Are any readers members of the Lucas, Colby or Bryant families? If so, there is a feast of memorabilia awaiting you at Friends House library. Gilbert Bryant, whose Quaker family was one part of the Bryant and May matchmakers, worked at the Natural History Museum in the 20s and 30s, and wrote a biography of the Lucas family. The album is a detailed and beautiful account going back to the early 19th century, illustrated with news clippings, photos, letters, sketches and watercolours.
Joanna Clark, photo librarian, tells us that Nicholas Tapp, who is a professor of anthropology at the Australian National University, gave the library the album from the estate of his father John. 'Although not a Friend himself,' says Joanna, 'John Tapp received the album from the late Gilbert Bryant.'