Museum News - SEAFORD MUSEUM & HERITAGE SOCIETY

Margery Kay Turvey

Seaford Museum and Heritage Society is sad to report the death of our former Chairman Kay Turvey. Kay was a long time Seaford resident and museum member.

Her funeral will be held in York on 29th November at 10;20.

Born Margery Kay Turvey in Essex in 1936, her grandparents lived in Seaford and Kay was initially evacuated to the town in 1939. (But was-re-evacuated after a few months when Seaford itself became a target for the Luftwaffe). She regularly visited Seaford to visit her family.

Kay trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, later joining the civil service, advising the Government on healthcare and health and safety issues. Kay chaired the National Scientific Committee on Nursing and was a member of the International Commission for Occupational Health.

Kay originally lived in Bishop’s Stortford but moved to Seaford in 1967. She was involved in Seaford Museum when it was based at West House, Pelham Road, before it opened in the Martello Tower. Her house Oakbank in Glebe Drive soon became the venue for museum committee meetings, and garden parties where funds were raised for the Martello Tower. Kay organised regular fund-raising events such as ‘SunDay FunDay’ and also arranged the stewarding rota to keep the museum open to the public.

Kay served on the Museum Committee from 1981 to 1990 when she was appointed the Vice-Charman. She retired from the Civil Service in March 1996. June 1996 was an important month for Kay as she was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to healthcare and she also became the Chairman of Seaford Museum.

It is fair to say that the museum was transformed during Kay’s tenure. She directed the ‘Heavy Gang’ to mend leaks and cracks, new lighting was installed, and many display cabinets were built. Kay actively sought funding to improve facilities and the museum experience. She oversaw the introduction of computers to the museum and later air-conditioning to ensure that Seaford’s valuable archives were kept safe. Kay represented the museum on the Sussex Museums Group and arranged for the museum to be accredited by the Arts Council.

There were many setbacks, in January 1998 the tower was flooded but Kay led an army of volunteers to save exhibits, pump out the moat and restore calm. When the museum was subject to a burglary she oversaw security measures.

Perhaps her greatest achievement at the museum was to procure tens of thousands of pounds to make the Martello Tower fully accessible with the introduction of a new entrance bridge and lift. Many hours of hard work and red-tape cutting ensured that the Martello Tower is (as Turner Prize winning artist Grayson Perry called it ) “One of the best museums in the world!”

Kay was always no-nonsense, resolute and determined. She was a stalwart member of the Museum and as one member of the Museum said today “If it wasn’t for Kay there would be no Seaford Museum”