Our new season of talks starts on Monday 21 October

On Monday 21 October, Dr Simon Targett will be speaking on Richmond and Mortlake’s part in the founding of America and the launching of the British Empire. This will be our first ever joint event with the Barnes and Mortlake History Society.

And on Sunday 3 November, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm, we will be having afternoon tea at Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park, with short talks on local history and the opportunity to browse book stalls and exhibition displays, at our shared heritage event.

Richmond in the Second World War

Bomb damage in Peldon Avenue

On Tuesday 15 October at 7pm, Simon Fowler is giving a talk about how World War II affected ordinary people in Richmond and Mortlake. Find out more

Kew Bookshop turns 30…

Kew Bookshop, founded in 1989 by David and Caroline Blomfield and Tony Barnett, is celebrating its 30th birthday with a series of appearances by guest authors, including Gyles Brandreth, Melvyn Bragg and Claire Tomalin, on 11 and 12 October. Our very own Simon Fowler is the guest author at 3pm on Friday 11 October, and Caroline Blomfield will be there too. There will also be cookery tastings, music from The Bookshop Band and lots of cakes and wine. Find out more

…and 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 10am and 2pm, 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.

Now available: books on Richmond’s vicars, local street names and the 2019 issue of our 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.

Forthcoming talks

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

As well as Dr Simon Targett’s talk on Monday 21 October on Richmond and Mortlake’s part in the founding of America and the launching of the British Empire, and our shared heritage event at Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park, on the afternoon of Sunday 3 November, we have:

on Monday 11 November, Dr Caroline Withall on The forgotten boys of the sea: Marine Society merchant sea apprentices, 1772-1873
on Monday 9 December, Susanne Groom on The Lost Buildings of Kew

Looking ahead to 2020

Our 2020 talks programme is already taking shape:

in January 2020, Paul Velluet on The 800th anniversary of St Mary Magdalene’s: aspects of the history and development of Richmond’s historic parish church
in February 2020 (a joint event with The Kew Society), Martin Stilwell on The industrialisation of Kew and North Richmond in the First World War
in March 2020 (a joint event with the Museum of Richmond), Charles Pineles on The social history of Queen’s Road, Richmond
in May 2020, our Annual General Meeting, and Johanna Coombes on Artists and paintings in Richmond, Twickenham and Kew
in October 2020, Mark Dunton will be On the trail of Klaus Fuchs, atomic spy
in November 2020, Andrew Humphries on Richmond’s music scene in the 1960s

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.

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 Robert Wood, in an article on this website’s Resources pages about the freebord’s history. Find out more.