HLF awards £9,900 to Tenby Remembers Project to mark First World War Centenary

12 / 03 / 2014

Tenby Museum and Art Gallery is delighted to announce the award of a grant of £9,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a research project entitled Tenby Remembers.

Neil Westerman, Honorary Curator of Tenby Museum holding the Roll of Honour from 1916 with volunteer Kevin Thomas © HLF

Awarded through HLF’s First World War: then and now programme, the project will focus on the Tenby Roll of Honour published in January 1916 by The Tenby and County News newspaper.

The Tenby Roll of Honour lists all the Tenby men who volunteered for service prior to the introduction of conscription in 1916. The Tenby Remembers project will undertake research into the lives of the volunteers resulting in new museum displays and the publication of a book with biographical details of the individual soldiers, sailors and airmen. An education pack will be produced for local schools to help explain the impact the war had on small towns like Tenby and how it helped shape the world we live in today.

The project will be of great interest to Tenby families, as many of their ancestors will be named in the Roll of Honour. It is planned to involve the local community and organisations such as the Tenby Historical Society with the research during the summer months.

As well as covering Tenby the project team will also research the lives of individuals named on the war memorials in the nearby villages of Penally and Saundersfoot.

Commenting on the award Neil Westerman, Honorary Curator of Tenby Museum and Art Gallery, said:

“We are extremely pleased to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund to facilitate this important research to mark the centenary of the First World War. Museum staff and volunteers are looking forward to working on this exciting new project. The first step will be to appoint a project leader / research assistant to co-ordinate the project.”

Explaining the importance of the HLF support, the Head of HLF Wales, Jennifer Stewart, said:

“The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond. The Heritage Lottery Fund has already invested more than £47million in projects – large and small – that are marking this global Centenary; with our new small grants programme, we are enabling even more communities like those involved in Tenby Remembers to explore the continuing legacy of this conflict and help local young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world.”