Salon was not due to be published again until 1st September, but this special issue is being circulated to warn Fellows of the extended closure of the Library and other parts of Burlington House, and to announce the sad news of the death of our Fellow and former Council member, John Barron.
Burlington House: extended closure
Major works at the Societys apartments to replace the boiler and central heating system will not now be completed until October. Regrettably this means that the Library and some parts of the building will remain closed throughout September and into October.
The new opening dates are as follows:
The Library and its basement areas will re-open on Wednesday 1st October;
The Fellows Room will re-open to Fellows on Monday 20th October.
Unfortunately objects held in the Museum Room will not be accessible again until Friday 31st October.
The Societys first meeting of the October to December session will take place on Thursday 2nd October when we look forward to welcoming Fellows back to a warmer Burlington House.
The Society has just been informed of the sad news of the death on 16 August of Professor John Penrose Barron FSA FKC AcadEur, Master of St Peter’s College, Oxford, from 1991 to 2003 and Honorary Fellow since 2003.
Our President Geoff Wainwright said that: ‘John was a very gentle and honourable man; we are the poorer for his death’. On behalf of the Society, Geoff has written to John’s wife, our Fellow Professor Caroline Barron, and his daughters, Catherine and Helen, to extend our deep sympathies.
John’s funeral will take place at 2.30pm on Wednesday 27th August in St Peter’s College Chapel, Oxford. All are very welcome to attend. There will not be a memorial service, so the funeral will also be a celebration of John’s life. There will be a private family interment in Cornwall subsequently.
It is expected that obituaries will appear in The Times and the Daily Telegraph in the next few days.