Mary Elizabeth Burkett (1924-2014) was an English supporter of the arts, especially in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, the director of the

Abbot Hall Art Gallery Abbot Hall Art Gallery is an art gallery in Kendal, England. Abbot Hall was built in 1759 by Colonel George Wilson, the second son of Daniel Wilson of Dallam Tower, a large house and country estate nearby. It was built on the site of the old A ...

from 1966 to 1986, and an expert on felt-making.

Early life and education

Burkett was born 7 October 1924 in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, to Alice (nee Gaussen), a violinist, and Ridley Burkett, a watchmaker and repairer. She attended Whickham School, gained a BA and teaching qualification at St Hild's College, University of Durham, and moved down to London to work in teaching. In 1954 she moved to Cumbria as Arts and Craft Lecturer at Charlotte Mason College,

Ambleside Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the ...

, but gave up this job in 1962 to spend seven months travelling in Turkey and Iran with her friend Genette Malet de Carteret. They co-wrote an account of this trip, ''The Beckoning East: A journey through Turkey and Persia in 1962'' in 2006. It was on this trip that Burkett first developed an interest in

felt Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...

and feltmaking.

Abbot Hall

After her travels Burkett was appointed to the staff of the newly-opened

in 1962, and became its director in 1966, succeeding Helen Kapp. She held this post until she retired in 1986. Under her leadership the museum developed and expanded, and major acquisitions included

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadin ...

's ''Trezion'', works by

George Romney George Romney may refer to: *George Romney (painter) (1734–1802), English portrait painter * George S. Romney (1874–1935), president of the college now known as Brigham Young University-Idaho * G. Ott Romney (1892–1973), American foot ...

, and the

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

''The Great Picture'' of

Lady Anne Clifford Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery, ''suo jure'' 14th Baroness de Clifford (30 January 1590 – 22 March 1676) was an English peeress. In 1605 she inherited her father's ancient barony by writ and became ''suo jure'' ...

. She established the adjacent

Museum of Lakeland Life & Industry The Museum of Lakeland Life & Industry, formerly the Museum of Lakeland Life and sometimes abbreviated to MOLLI, is a local museum in Kendal, Cumbria, northwest England.

which opened in 1971 and in 1973 was the first winner of the

Museum of the Year The Museum of the Year Award, formerly known as the Gulbenkian Prize and the Art Fund Prize, is an annual prize awarded to a museum or Art gallery, gallery in the United Kingdom for a "track record of imagination, innovation and excellence". Th ...

award. While at Abbot Hall she wrote several books on Cumbrian artists and other personalities, including

John Bracken John Bracken (22 June 1883 – 18 March 1969) was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–194 ...

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but lived in exile from 1937. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dadaism, Constructivism (a ...

, George Smith ("the Skiddaw Hermit"), May Moore, Joseph Sutton,

Christopher Steele Christopher David Steele (born 24 June 1964) is a British former intelligence officer with the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1987 until his retirement in 2009. He ran the Russia desk at MI6 headquarters in London between 2006 and 200 ...

and George Senhouse. She co-authored books on William Green and Mathias Read with David Sloss, and on

Jenny Cowern Jenny Cowern (1943–2005) was a visual, multi-media artist, who took inspiration from the natural surroundings of her adopted county, Cumbria, to produce some of the most dramatic and lasting images of nature. An acute observer of the continual ...

and Percy Kelly with Valerie Rickerby. ''William Green of Ambleside'' won the

Lakeland Book of the Year The Lakeland Book of the Year, also known as the Hunter Davies Lakeland Book of the Year is an award given annually for a book "set in or featuring Cumbria in some way", and is named for the Lake District of north west England. It was founded by ...

in 1984, and ''Percy Kelly: a Cumbrian Artist'' in 1998. A book of her letters from Percy Kelly, ''Dear Mary, Love Percy: A Creative Thread - The Illustrated Letters of Percy Kelly to Mary Burkett 1968-1993'' edited by David Sloss was published in 2011 and won the same award.

Felt

In 1979 she organised an exhibition "Art of the Feltmaker" at Abbot Hall, and wrote a book to accompany the exhibition, which toured the country. Following the interest in this exhibition the International Feltmakers Association was founded in 1984 and Burkett became its first President.

After Abbot Hall

In the year of her retirement from Abbot Hall, Burkett inherited

Isel Hall Isel Hall is an ancient Cumbrian residence that sits on a steep rise on the northern banks of the River Derwent, Cumbria, River Derwent, south of Bassenthwaite Lake, east-north-east of Cockermouth, with views over the Lake District fells and ...

near Cockermouth from a friend and distant relation Margaret Austen Leigh. This included a 14th-century

pele tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and about 1600. They were free-standing ...

but was in a state of disrepair: Burkett "was once introduced to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

as "the maddest woman in England" for taking it on.", but opened it to the public weekly with volunteer help and had plans to make it an artists' colony. She was a supporter of many cultural institutions in Cumbria. She was a Trustee of the Rosehill Theatre in

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

, a director of

Border Television ITV Border, previously Border Television and commonly referred to as simply Border, is the Channel 3 service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the England/Scotland border region, covering most of Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway, the ...

, and a member of

Carlisle Cathedral Carlisle Cathedral, formally the , is a Listed building, Grade I listed Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It was founded as an Augustinian priory and became a cathedral in 1133. It is a ...

's Diocesan Advisory Committee and its Fabric Committee. She helped raise funds to establish Senhouse Roman Museum in

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is on the coast of the Solway Firth and lies at the northern end of the former Cumberland Co ...

, and was a trustee for 20 years and its chair for seven. Burkett appeared in a 2007 BBC documentary about her friend,

Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright Order of the British Empire, MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalking, fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial ...

. They had had weekly meetings while she was director of Abbot Hall and he was Kendal borough treasurer. Burkett died 12 November 2014. The previous night she had attended a lecture at Senhouse Roman Museum, and a few days before had announced a grant award as President of the Rosehill Theatre Trust. Her substantial art collection was auctioned after her death.

Recognition

Burkett was appointed

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the begin ...

. A 1986 oil portrait by

Carel Weight Carel Victor Morlais Weight, (10 September 1908 – 13 August 1997) was an English painter. Biography Weight was born in Paddington in 1908. His father was a bank cashier and his mother, who was of Swedish and German descent, was a chirop ...

, titled ''Mary Burkett, OBE'', is held in the Abbot Hall Art Gallery.

Selected publications

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