Dedicated volunteer and Wantage historian Irene Hancock has died aged 81.

Mrs Hancock volunteered at the Vale and Downland Museum, in Church Street, for about 20 years and was involved in committee work, research and fundraising.

She was, until recently, chairman of the Friends of Wantage Museum and a member of the museum management committee.

She died on Saturday, October 18, leaving her son Trevor Hancock, also a historian, whom she lived with at Priory Orchard in Wantage. Her husband Norman Hancock died in 1999.

She was the author of a number of books and booklets on local history, including Wantage Looking Back, published in 2003, and Wantage, in 1995. Museum administrator Tony Hadland said: "Instead of lazily accepting secondhand knowledge of dubious provenance, she would try to seek out the original sources and discover what really happened.

"Irene would interview people, talk to experts or visit an archive to examine the original documents."

He added: "She provided a superb research service for the many members of the public who contact the museum with historical queries.

"Most of all, Irene cared deeply about the museum and also about the Betjeman Memorial Park, both of which she supported tirelessly. She will be greatly missed, both on a professional and personal level."

Born in Aldershot, Mrs Hancock worked as a secretary in Farnborough and at UKAEA at Harwell. She went on to teach business studies at Abingdon College and the former Icknield School, in Wantage, before retiring.

Her funeral took place on Tuesday, October 28, at Wantage Parish Church.