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The National Archives are pleased to announce that Jessica Baldwin will join the staff as Senior Conservator in the autumn. Jessica is an accredited conservator with nearly thirty years’ experience. She trained and worked in London before moving to Ireland in 1995 and working for eight years as the paper conservator at Trinity College Library, Dublin. In 2003, she was appointed as the Chester Beatty’s first full-time conservator tasked with establishing the Conservation Department, which has become an integral and vital part of the museum. In 2014 she joined the senior management team as Head of Collections and Conservation, responsible for the strategic management of the Collections, including exhibitions, education, conservation, cataloguing and research. Jessica co-ordinated the museum’s successful application for accreditation through the Museum Standards Programme in Ireland (MSPI) in 2014 and maintenance in 2018.

A three-year career break in 2019 allowed her to successfully complete the MA in Museum Practice and Management at Ulster University and work as a project conservator at the National Archives on the collections salvaged from the Public Record Office following its destruction in 1922. Jessica has lectured extensively in collection care. She is an accredited member of the Institute of Conservator-Restorers in Ireland (ICRI) and has been an active member of the Board, taking on a range of roles including Chair. She is currently Treasurer of the Irish Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and a member of the Irish National Committee of Blue Shield (INCBS).