Sir Frank Chalton Francis (5 October 1901 – 15 September 1988) was an English academic librarian and curator. Almost all his working life was at the British Museum, first as an Assistant Keeper in the Department of Printed Books, and later as Secretary of the museum, Keeper of Printed Books and, from 1959 to 1968, Director and Principal Librarian of the museum.
As director, Francis worked to modernise and expand the museum, and his ideas contributed to the establishment of a separate British Library after his retirement. He was a well-known bibliographer, lecturing in the subject at University College, London, and serving as secretary, and later president, of the Bibliographical Society. He was one of the pioneers of computerised bibliography for libraries.
Life and career
Early years and first posts
Francis was born in Liverpool, the only child of Frank William Francis, a provision broker, and his wife, Elizabeth née Chalton. He was educated at the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys and Liverpool University, where he took a first class degree in Classics. From 1923 to 1925, he undertook post-graduate studies at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he specialised in early Greek philosophy.
After leaving Cambridge, Francis taught for a year at Holyhead County School, and in 1926 he joined the British Museum as an assistant keeper in the department of printed books. He remained with the museum for 42 years. In 1927, he married Katrina McClennon in Liverpool. There were two sons and one daughter of the marriage. At the museum, Francis was put in charge of Swedish books. He paid several visits to Sweden, studied Swedish and Icelandic and became the museum's leading expert in Scandinavian languages. From 1930 he also took a leading role in the revision of the museum's general catalogue, acquiring a reputation as a bibliographer. In 1936 he was appointed editor of the Bibliographical Society's journal, The Library, a post that he held until 1952. In 1938 he was appointed secretary of the society (jointly with R. B. McKerrow until 1940).
In 1946 Francis was appointed secretary of the British Museum. He was not entirely comfortable in a wholly administrative role, and in 1948 he returned with pleasure to his old department as the junior of the two keepers of printed books. Much of his time in that position was devoted to updating and improving the catalogue. He has been described as the most significant figure of the 20th century in the department of printed books. From 1948 to 1959 he also held the post of lecturer in bibliography at University College London. He was invited to reorganise and catalogue some ancient libraries, including those of Lambeth Palace and several English cathedrals.
Director of the British Museum
In 1959 Francis was appointed director and principal librarian of the museum in succession to the archaeologist T. D. Kendrick. He was the first director appointed from the department of printed books for nearly a century, and in his determination to be fair to the entirety of the museum he was thought by some to favour other departments at the expense of printed books. He continued the work of his predecessors in restoring galleries damaged by German bombing during the Second World War, and he was responsible for opening new ones, including the Duveen gallery, where the Elgin Marbles were housed from in 1962. It was under his directorship that "schoolboys knocked a leg off one of the Elgin Marbles", an embarrassing event kept secret from the general public for many years, due to fears that this would affect the British Museum's continued ownership claim given the long controversy regarding the Marbles' removal from Athens. The museum adopted the practice of importing exhibitions from other museums and galleries. Francis was a staunch opponent of suggestions that entry charges might be introduced for the museum, describing them as "misconceived and mischievous ... One of the great objects of our great museums is to attract people to come frequently, to see one thing and then go out again – not to come once and see the whole museum. To charge would cut at the root of the development."
