the organiserPeter Kneebone was born in Middlesborough in 1923, the son of a French mother and English father. He won a scholarship to study modern languages at Oxford but in 1943 joined the Royal Navy and served as a Naval Liaison Officer in Italy and a Broadcasting Representative in Cairo. Demobbed, he returned to Oxford and completed his studies before finding work, in 1948, in the Festival of Britain Office.
Attracting overseas visitors was a high priority for the Festival organisers and in November 1950 Peter Kneebone was appointed as the Western European representative and became one of the Festival's roving ambassadors. Posted to Paris he immediately set about promoting the Festival, going on an extensive tour of eight European countries. His job was not only to sell the Festival but to gauge its reception, to estimate likely numbers of visitors and to identify potential problems. After the Festival Peter Kneebone developed a career as a graphic designer
and illustrator. He was actively involved in a number of design organisations
and was instrumental in the formation of ICOGRADA - an international society
of Graphic Designers. the collectorPeter Kneebone was an avid collector. During his time working for the Festival Office he amassed a large collection of ephemera recording several aspects of the celebrations. Numbering 700 individual items the collection is, perhaps, unique in its range. As well as including catalogues and leaflets promoting the official exhibitions held in London and nationally, it also records the Festival throughout the country as well as its international marketing campaign. Posters, guide books and programmes document the wide range of events organised in local areas. And a group of leaflets, foreign press cuttings and reports detail its promotion overseas.
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