In Remembrance of Ann Rycraft

Posted on 5 January 2021

It is with sadness that we report the passing of Ann Rycraft, who died on 9 December 2020.

Ann studied English (St Hilda's/Oxford) and later worked at the Borthwick Institute at York where she invented the Borthwick Wallets to support the general public learning palaeography. After she married Peter (History Faculty, York) they adopted two children and then she worked part-time teaching Palaeography and Latin to MA students through CMS for over thirty years. As a teacher she aimed at very high standards and achieved excellent results, but was also a real friend to her students many of whom stayed in touch for years. She also founded the Latin Project - a group for local residents who learnt how to read medieval documents from Ann and then produced some really excellent editions and translations on local archival resources including the wills of the Blakburn family (associated with All Saints Church) and series of records from the Merchant Adventurers. Ann also worked on a series of books with former students on a variety of medieval topics including the ‘Use of York’ and the parish mass, and food, diet and cooking.