Caroline Gould
Principal Archivist , Museum of English Rural Life (MERL), University of Reading
Advocacy that moved the MERL conversation from a routine deposit enquiry into the active partnership pathway in front of the May 2026 Acquisitions Committee.
Who they are
Caroline Gould is Principal Archivist at the Museum of English Rural Life, the national centre for the study and recording of English rural life held within the University of Reading. MERL holds over a million photographs, including the John Tarlton, Farmers Weekly, and Frank Sutcliffe collections, and is one of the most natural single institutional homes for documentary work on English rural and craft life.
What they have contributed
Caroline’s engagement on the 28 April 2026 Teams meeting moved the conversation from a routine deposit enquiry into an active partnership recommendation. Her advocacy alongside Ollie Douglas’s now underpins the MERL Acquisitions Committee path in May 2026. If the deposit relationship lands, every TEA page that ends up at MERL will rest on what she has done at this stage.
Archive entries shaped
- MERL partnership pathway (active - May 2026 Acquisitions Committee)
- Future TEA institutional deposit at MERL
- Pillar 2 (Scholarly Authority) and Pillar 4 (Longevity) - first major institutional anchor
Read more
The England Archive thanks Caroline Gould for their generosity. Sources are people whose knowledge, introductions, or expertise have materially shaped the archive’s work. The recognition is permanent; the citation marker is SR-0009.