Famous Cornish library appoints Dawn French as one of its new patrons
She is taking up the role at Morrab in Penzance, alongside writer Philip Marsden
Last updated 7th Apr 2022
A Cornish library has appointed two new patrons, including comedienne and actress Dawn French.
Officials at the Morrab say they are delighted to welcome Dawn, who takes up the role along with writer Philip Marsden.
They say the pair will be positive ambassadors for this independent library and will help to promote its work as well as support its role in the community.
Dawn French will be the library’s first female Patron since its inception in 1818.
French is best known for her 40-year career in TV comedy (Comic Strip Presents, French & Saunders and The Vicar of Dibley) and is also a best-selling author and a panto dame.
French’s family come from Cornwall and she has made her permanent home here for 18 years and is the proud Chancellor of Falmouth University.
Dawn French said: "It is my total delight to become a Patron of the Morrab Library. If you like books, if you like history, if you like beautiful houses, if you like hidden treasures, if you like people, if you like peace, you will LOVE Morrab. In fact, if you are alive, you will love it there".
Philip Marsden is the author of numerous books of history, fiction and nonfiction, traversing widely with stories from Ethiopia and the Middle East to the Western Islands of Scotland, and closer to his home in Cornwall.
Marsden wrote enchantingly of Morrab Library in his book Rising Ground: A Search for the Spirit of Place.
He said: "I am delighted and honoured to be made Patron of the wonderful Morrab Library. For a book lover, there is no better place on earth than a library like this, with its higgledy-piggledy series of rooms crammed with books on every subject.
"And for anyone who loves Cornwall, the Morrab's archive and its local collections are an endless source of knowledge and delight. I have already spent many happy hours in the Morrab, researching, being endlessly distracted by its open shelves - and now look forward to many more.
"It is a tremendous asset to Penzance and to Cornwall as a whole and I look forward to helping it to continue to serve the interests of its members and the wider community".
Chair of Trustees and Honorary Librarian Harry Spry-Leverton comments: "I am delighted to welcome Philip Marsden and Dawn French as Patrons of the Morrab Library and to wish them well as they jointly follow in the footsteps of our former Patron, the masterly John Le Carré.
"Together with Lord St Levan and Michael Grandage, our President, Dawn French and Philip Marsden will ensure we have a strong team in place to represent the Morrab Library on both a county and a national level. I know they will help to spur us on to greater things at an exciting time in our history as the only independent library in Cornwall".