Meet the team

Team meeting via Zoom during 2020 lockdown

Since September 2019, Carol Cheeseman combines leading the Oral History team with her many other volunteer roles at Knole, including tour guiding, archaeology, business support and training. Carol's research into the 20th century lives of Knole Estate staff continues to inform how we share Knole stories with our visitors, staff and volunteers.

As Knole's House & Collections Manager since April 2019, and in her new role in 2021 as Property Curator, Sam Bailey looks after the Knole Oral History team of volunteers, giving us both motivation and fiscal support to our efforts.

Angela Prior-Wandesforde joined the Oral History team in 2016. A lover of all things historical and research projects in particular, she is enjoying delving into Knole's more recent history and working closely with Carol on the lives of Knole Estate staff from 1900 to the 1950s.

After retiring from Knole's Visitor Centre, providing a warm welcome, information and visitor services, Mary started volunteering in the Business Support Office in 2017. In 2018, she also joined the Knole Oral History team as a verbatim transcriber, combining her love of reading, history and continuing interest in all things Knole-related.

Over the last 15 years Carole has worked at Knole on the Visitor Services team. She is now looking forward to volunteering in a different capacity: verbatim transcribing with the Oral History team. She has always been interested in history, especially garden history and the early plant hunters, and researching her own family history is an ongoing project.

Retired journalist and teacher, Veronica Walker-Smith joined the Oral History team from its inception in 2011. She particularly enjoys interviewing people who have lived and worked at Knole, as well as editing this website. From 2015, she also coordinated the team and Knole's annual submissions to the British Library's National Sound Archive.

House & Collections Manager from mid-2018 to early 2019, Lucy Atkinson also managed the Knole Oral History team in a busy year of re-presenting the Knole showrooms at the end of the Inspired by Knole project. Lucy is now Senior House Steward at Knole.

Knole's House & Collections Manager up to April 2018, Helen Fawbert was the driving force behind starting the HLF-funded Oral History project in 2011. She led the setting up of the Estate Office 'Hidden Histories' exhibition, and her particular interest in the stories of everyday life of the house from the early to mid-20th century, motivated and inspired us all.

Since the Knole Oral History project started in 2011, many contributions have been made by a large group of people. Volunteers take on a variety of roles: research, interviewing, transcribing, website editing and archival submissions to the British Library. Our work continues with a core group of six volunteers, with Joan Hodgson having started verbatim transcribing in 2020, and Carole Passey joining us in 2021.

We gratefully acknowledge these verbatim transcribing contributions in the past 10  years:

Sara Martin, Elaine Pordes, Will Johnson, Louise Carmichael, Mollie Barden, Louise Bishop.

And in conducting interviews up to 2015:

Marcia Barton, Knole volunteer for more than 30 years, has also researched for the Oral History team since 2011.Daphne Eatwell who used to work in market research put her interviewing talents to good use since the start of our oral history project in 2011, before retiring in mid-2015.  Christine Nevard, MBE, was an experienced Knole volunteer and guide. She joined the Oral History team when it started in 2011, interviewing and transcribing for 5 years. Nicky Stitchman interviewed and carried out research as well.

Our thanks also to the following:

Jonathan Sargant oversaw most aspects of the project up to March 2015. As Community Engagement Officer at Knole for more than 7 years, he was instrumental in launching this Knolestories website, charming interviewees and volunteers alike and sharing his enthusiasm for social history and cake.

Geoff Dawber, Joy Wyman, Rosemary Milton-Thompson, Laurence Pordes.

Lucile Corby, Steven and Liz Dedman, Christine Dixon, Debbie Innes, Julia Kiggell, Clare Thake, Roger Wall, and Pamela Ward.