Anna Plowden

Anna Plowden

The Honourable Anna Bridget Plowden, CBE (18 June 1938 – 21 August 1997) was a British archaeological conservator and restorer. She has been described as the first scientifically trained conservator to work in the private sector, rather than in a museum or university.^[1] She worked as a freelance conservator, having set up her own business, Anna Plowden Ltd, in 1968. In order to take on larger projects, her business merged with Peter Smith (R and R) Ltd in 1985; Plowden and Smith Ltd remains "one of the largest and most successful businesses in the conservation private sector".^[2]

She was the daughter of Edwin and Bridget Plowden (Lord and Lady Plowden).^[1]

Honours

In 1970, Plowden was elected a Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation (FIIC).^[3] In the 1997 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for conservation services to museums".^[4]

References

1. Armstrong, Robert (22 August 1997). "Obituary: Anna Plowden". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
2. Ashley-Smith, Jonathan (January 2014). "Plowden, Anna Bridget (1938–1997)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67467. Retrieved 17 October 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. "PLOWDEN, Anna Bridget". Who Was Who. Oxford University Press. April 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
4. "No. 54625". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1996. pp. 7–9.