2016 - 2018 The Project
Mary amassed a huge archive of written notes, diaries and slides during her life. With her support, SEWBReC, along with the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, the British Institute for Geological Conservation, Cardiff Naturalists’ Society, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, Glamorgan Archives, and the West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre, developed an application for the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) that would enable Mary's archive to be digitised and made available to more people. It was also an opportunity to tell some of the stories of this pioneering and hard-working naturalist.
Funding from HLF was secured and the Mary Gillham Archive Project commenced in February 2016. Through the commitment and enthusiasm of more than 70 volunteers Mary's archive has come to life, with over 100,000 wildlife records available to search online, 20,000 slides digitised and transcribed, a series of outreach events, oral history recordings, retellings of some of Mary's more adventurous trips, as well as a botany mentorship scheme to help a new generation of budding botanists develop their botanical skills.
Mary's archive now resides in Glamorgan Archives and the digital material has been lodged with the National Library of Wales project: People's Collection Wales.
