Mrs Helen E O'Neil: photographs
551 686
Description Mrs Helen E O'Neil: photographs
Date 1954
Collection Mrs Helen E O'Neil: photographs
Catalogue Number 551 686
Category All Other
Scope and Content The collection comprises photographs, mostly of archaeological sites, in Argyll, Caithness, Midlothian and Orkney, apparently taken by O'Neil during a tour of Scotland in 1954. Sites include Castle Law, Midlothian, and Ring of Brodgar, Orkney.
Archive History No formal record of accession has been identified so far, however, the format of mount used to support the photographic prints would indicate that these were acquired by RCAHMS between 1966 and c.1985.
System of Arrangement The collection is arranged by the former counties of Argyll, Caithness, Midlothian and Orkney.
Related Material Gloucestershire Archives Collection D2871 Mrs H E O'Neil of Bourton-on-the-Water, historian; Dr C Scott-Garrett of Lydney, historian and archaeologist; Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, Cheltenham, Corinium Museum, Cirencester, and Gloucester City Museum all hold notes and finds from archaeological investigations.
Access Conditions Open, but note that access may be subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act and conservation requirements. Please contact the archive to confirm access in advance of a visit.
Administrative History Helen Evangeline O’Neil (nee Donovan), historian and archaeologist (1893-1984). From the 1920s, Mrs O’Neil's family home was at Camp House, Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, a house built upon the earthworks of Salmonsbury Iron Age fort. In the 1930s this was excavated under the direction of Dr Gerald Dunning: O’Neil took an active role in the work as Secretary to the excavation committee, and through this also met her future husband, the Ministry of Works archaeologist Bryan O’Neil. She took part, directing or advising, in numerous excavations both in the region and more widely, including Romano-British sites along the Fosse Way, 1930s, Leadenwell Roman villa (1934), Whittington Court Roman villa (1948-51), Prestbury moated manor (1951), and the defences of the City of Gloucester (1958-64). In 1932 O’Neil became a member of the Royal Archaeological Institute, and in 1933 a member of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. In 1938 she was appointed Honorary Curator of the newly opened Corinium Museum in Cirencester. In 1948 she was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and in 1968 was awarded an MBE for services to archaeology. O’Neil’s numerous publications include: ‘The Roman Villa at Park Street, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire: Report on the Excavations of 1943-45’ (1945), ‘Whittington Court Roman Villa, Whittington, Gloucestershire’ (1952), (with J M C Toynbee), 'Sculptures from a Romano-British well in Gloucestershire', Journal of Roman Studies (1958).
Accruals No further acquisitions are anticipated.
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