The Arts Society Taunton

Heritage Volunteer Project:The Jeremy Cooper Postcard Collection at Hestercombe House, Taunton, Somerset.

A few years ago writer and Art Historian Jeremy Cooper donated his collection of 5,200 pre-1920 postcards to the Hestercombe Archive.  In May 2021 it was agreed that volunteers from The Arts Society Taunton would record the collection on a database which could eventually be interrogated by members of the public.

Initially five volunteers headed by Jon MacIntosh (Heritage Volunteering Organiser) with Moira Townsend as Project Leader began work in September 2021 after a delay because of the Covid pandemic. Hestercombe Archivist, Kim Legate, acted as the Host Organisation’s Representative.

The postcards were stored in six boxes and the volunteers began by numbering them and then scanning and categorising them into subject matter – topography, occupations, sport, entertainment etc.  The entry into spreadsheets, one per box, was slow and frustrating. Equipment was limited and it was discovered that using spread sheets was not ideal for the task. It was difficult for the volunteers to decipher the messages on the cards and to distinguish whether the image was sepia, tinted or colour. Nevertheless the volunteers persisted and completed the entries in May 2024.

A computer expert, John Baker, had come on board early in 2024 to see how best to combine the six spreadsheets into one open access database.  Not an easy job which is still ongoing but the Arts Society Volunteers have no further involvement.  Moira Townsend stayed on until August 2025 painstakingly correcting errors and noting any cards that had been misfiled or gone missing.

This was a truly Herculean task which comprised a total of 3,500 volunteer hours.  Kim Legate noted on the Project Completion Form:

“Exceptional product that will be of considerable historic value.  The team was ably managed and efficient, a delight to have at Hestercombe”.