Lustleigh Community Archives – restoration of a portrait
The Archives of Lustleigh, located in the Old Vestry, provides an important insight into the development of a village situated on the edge of Dartmoor.
The Show is delighted to be able to fund the restoration and conservation works of this self-portrait of Beryl Trist Newman, wife of a Rector of Lustleigh, and who resided in the village for sixty years.
A précis by the Archivist:
Beryl Trist Newman (1906 – 1991) lived in Lustleigh for sixty years from 1931 until her death. She is an important artist with works in National Collections. She was known particularly for her portraits both of people and animals. During the Second World War she recorded life at the Moretonhampstead Military Hospital, painted portraits of nurses who had been awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal as well as evacuees who came to Lustleigh. She was born in St Alban’s and attended art schools in Bushey, Hertfordshire before furthering her studies at the Regent Street Polytechnic School of Art in London. Paintings by her were exhibited in London Galleries and in the Royal Academy in 1939 and 1941. In 1946 she married the Reverend Rupert E.G. Newman MC who had become Rector of Lustleigh the year before. Beryl is buried in the Lustleigh Extension Churchyard in the same grave as her husband.
The portrait was found in the building that served as Beryl’s studio at Loxtor Wrey and donated to the Archive. It is in poor condition but is conservable and will be an important addition to the Archive. We will be having it framed after conservation and it will go on display in the Old Vestry.
