Agnes Conway

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Agnes Ethel Conway (born May 2, 1885 ; died 1950 ) was a British historian and archaeologist who worked in the Middle East from 1929 to 1936. She was known for her collaboration with her husband George Horsfield in Petra and Kilwa, and made detailed studies of the history of her father's castle, Allington , Kent , which was owned by the Wyatt family in the 16th century.

Life

Allington Castle, postcard from 1905 (before restoration)

Agnes Conway was born on May 2, 1885, the daughter of the art historian and politician William Martin Conway and Katrina Conway (née Lombard). She attended Baker Street High School and Kings College before becoming a student at Newnham College , Cambridge in 1903 . She was studying history for a tripos while she was also taking Greek lessons from Jane Ellen Harrison . She then became a lecturer in Classical Archeology at Newnham. In 1905 her father bought Allington Castle in Kent and began a lengthy restoration of the castle in the following years.

Agnes completed both parts of her history trip in 1907 and continued her Greek studies with Harrison with a view to studying archeology. She expanded and cataloged her father's growing collection of photographs, working on the project with Eugene Sellers Strong at the British School at Rome in 1912 . For the 1913/1914 season she was admitted to the British School at Athens as a student . In 1914 she traveled widely in Greece and the Balkans with a friend, Evelyn Radford, who had also attended Newnham College. In 1917 Conway published a report on the trip entitled "Through the Balkans, on Classic Ground with a Camera".

From 1917 to 1929, Conway worked on the collection of materials documenting the work of women in World War I as a member of the Women at Work Committee of the newly established Imperial War Museum . Her father, Martin Conway, was appointed director-general. She also attended classes at the Institute of Historical Research , where she studied Henry VII's relationship with Scotland and Ireland , for which she was awarded an MA from the University of London . For this project, she spent a lot of time in the reading room of the British Museum and the Public Record Office .

Rock tombs in Petra 1934

Conway first visited the ancient Nabataean rock city of Petra in 1928 when she accompanied friends of the family on an extended trip through Egypt, Palestine, Transjordan, and Iraq. Moved by the beauty of the city, she returned to Allington, determined to conduct further research and document her journey for publication. She contacted George Horsfield, the Transjordan's Chief Antiques Inspector, to find out more about the site; eventually she became part of a team of archaeologists, the Horsfield, Tawfiq Canaan, a Palestinian doctor, and Dr. Detlief Nielsen from Copenhagen and explored Petra in detail in March 1929. In 1930 Conway lectured on Petra at the Royal Geographical Society . She stayed in touch with Horsfield regarding the results of the excavation and the two developed a close relationship that resulted in a wedding at St. George's Cathedral , Jerusalem , on January 29, 1932.

Works

  • with her father Martin Conway: Children's Book of Art. Adam and Charles Black, London 1909.
  • A ride through the Balkans: on classic ground with a camera. R. Scott, London 1917.
  • with George Horsfield: Historical and Topographical Notes on Edom: with an account of the first excavations at Petra. In: The Geographical Journal. Volume 76, Number 5, 1930, pp. 369-390. doi : 10.2307 / 1784200 .

literature

  • WM Conway: The Sport of Collecting. T. Fisher Unwin, London 1914.
  • Amara Thornton: The Allure of Archeology: Agnes Conway and Jane Harrison at Newnham College, 1903-1907. In: Bulletin of the History of Archeology. Volume 21, Number 1, 2011, pp. 37-56. doi : 10.5334 / bha.2114 .
  • J. Evans: The Conways: A History of Three Generations. Museum Press, London 1966.
  • Marriages. In: The Times, January 29, 1932 (Issue 46043, Col D), p. 15.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Conway, Agnes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Conway, Agnes Ethel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British historian and archaeologist who worked in the Middle East (1929-1936)
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1885
DATE OF DEATH 1950