In Memory of Justin Champion

The Egham Museum Trust would like to express its deep sadness at the news of the death of Professor Justin Champion and send our condolences to Justin’s friends and family.

Justin joined the History Department at Royal Holloway and became a resident of Egham in 1992. He was Head of Department from 2005 to 2010, served as President of the Historical Association between 2014 and 2017 and was the academic lead for the College’s Magna Carta activity in 2015.

It was Justin’s interest in Magna Carta and its use as a touchstone in the English radical tradition that led to his support for the Museum’s Magna Carta project (2013-2015). As Dr Matthew Smith, who led the project as curator of The Egham Museum at that time, writes:

“Justin had a profound influence not just on my own understanding of the significance and contemporary relevance of Magna Carta but served as my historical compass for much of the Magna Carta project. His vivid, always eloquent, and compelling characterisation of this radical Magna Carta tradition shines through in the themes we explored in our exhibition and much of the spirit in which we approached the subject. If that project was a success, it owes much to Justin. He was an inspiration, a constant source of encouragement, a friend and wonderful mentor.”

It was also an introduction that Justin made which brought The Egham Museum and its Magna Carta collection, specifically items relating to the Runnymede Pageant, to the attention of the British Library. This led to the Museum loaning items to the Library for its nationally important ‘Magna Carta: Law, Liberty and Legacy’ exhibition in 2015.

Justin was also a pioneer in the field of public history and it was this interest that made him a passionate advocate for The Egham Museum, becoming a Trustee in June 2013 and continuing to support the Trust and Museum well after his diagnosis with brain cancer in 2014. During that time Justin took part in another Museum project, Memories of War, in which he read on camera letters sent home from Egham men serving in the First World War and news from wartime Egham. At the end of our recording he shared some thoughts about the value of archives like ours, which we share below.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity, dipping into these little archives, private correspondence, news reports, evidence of what people from Egham were doing out on the continent but also of how life went on – and was perhaps humorous or challenging. These little voice, ordinary people, really bring home to any of us today, who may have had our own relatives fighting abroad or struggling with local issues, it’s these little granular bits of evidence that bring it all to life.”

Note: Professor Champion was a member of The Egham Museum Trust from June 2013 to September 2018.