Norwich, Wednesday.
Sir George Morse, Lord Mayor of Norwich, opened to-day the Strangers’ Hall, a mediaeval mansion which has been presented to that city by Mr. L. G. Bolingbroke, a well-known Norfolk antiquary.
Mr. Bolingbroke established the Strangers’ Hall as the first folk museum in the country with tangible records of the life of English people in past ages.
Sir H. Rider Haggard, in an address on folk museums, expressed the hope that in an age of motors and cinemas the museum would teach this and coming generations something of the life of those who went before.
History, he said, had been defined as “one big lie,” but in ancient buildings like that they had a surer and more moving history than anything pen could write.
Dr. F. A. Bather, F.R.S., of the British Museum, said that Norwich, in addition to establishing the first folk museum, was also arranging an industrial museum.
The Folk Museum at Norwich was opened on 4 July 1923. There is a fuller account in e.g. The Times, 5 July 1923, page 12.