Historian Lucy Noakes and Archivist Gary Tuson Honoured by All Party Parliamentary Group on Archives and History
Twelfth annual ‘Lifetime Achievement Awards’ will be presented on 20 October in Westminster
The committee of the (UK) All Party Parliamentary Group on Archives and History has announced that it will honour the work of historian Lucy Noakes and archivist Gary Tuson with its annual ‘Lifetime Achievement Awards’.
The winners will receive their certificates formally at a special lunch in the House of Commons on Tuesday 20 October 2026.
About the winners of the Lifetime Achievement Awards:
Lucy Noakes
Lucy Noakes is the Rab Butler Chair in Modern History at the University of Essex, and President of the Royal Historical Society.
Her work as an historian focusses on the relationship between the individual (and their personal stories) and the big moments of 20th century history – particularly looking at the memory and experience of the two World Wars. Her publications include The People’s Victory (Atlantic: 2025); Dying for the Nation (MUP: 2020) and War and the British (2nd edition 2023). In her role as President of the Royal Historical Society she advocates for, celebrates and supports the work of history and historians everywhere.
(see below for further biographical information)
Gary Tuson
Gary Tuson is one of the United Kingdom's leading local authority archivists, with a career spanning almost four decades and marked by a consistent commitment to improving public access to archives, developing major archive facilities, and demonstrating the broader social value of historical records. Perhaps Gary's most distinctive contribution has been his work demonstrating the role archives can play in supporting health and wellbeing. He has been a driving force behind the Change Minds project, a pioneering partnership between archive services, mental health organisations and creative practitioners. He is currently County Archivist for Norfolk and has played a significant national leadership role within the archive sector, including serving as Chair of the Chief Archivists in Local Government Group (CALGG). (see below for further biographical information)
About the APPG Archives and History
The (UK) All Party Parliamentary Group on Archives and History is a cross-party, non-partisan body that aims to support the record-keeping sector and promote the study of history. The Group was established in 2010 under the chairmanship of the (now-retired) Dr Hywel Francis, MP. It is co-chaired by Chris Evans, MP and Lord Clark of Windermere, PC.
About the APPG Archives and History Lifetime Achievement Awards
This is the tenth All Party Parliamentary Group Lifetime Achievement Awards to honour the work of record-keepers and historians. Previous recipients are:
· Eric Hobsbawm and Lord (Hugh) Thomas in 2011
· Lord (Asa) Briggs and Sarah Tyacke CB in 2012
· Professor José Harris and Gerry Slater in 2013
· Lord (Kenneth) Morgan and George Mackenzie in 2014
· Sir Keith Thomas and Patricia Methven in 2015
· Professor Sir Michael Howard and Heather Forbes in 2016
· John Dunbabin and Michael Moss in 2017
· Sir Tom Devine and Bruce Jackson in 2018
· Margaret MacMillan and Jeff Cargill in 2019
· Due to COVID-19 no awards were made in 2020/21/22/23
· Baroness Lola Young and Anne Barrett in 2024
· Lucy Worsley and Geoff Pick in 2025
Further information about the 2026 award winners
About Lucy Noakes
Lucy Noakes is the Rab Butler Chair in Modern History at the University of Essex and President of the Royal Historical Society, where she campaigns and advocates for the value of history and promotes and supports the work of historians.
Her journey into history began when she saw E P Thompson speak on CND platforms as a teenager. This led her to the study of both feminist history and ‘history from below’ – the lives of people who were central to the making of history but rarely able to record their own part in this process. As a student and DPhil candidate at University of Sussex Lucy drew on the holdings of the Mass Observation Archive (of which she is now a Trustee); from Sussex she moved to Southampton Solent, Portsmouth, Brighton and now Essex University.
In her own words: “I believe that history is, above all, about the stories that we tell. We all construct narratives about our own lives and it is the relationship between these individual stories and the great sweep of 20th century history that makes the study of the past so fascinating and so vital. What was it like to be a young woman in the Chinese cultural revolution? To be the grandson of slaves in the early 20th century United States? Or to be a parent trying to protect their children during the bombing wars of mid-century Europe and Asia? How did these people tell their own stories, and where can we find them? The relationship between politics and history, that led to my fascination with the past as a teenager, continues to inform my work today.
The ways that we approach and understand past lives, and the ways that their stories are remembered, are central to contemporary politics. The work of historians today probably has a greater relevance and urgency than at any other time in the recent past, making it an important and exciting subject to study, research and teach. I work on the social and cultural history of early to mid 20th century Britain, with a particular interest in the experiences and memories of those who experienced the First and Second World Wars.”
Lucy is particularly known for her work on gendered identities in wartime, on memory, and on women's experiences of conflict as well as the history of death, grief and bereavement in Second World War Britain. Her monograph Dying for the Nation: Death, Grief and Bereavement in Second World War Britain was published by Manchester University Press in January 2020 and was the winner of the Social History Society Book Prize in 2022, while The People’s Victory (2025: Atlantic Press) drew on Mass Observation diaries to reconstruct the end of the Second World War in Europe through the thoughts and experiences of British civilians. She is developing this work to consider how people drew on the past to imagine the future at a moment of profound change. In 2020 she published (with Claire Langhamer and Claudia Siebrecht) the edited collection Total War: An Emotional History (OUP) which drew on work from a British Academy funded conference exploring the relationship between emotions and total war in Europe.
A recent project focuses on the memory of the First World War in Britain at its centenary. She was the Principal Investigator on an AHRC-funded project (2017-2021) Reflections on the Centenary and was co-Investigator on the Gateways to the First World War AHRC project, based at the University of Kent which ran between 2014-2019. Working with the Reflections team she published Capturing Commemoration. Reflections on the Centenary of the First World War in Britain (2025: Berghahn). The project also produced a Report on Centenary work for the AHRC Reflections on the Centenary of the First World War (2021) and a ranege of articles. She remains interested in the potential of collaborative histories, and has a co-authored an article on this forthcoming in the Journal of Cultural and Social History (2026).
In other work, Lucy was a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Imperial War Museum's Second World War Galleries redevelopment project, and serves as President of the Royal Historical Society. She is a frequent contributor to television, radio, podcasts and newspapers and is a passionate advocate for the value of history in social, cultural and economic life.
About Gary Tuson
Gary began his archive career in 1988 as an Archive Assistant at Devon Record Office. While working full-time, he studied for his professional archive qualification through distance learning, combining practical experience with academic development at a time when remote professional study was far less common than it is today.
In 1996, he moved to Derbyshire Record Office as an Archivist, gaining experience in the management, preservation and public use of local authority archives. Three years later, in 1999, he was appointed Senior Archivist at Glamorgan Record Office. During his time in South Wales he became Programme Director for the New Glamorgan Record Office building project, leading work on what would become one of the major archive infrastructure developments in Wales.
In 2008, Gary took up the position of County Archivist at Gwent Record Office. There he led another landmark archive development project, overseeing the creation of the new Gwent Archives building in Ebbw Vale, ensuring the long-term preservation of the region's documentary heritage while improving facilities for researchers, schools and community groups.
Gary was appointed County Archivist for Norfolk in August 2013, a position he continues to hold today. In Norfolk he has overseen a wide range of initiatives designed to increase engagement with archives and demonstrate their relevance to contemporary society. He has also led major service developments, including the establishment of a new archive facility for the King's Lynn Borough Archive, helping secure improved preservation and public access for an important local collection.
Alongside his local responsibilities, Gary has been a prominent figure within the UK archives profession. As Chair of the Chief Archivists in Local Government Group (CALGG) between 2015 and 2021, he represented the interests of local authority archive services at a national level and worked closely with organisations including the Archives and Records Association and The National Archives.
Perhaps Gary's most distinctive contribution has been his work demonstrating the role archives can play in supporting health and wellbeing. He has been a driving force behind the Change Minds project, a pioneering partnership between archive services, mental health organisations and creative practitioners. Developed in partnership with the Restoration Trust, Change Minds uses historical mental health case records to help participants explore themes of identity, resilience and recovery through research and creative activity. The project has shown that archives can be powerful tools not only for preserving the past but also for improving lives in the present.
Under Gary's leadership, Change Minds has expanded from a local Norfolk initiative into a nationally recognised programme. The model has been shared with archive services across the United Kingdom and has now been delivered in nearly 30 separate iterations, benefiting hundreds of participants. The project has attracted widespread professional interest and has become an influential example of how archives can contribute directly to public wellbeing and social impact.
Gary's commitment to demonstrating the wider social value of archives extends beyond mental health and into broader areas of wellbeing, learning and social connection. Alongside the development of Change Minds, he has championed initiatives such as History Begins at Home, which encouraged people to explore personal and family history as a means of strengthening intergenerational relationships and reducing loneliness, and Enquiring Minds, which uses archival sources to develop media literacy skills and critical thinking by helping participants understand how information is created, interpreted and evaluated. Together, these projects have demonstrated how archives can contribute to individual wellbeing, lifelong learning and stronger communities, reinforcing Gary's belief that archives are not simply repositories of historical records but active resources that can improve lives in the present.
Throughout his career, Gary Tuson has combined professional leadership, strategic vision and a commitment to public benefit. From developing major archive buildings in Wales and England to pioneering innovative wellbeing programmes and new approaches to archive engagement, his work has helped shape modern archive practice and demonstrated the continuing relevance of archives in contemporary society.