Who’s who

President and Vice-President:

• Paul Velluet (President)
• Robert Smith (Vice-President, Publications Editor and Bookshop Manager)

Officers:

• Dr Simon Targett (Chair) 
• Elizabeth Velluet (Hon. Secretary)
• Clive Preston  (Hon. Treasurer and IT Lead)

Elected committee members:

• Simon Fowler (Vice-Chair; Talks Coordinator and E-bulletin Editor)
• Jill Lamb (Visits Coordinator)
• Mark Lucas (Membership Secretary and Events Coordinator)

Co-opted committee members:

• Julian Holden (Web Editor, Social Media Editor and Editor, Richmond History journal)
• Doug Pinchin (Newsletter Editor)

Ex-officio committee members:

• Gary Enstone (Curator, Museum of Richmond)
• Janine Stanford (Richmond-upon-Thames Borough Archivist)

Other volunteers assisting the committee:

• Judith Church (proofreading)
• Linda Duffield (events)
• Karen Feeney (events)
• Dr Joan Marsh (copy editing and proofreading)
• Mary Pollard (publications design and production)
• Nigel Shipman (membership)
• Judy Weleminsky (Zoom and YouTube)

Paul Velluet was appointed President at our annual general meeting in May 2017.

Born in East Sheen, brought up in Richmond and now living in St Margarets, Paul is one of our founder members. He joined what was then the Richmond Society’s Historical and Archaeological Section when it was set up in April 1975 and has delivered talks to us for more than 40 years.

Paul is an architect with particular expertise in the conservation aspects of projects involving historic buildings, a former assistant regional director for English Heritage (now Historic England), a local historian and a former Chairman of the Richmond Society. Paul continues to lead the Richmond Society’s highly successful annual summer season of heritage walks and has also introduced a programme of summer walks for the Richmond Local History Society.

Robert Smith was appointed Vice-President in 2024, after chairing the Society for nine and a half years.  He was our web editor from 2012 to 2025 and is now the Society’s Publications Editor and Bookshop Manager.

Robert has lived in Kew since 1993. His career has been in marketing and communications, including five years running the press department at The National Archives.

Dr Simon Targett was elected as the Society’s Chair at our  annual general meeting in May 2024. A former Financial Times journalist, he lives in St Margarets.

Simon, who has a PhD in History, has given talks to the Society on: Richmond and Mortlake’s part in the founding of America and the launching of the British Empire; Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first Prime Minister, and his connections with Richmond; and naval captain George Vancouver, who is buried in the churchyard of St Peter’s, Petersham.

Simon’s book, New World Inc: How English Merchants Founded America and Launched The British Empire, co-authored with American business writer John Butman, was published in 2018 by Atlantic Books. It tells the story of how England’s merchant adventurers founded America before the Pilgrims.

Simon Fowler, who lives in Kew, is Vice-Chair of the Society and its Talks Coordinator and E-bulletin Editor.

Simon has been a member of the Society since its conception. He is a professional writer, researcher and teacher specialising in the two world wars and the 20th century. Simon has worked at The National Archives in Kew where his many roles included editing its family history magazine, Ancestors.

The publications he has written for the Society include Richmond at War 1939-1945 (2015), Old Palace Lane: Medieval to Modern Richmond (2017 and 2020; co-authored with Derek Robinson) and Poverty and Philanthropy in Victorian Richmond (2017). With Robert Smith, he co-edited the second edition (2024) of   J M Lee’s Petersham: Radar and Operational Research 1940-1946 and also worked on the 2019 and 2022 editions of The Streets of Richmond and Kew.

Julian Holden is our Web Editor, Social Media Editor and Editor of our journal, Richmond History. He lives in St. Margarets and has been a resident of Richmond borough for over 40 years. He has worked most of that time as a marketer and marketing coach for local businesses, helping them through the tricky waters of internet marketing. He is a regular lecturer at RHACC in Richmond and at City Lit in Covent Garden. He is also a volunteer room and tour guide for the National Trust at Ham House.

A long-term fan of history and a lover of art and architecture, Julian holds an honours degree in Humanities and an MA in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute, University of London, and is also a qualified teacher.

As our new journal editor, he’d be delighted to hear from anyone with an idea for an article relating to our area of interest – Richmond, Kew, Petersham and Ham.

Doug Pinchin, our Newsletter Editor, was born and grew up in Richmond.  He has always been fascinated by the rich history of the area.

After a career in marketing Doug became an antiques dealer specialising in late 19th- century and early 20th-century ceramics, particularly the products of Royal Doulton.  He edited a collectors’ magazine, wrote several books and lectured on the subject.

More recently he has produced a number of large-scale charity galas in major West End theatres, Ham House and the Great Hall at Hampton Court.

He has written a play, Secrets and Rumours, about local author Mary Elizabeth Braddon, which has been produced at the Orange Tree Theatre, Ham House and the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.