ABOUT
Kilmuir Papers was launched on International Human Rights Day 2013 by his grandson, Tom Blackmore. It is a website devoted to publishing the stories that are revealed by the private papers of David Maxwell Fyfe, Earl Kilmuir.
In 2009, the papers were given by his daughters to the Churchill Archive Centre in Cambridge where they are available for all to view and research. The copyright is retained by the family.
This website is the result of twenty-five years of work and research, but in particular of a 7 year collaboration with English Cabaret. During that time we have developed and performed Sue Casson’s song cycle, DREAMS OF PEACE & FREEDOM, and have created wrap-around and educational online materials under the name The Human's in the Telling to support the performances. They are all available to explore on this site.
Delayed by the Covid pandemic this project will now run until November 2025, the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Europe.
The business of retelling family history is not straightforward. Miranda Cormack blazed a trail in keeping the memories of David and Sylvia Maxwell Fyfe alive. And we followed.
We recognise our debt to all who have helped and supported us, and
we are very grateful to them.
This project was only made possible thanks to the generosity of Courtenay and Pamela Blackmore, and could not have happened in the past couple of years without the support of Vicky and Andrew Morgan.
The name The Human's in the Telling is inspired by a quote from Helena Kennedy QC on her BBC Radio 4 programme
Are Human Rights really Universal? when she concluded 'the human is in the asking.' We believe
the human is in the telling and re-telling of story of David Maxwell Fyfe's journey from Nuremberg to Strasbourg.
On this site you'll find all our tellings which form educational wrap-around materials for the show
to immerse audiences in this forgotten history.
