Richmond History 40: apologies for the delay

We are very sorry, but there has been a delay in the production of the 2019 issue of our journal, Richmond History. We can’t give an exact publication date yet, but we will make an announcement on this website, and in our members’ e-newsletter, when it’s ready.

Our next talk, on Monday 20 May, is about Ham in the early 20th century

Ham Gate Avenue 1906

Sir David Williams represented Ham and Petersham on Richmond upon Thames Council from 1974 to 2014, and was Leader of the Council from 1983 to 2001.

Following our AGM, David will talk about Ham in the early 20th century. While his talk is mainly about Ham Urban District Council, Ham’s own local council which existed from 1894 to 1933, David will also talk about some of the history, people and issues in Ham, and the campaign to stop Ham being taken over by Kingston and Richmond. David’s talk will be followed by our customary end-of-season party.

Save the (revised) dates

The dates of our talks in September and October have changed. The Richmond Theatre event is now one week earlier, on Sunday 15 September, and Dr Simon Targett’s talk on the founding of America is one week later than previously advertised, on Monday 21 October.

Our new book on Richmond and Kew’s street names is now available from our online bookshop

Our new publication, a fully revised edition of The Streets of Richmond and Kew, is available at £10 in local bookshops – The Open Book in King Street, Richmond, the Museum of Richmond, The National Archives’ bookshop, Kew Bookshop  and Lloyds of Kew Bookshop  It can now also be bought from our online bookshop.

We are delighted to be able to reintroduce the book 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.

Our other talks coming up

See our calendar of forthcoming events and our list of forthcoming talks

Coming up, we have:

The New Inn, Ham

 Reports of previous talks

Our website now includes reports of some of our previous talks, including John and Eunice Drewry’s presentation in November 2018 on the Voluntary Aid Detachment.

The Victorian burial plot – from graveyard to garden

Coffin plaque

Holloway gravestone, rediscovered in August 2018

On our Resources pages, Peter Flower, archivist at the Vineyard Church in Richmond, tells us of recent discoveries in the Victorian burial plot, which is now a garden. One of the graves discovered is that of the Revd Henry Martin, the church’s remarkable first pastor, who died in 1844 aged only 36. 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.

Oh deer, another Richmond Park myth…

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 Robert Wood, in an article about the freebord’s history. Find out more and see a timeline on Richmond Park