See our calendar of forthcoming events and list of forthcoming talks

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Our January talk will now be at Duke Street Church

On 13 January 2020, Paul Velluet will talk on The 800th anniversary of St Mary Magdalene’s: aspects of the history and development of Richmond’s historic parish church  Paul’s talk will now take place at our usual venue, Duke Street Church.  For technical reasons, we have had to change our original plan of holding the talk at St Mary Magdalene’s Church itself.

Richmond Local Studies Library & Archive’s search room is closed for annual stocktaking

Richmond Local Studies is now closed for annual stocktaking, and will reopen on Wednesday 18 December.

Reports of previous talks

Almost 70 people attended Dr Caroline Withall’s very engaging talk on Monday 11 November. She told us about the Marine Society’s recruitment of boys, many from our local area, as apprentices to merchant ships. You can read a report on Caroline’s talk here (scroll down the page).

You can also read reports of some of our other previous talks, including Dr Simon Targett’s talk in October on Richmond and Mortlake’s part in the founding of America and the launch of the British Empire.

Looking ahead: our talks in 2020 and 2021

• On 10 February 2020 (a joint event with The Kew Society), Martin Stilwell will tell us about The industrialisation of Kew and North Richmond in the First World War
• On 9 March 2020 (a joint event with the Museum of Richmond), Charles Pineles will speak about The social history of Queen’s Road, Richmond
  
• On 20 April 2020, Stephen Bartlett will explore The early history of Kew’s Lawn Crescent
• On 18 May 2020, after our Annual General Meeting, Johanna Coombes will give an illustrated talk on Artists and paintings in Richmond, Twickenham and Kew
• On 14 September 2020, Simon Fowler will tell us about Richmond and town twinning

• On 12 October 2020, Mark Dunton will be On the trail of Klaus Fuchs, atomic spy and will reveal a fascinating local connection with Kew
• On 9 November 2020, Andrew Humphreys will tell us about Richmond’s music scene in the 1960s

• On 14 December 2020, George Goodwin will explore Christmas traditions, with reference to Richmond and Kew
• On 11 January 2021, Dr Simon Targett will talk about Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first Prime Minister, and his connections with Richmond
• On 8 February 2021, Dr Caroline Withall will give another talk to the Society (topic to be announced)

Now available: books on Richmond’s vicars, local street names and our 2019 annual journal

The latest addition to our online bookshop is Derek Robinson’s new book The Vicars of Richmond. The stories he has uncovered about the ministers of St Mary Magdalene, Richmond since the 16th century include two vicars ejected for their political views, another who inspired Gulliver’s Travels, and a pair of performing poodles, Mouton and Don. Published by the Museum of Richmond, copies are available from our online bookshop.

A fully revised edition of The Streets of Richmond and Kew and Richmond History 40, the 2019 issue of our annual journal, are also now available.

We are delighted to be able to reintroduce The Streets of Richmond and Kew to our publications list after a very long gap: the first edition was published in 1989 and the second in 1990. Many Society members, including the late David Blomfield, contributed to this new, third edition, which has 140 pages and includes a full colour map. Comprehensive and up to date, it describes how each of Richmond and Kew’s streets was named and their wider significance for our local area’s history.

Find out more about our 40th issue of Richmond History.

We’re right up Kew Village Market’s street!

The Kew Village Market stall at Kew Village Market is now stocking our book The Streets of Richmond and Kew. The market is held on the first Sunday of every month (except January) between 10 am and 2 pm, outside Kew Gardens Station.

You can also buy copies of our books at: The Kew Bookshop; Lloyds of Kew; The Museum of Richmond; The National Archives’ bookshop; The Open Book in King Street, Richmond; Richmond Local Studies and Archive; or, using a credit card or debit card, from our online bookshop.

Resources on Richmond’s history are at your fingertips

It is sometimes suggested that the “deer leap” or “freebord“, the strip of land immediately outside Richmond Park’s wall, was designed so that if a deer managed to escape its hunters and get beyond the deer leap, it was then free from capture. That’s unlikely, says Richmond Park historian Dr Robert Wood, in an article on this website’s Resources pages about the freebord’s history. Find out more.

Our Resources pages also include a piece by John Govett on Richmond’s Old Burial Ground and Stephen Orr’s timeline on Vineyard Passage Burial Ground.

You can also read about the Selwyn family and the development of Richmond and the history of Richmond’s Congregational Church in The Vineyard.