Dame Margaret Weston!". stroudhigh.gloucs.sch.uk. Stroud High School. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
6. ^ I. R. (1967). "Appointment of a new keeper in the Science Museum". The Woman Engineer. 10 (5): 9.
7. ^ "Stroud woman, 92, receives prestigious science award". Stroud News and Journal. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
8. ^ Ian Blatchford (13 January 2021). "Remembering Dame Margaret Weston". Science Museum Group. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
9. "Dame Margaret Weston obituary". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
10. "Dame, who was instrumental in forming Bradford Media Museum, dies at 94". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
11. ^ "Happy Birthday to Dame Margaret Weston". blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
12. "Concorde Fleet Air Air Museum Yeovilton Somerset". fleetairarm.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
13. "Hugh Miller Macmillan". Macmillan Memorial Lectures. Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
14. "Appointment as President of Heritage Railway Association". The Railway Heritage Committee. February 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
15. "Stroud Textile Trust". stroud-textile.org.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
16. "The Walled Garden". Museum in the Park. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
17. ^ Newman, Rowan (14 January 2021). "Dame, who was instrumental in forming Bradford Media Museum, dies at 93". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
18. Manchester, University of Salford (9 April 2015). "Dame Margaret Kate Weston, recipient of honorary degree". www.salford.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
19. "Science Museum Director's Dinner". 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
20. Blatchford, Ian. "Obituary | Margaret Weston, 1926-2021". Museums Association. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
21. David Follett, The Rise of the Science Museum Under Henry Lyons. London: Science Museum, 1978. ISBN 0-901805-19-X.
22. Weston, David (1981). Beware of Trains. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1060-9.

• 1926 births
• 2021 deaths
• British curators
• Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• Directors of the Science Museum, London
• Fellows of the Institution of Engineering and Technology
• Fellows of the Museums Association
• Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge
• People educated at Stroud High School
• People from Stroud
• People from Stroud District
• Women museum directors