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Sarah Tyacke
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<h2 id="early-life-and-education">Early life and education</h2> <p>Tyacke was born Sarah Jeacock in <a href="/facts/Chelmsford/R08HBTn4">Chelmsford</a>, <a href="/facts/Essex/cuUqAlzH">Essex</a>, on 29 September 1945: her father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been school headmasters.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> She was educated at <a href="/facts/Chelmsford_County_High_School_for_Girls/2WfuowR1">Chelmsford County High School for Girls</a>, before studying history at <a href="/facts/Bedford_College_(London)/aLCMUb5N">Bedford College</a>, <a href="/facts/University_of_London/spIRAx9B">University of London</a>, and graduating in 1968. During vacations from 1962 to 1968, she worked as a volunteer at <a href="/facts/Essex_Record_Office/TAI8JCt3">Essex Record Office</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="career">Career</h2> <p>In 1968, Tyacke became an assistant keeper in the Map Room of the <a href="/facts/British_Museum/mq5LadWV">British Museum</a>. From 1973 to 1985 she was Deputy Map Librarian in what had now become the <a href="/facts/British_Library/p01eBQ5A">British Library</a>; and from 1986 to 1991 she was its director of special collections.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>At the end of 1991 she was appointed keeper of public records, the first woman to hold the post. Her tenure at the <a href="/facts/Public_Record_Office/bRKU2x4x">Public Record Office</a> included the building of a much expanded repository on the office's site at <a href="/facts/Kew/YCRv69v8">Kew</a> in 1995, and subsequent removal of services from the old Public Record Office building in <a href="/facts/Chancery_Lane/loeqy0A0">Chancery Lane</a>; the opening of a <a href="/facts/Family_Records_Centre/yPVsP9nz">Family Records Centre</a> for family historians in 1997; and merger of the office with the <a href="/facts/Royal_Commission_on_Historical_Manuscripts/6nKVDdtT">Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts</a> in 2003 to form the <a href="/facts/The_National_Archives_(United_Kingdom)/Tmj2kcKQ">National Archives</a>. At the merger, Tyacke was appointed its chief executive and sole historical manuscripts commissioner.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> She also oversaw numerous technical initiatives, including the launch of the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom_Census_1901/yK1pN6fA">1901 census</a> website as a pay-per-view service in 2002 and development of strategies for preserving <a href="/facts/Born-digital/D32brufc">born-digital</a> records. She retired in 2005.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="scholarship">Scholarship</h2> <p>Tyacke's personal scholarly interests cover the history of <a href="/facts/Cartography/8YdDAAeX">cartography</a> and travel. She has written or edited several books and articles on these, and others on broader archival matters and <a href="/facts/Archival_science/SwmpT6te">archive management</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="activities-and-honours">Activities and honours</h2> <p>Tyacke was elected a Fellow of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Geographical_Society/hqVnM4Ln">Royal Geographical Society</a> in 1968; of the <a href="/facts/Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London/kRxgPxzT">Society of Antiquaries of London</a> in 1984; of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Historical_Society/duh5Pz3U">Royal Historical Society</a> in 1992; and of the <a href="/facts/British_Cartographic_Society/sHu9DucY">British Cartographic Society</a> in 1994. She served as president of the <a href="/facts/Hakluyt_Society/5fevYKJB">Hakluyt Society</a> from 1997 to 2002, and as a vice-president from 2002 to 2006. She was a vice-president of the Royal Historical Society from 2000 to 2003, and has been an honorary vice-president since 2004. She has also sat on the council of the <a href="/facts/Society_for_Nautical_Research/7tC2hTKP">Society for Nautical Research</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>She was vice-president of the <a href="/facts/International_Council_on_Archives/haYaTtlI">International Council on Archives</a> from 1996 to 2000. She was a trustee of the <a href="/facts/The_International_Records_Management_Trust/u1WhhVH2">International Records Management Trust</a> from 1995 to 2004, and has been its chair since 2004. </p><p>In 1999 she became an honorary fellow and visiting professor of <a href="/facts/Royal_Holloway,_University_of_London/fNqGtJpK">Royal Holloway, University of London</a>. She received <a href="/facts/Honorary_degree/yVVgQ6Wt">honorary</a> <a href="/facts/Doctor_of_Philosophy/paJumdN8">doctorates</a> from <a href="/facts/London_Guildhall_University/wnmsW3NI">London Guildhall</a> and <a href="/facts/University_of_Essex/482DJ50R">Essex</a> Universities.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p><p>Tyacke was appointed a <a href="/facts/Companion_of_the_Order_of_the_Bath/as761RvN">Companion of the Order of the Bath</a> (CB) in 1998.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> On 25 November 2010, she was awarded the <a href="/facts/President%27s_Medal_(British_Academy)/WKxm8bmx">President's Medal</a> by the <a href="/facts/British_Academy/RtbyQVwB">British Academy</a> "for her service to historical records, in particular through her work as head of the National Archives".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p><p>In 2006–2007 she held the <a href="/facts/Sandars_Lectures/ENMoff0U">Sandars Readership in Bibliography</a> at <a href="/facts/Cambridge_University/0la7aX9o">Cambridge University</a>. </p> <h2 id="other-activities">Other activities</h2> <p>From 2009 to 2011 Tyacke chaired the Mount Everest Foundation, a non-profit-making humanitarian and development body active in <a href="/facts/Nepal/yWCzTBR2">Nepal</a>. </p><p>From 2009 to 2012 she sat on the <a href="/facts/Hillsborough_Independent_Panel/MafjT0cl">Hillsborough Independent Panel</a> investigating the <a href="/facts/Hillsborough_disaster/MafjT0cl">Hillsborough disaster</a> of 1989. </p> <h2 id="personal-life">Personal life</h2> <p>Tyacke is married to the <a href="/facts/Early_modern_period/hhpHM721">early modern</a> historian Nicholas Tyacke. She has one daughter.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html">"Sarah Tyacke: Biography"</a>. Archived from <a href="http://www.sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html">the original</a> on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Tyacke, Sarah (2002). "On the Record". History Today. 52 (5). <a href="http://www.historytoday.com/sarah-tyacke/record" target="_blank">http://www.historytoday.com/sarah-tyacke/record</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Sarah Tyacke: Biography". Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Sarah Tyacke: Biography". Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>HMC Warrant. <a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/policy/warrant.htm" target="_blank">http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/policy/warrant.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Sarah Tyacke: Biography". Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Sarah Tyacke: Publications". Retrieved 23 March 2013. <a href="http://www.sarahtyacke.co.uk/publications.html" target="_blank">http://www.sarahtyacke.co.uk/publications.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Sarah Tyacke: Biography". Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Sarah Tyacke: Biography". Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Sarah Tyacke: Biography". Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"British Academy President's Medal" (PDF). British Academy Review. No. 17. March 2011. pp. 13–14. Retrieved 23 July 2017. <a href="http://www.britac.ac.uk/sites/default/files/BAR17-06-PresidentsMedal.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.britac.ac.uk/sites/default/files/BAR17-06-PresidentsMedal.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"Sarah Tyacke: Biography". Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20130725002800/http://sarahtyacke.co.uk/biography.html</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>