A curator at the height of his powers: HW Dickinson, James Watt, and the Newcomen Society, 1919–1930

Abstract

This paper assesses the work of Henry Winram Dickinson of the Science Museum in the decade following the end of the Great War. Archival material in the Science Museum’s collections builds a detailed picture of Dickinson’s work covering the period from 1919 until 1930, during which the Newcomen Society was founded, the Science Museum’s present East Hall was opened, and highly significant acquisitions of material relating to James Watt were made. In so doing it shines a light on a peak period in the history of engineering curatorship.