Dorset Editor of SDNQ 1971-1983.
Born 6 March 1900.
Died 11 March 1996.
Obituary (SDNQ vol.34, pt.344, p.45, September 1996)
J.H.P. Pafford D.Lit., FSA.
Dr John Pafford, Dorset Editor from 1971 to 1983, died on 11 March 1996, aged 96 years.
Obituaries are imperfect tributes, for they can never convey the depth of sorrow which we feel, nor the sense of loss which we experience, when we remember the person whose life has now ended. In remembering John Pafford we especially recall his warmth, good humour, kindness, and generosity of spirit, all of which so influenced our lives.
Born in Bradford-on-Avon, John remained recognisably a Wiltshire man, never losing his native burr, and keeping in close contact with the lifelong friends he had made there. His loyalty to his county led him to serve with the Wiltshire regiment during both world wars. After graduating from University College London in 1922, he served on the library staff, becoming Goldsmith’s Librarian in 1945. His eminent position gave him the opportunity to travel extensively, to serve as examiner to the Library Association, and to act as adviser to numerous Universities. In 1967 he retired, and at the time he had nearly 200 separate published contributions to his name. In the years that followed he added substantially to this list, culminating in 1993 in a scholarly and definitive work on John Clavell.
John was a great man with a quiet manner that concealed his ability and strength. We have been singularly fortunate that he gave us the benefit of his scholarship as a committee member, a contributor, and as Dorset Editor.
Publications
J.H.P. Pafford, Library co-operation in Europe (1935)
J.H.P. Pafford, Books and army education, 1944-1946, preparation and supply (ASLIB, 1946)
J.H.P. Pafford, American and Canadian libraries: some notes on a visit in the summer of 1947 (Library Association, 1949)
J.H.P. Pafford, Wiltshire deeds in the Bath Public Library (Devizes, 1956)
J.H.P. Pafford, King John’s tomb in Worcester Cathedral: an account of its opening in 1529 by John Bale (Worcester Archaeological Society, 1958)
J.H.P. Pafford, Music, and the songs in ‘The Winter’s Tale’ (Shakespeare Association of America, 1959)
J.H.P. Pafford, Accounts of the Parliamentary garrisons of Great Chalfield and Malmesbury, 1645-1646 (Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, 1966)
E.R. Pafford & J.H.P. Pafford, Employer and employed: Ford, Ayrton & Co. Ltd silk spinners with worker participation, Leeds and Low Bentham, 1870-1970 (Edington, 1974)
J.H.P. Pafford, John Clavell 1601-43: highwayman, author, lawyer, doctor: with a reprint of his poem, A recantation of an ill led life, 1634 (Oxford, 1993)
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