{"id":1742,"date":"2015-05-23T09:17:18","date_gmt":"2015-05-23T08:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/?page_id=1742"},"modified":"2024-06-20T12:17:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T11:17:04","slug":"our-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/what-we-do\/our-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Our history"},"content":{"rendered":"
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John Cloake<\/p><\/div>\n

The Society can trace its origins to a talk on the history of Richmond given by John Cloake to The Richmond Society<\/a> on 25 February 1975.\u00a0 It resulted in the setting up of the History and Archaeology Section of The Richmond Society, launched in April 1975 under John Cloake’s chairmanship. The archaeologists subsequently broke away to form the Richmond Archaeological Society<\/a>. In 1985 the Richmond Society’s History Section also became an organisation in its own right as the Richmond Local History Society.<\/span><\/p>\n

John Cloake<\/a><\/strong>, our first Chairman, and later our first President, was a guiding force in the Society’s development. In December 2003 he gave a talk to the Society on Forty Years of Richmond History<\/em><\/a>, charting the development of his own enthusiasm for history and, since his arrival in Richmond 40 years previously, his interest in the local history of Richmond. His talk also encompassed the history of the Richmond Local History Society.<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/a>

Christopher May<\/p><\/div>\n

We lost John Cloake<\/a> in 2014 and also, later that year, Christopher May<\/a><\/strong>, our then-Chairman and editor of our annual journal, Richmond History<\/a>. <\/em>A full appreciation of the contribution of Chris May to the work of the Society appeared in Richmond History 36<\/a>, <\/em>published in May 2015.<\/p>\n

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Norman Radley<\/p><\/div>\n

Norman Radley<\/a><\/strong>, our Chairman from 1995 to 2003, and later one our Vice-Presidents, died in September 2015, a few days after celebrating his 94th birthday.\u00a0An appreciation of Norman Radley appeared in Richmond History 37<\/a>, <\/em>published in May 2016.<\/p>\n

\"David-Blomfield-224x300\"<\/a>

David Blomfield<\/p><\/div>\n

David Blomfield<\/strong><\/a>, the Society\u2019s President from 2014 to 2016, died on 12 July 2016, the day after his 82nd birthday. He was our Chairman from 2003 to 2013 and edited Richmond History<\/em> from 1994 to 2001.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tDavid Blomfield 1934-2016\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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\"David<\/a><\/p>\n

David at the 2015 Richmond May Fair<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We are very sorry to tell you that our President, Dr David Blomfield, has died after a short but very severe illness.<\/strong> David, the Society\u2019s chairman for ten years and a former editor of our journal, Richmond History,<\/em> spent his 82nd birthday at home, surrounded by his extended family. He died the next day, Tuesday 12 July.<\/h4>\n

David was a distinguished local historian, whose books Kew Past<\/em>, The Story of Kew<\/em> and (with the late Christopher May) Kew at War 1939-1945, <\/em>broke new ground in recording what had happened in Kew in its recent past as well as in previous centuries. By telling it in a compelling manner, he made the fascinating story of Kew accessible to everyone and encouraged its residents and visitors alike to take an active interest in their own local history.<\/p>\n

David\u2019s area of interest and expertise was not confined to Kew. Only three months ago, he gave a very well researched and received talk at our meeting on 11 April on the history of Richmond\u2019s Star and Garter Home<\/a>. You can listen to his talk on our Soundcloud page<\/a>. None of us knew then that he was ill and he himself was not sure of the extent of his illness. And we did not know that this would be his last public appearance at the Society, apart from a brief visit to our stall at the Richmond May Fair.<\/p>\n

David was editor of our journal, Richmond History<\/em><\/a>, from 1994 until 2001 and chaired the Society for ten years from 2003 to 2013.\u00a0 After stepping down as Chairman, David\u00a0 \u2013 who was elected President at the 2015 Annual General Meeting \u2013 continued to be a very active member of the Society\u2019s committee and, with Len Chave, spearheaded our publications programme. When Chris May, his successor as Chairman and Editor of Richmond History<\/em>, passed away suddenly in November 2014, David rolled up his sleeves and resumed, temporarily, the role of journal editor. David continued to take a keen interest in our publications work, even in the latter stages of his illness when, at great effort, he made the time to hand over the Society\u2019s affairs with considerable thought and thoroughness.<\/p>\n

My colleagues and I on the Society\u2019s committee are very shocked by this turn of events, coming so soon after the Society has also lost John Cloake, Chris May and Norman Radley. We will miss David\u2019s wise counsel and his encouragement to all of us in our roles. But we recognise how indebted we all are to David for the outstanding contribution he has made to the Society\u2019s success and for the exemplary leadership he has demonstrated, as chairman, as president and as publisher. We now feel empowered to carry on with the Society\u2019s work on a path that he has set and to develop his vision still further.<\/p>\n

Our immediate thoughts are with David\u2019s wife Caroline, and with his children James, Melanie and Rupert and their families to whom we convey the Society\u2019s sincere condolences.<\/p>\n

Robert Smith<\/strong>
\nChairman, Richmond Local History Society
\n13 July 2016<\/p>\n

** UPDATE, 16 July:<\/strong> Following a private family funeral in the morning, there will be a celebration of David\u2019s life (for which formal black attire is not expected) on Tuesday 26 July at 3pm at the Barn Church, Atwood Avenue, Kew TW9 4HF, and afterwards at Priory Park Tennis Club, TW9 3BZ. Priory Park is at the end of Forest Road, Kew.<\/p>\n

*** DAVID BLOMFIELD \u2013 a profile by Harriet Grace <\/strong>(written in 2009 and published in issue 25 (November 2009) of The Link<\/em>, the magazine of the Kew parishes of St Luke’s and the Barn. Reproduced with permission)
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\"David-Blomfield-224x300\"<\/a>I first met David Blomfield when I was eleven and he was a charming, very good-looking undergraduate at Oxford.\u00a0 He was a friend of my sister and my parents were giving a dance.\u00a0 I was too young to attend but at lunch on the day I was placed next to him, and what I remember is that he talked to me and listened. When he could have ignored me, he made me feel special. If I had known, and understood what it meant, that he\u2019d got an exhibition to read Classics (Mods and Greats) at Hertford College, and that before that he\u2019d done his National Service for two years in the early fifties, most of it in Germany in a barracks next to Belsen, I would have been too shy to open my mouth. Now over fifty years later he\u2019s still as good-looking and I can see that his quiet, caring generosity has underpinned all that he has done.<\/p>\n

The youngest of three brothers and the son of an army officer, David was the only one go to Oxford.\u00a0 After Oxford he joined the Readers Digest as Editor for the Condensed Books series and had a successful career at the Digest for nearly thirty years. It was there he met Caroline.\u00a0 They married, moved to Kew in 1965 and soon became involved in the community, church and local government.<\/p>\n

David says that it was the education of their three children at Queen\u2019s that made him realise the importance of representation and involvement at a local level.\u00a0\u00a0 Kew had a community and he wanted to invest in it.\u00a0 He fought to change the rules at Queen\u2019s School to permit parental governors, and subsequently became a governor of Queen\u2019s, Darrell Infant and Junior, Gainsborough Secondary School and Windham Nursery school.\u00a0 In the late 1960s he and Caroline helped Pat Lewis set up the Barn Nursery School in the new church hall, and for four years Caroline ran a satellite nursery in Gloucester Road.\u00a0 Education led to local politics.\u00a0 He\u2019d always been a Liberal supporter, but what interested him was a smaller population \u2013 the “politics of the parish pump” – where it was possible to identify with the people and the problems, and do something about it.\u00a0 He was a councillor from 1971 to 1978, and from 1979 to 1986, and during this period the council had more powers than at present, which made it important and rewarding work.<\/p>\n

At the end of the 1980s David left the Reader’s Digest<\/em> and became a freelance editor, and Caroline opened Kew Bookshop.\u00a0 David was church warden at the Barn during Tim Beaumont\u2019s time and when Nick Darby took over, David chaired\u00a0 the committee responsible for converting the west end of the Barn Church, an operation which required a sensitive architect and a willing congregation.\u00a0 The work was completed in 2002 and has meant that the church is now used by the community every day of the week.\u00a0\u00a0 He has also been responsible for chairing the building of the Orange Tree Theatre and the conversion of\u00a0 St Luke\u2019s House, plus numerous other community projects, which led, in 2000, to the award of an MBE.<\/p>\n

Throughout all these activities runs David\u2019s passion for local history.\u00a0 When Kew Bookshop opened in 1989 it needed a book about Kew\u2019s local history so Caroline challenged David and since then he has written three books: Story of Kew, Kew Past,<\/em> and very recently Kew<\/em> At War.\u00a0 <\/em>He completed a PhD in 2007, his thesis being on the Boatmen on the Kew stretch of the Thames.<\/p>\n

A church-goer all his life David talks about a “pilgrimage of faith” where he is always exploring.\u00a0\u00a0 A truly modest, clever and deep-thinking http:\/\/premier-pharmacy.com\/product-category\/weight-loss\/<\/a> man, he has been supported throughout by Caroline.\u00a0 They have lived, worked and contributed to life in Kew for over forty years.\u00a0 Without exaggeration they have changed its landscape for the better.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Christopher May at the 2014 Kew Fayre<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Christopher May<\/strong>, who was our Chairman and also Editor of our journal, Richmond History<\/em>, died on 11 November 2014.
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This sad news came as a shock, even to those who knew he had been battling with a virulent form of leukaemia since February. In the week before he died he turned down further invasive treatment that could offer him a few more weeks of life. He died at home, as he wanted, with his family around him and his affairs in order.<\/p>\n

There was a full obituary of Chris in the 2015 issue of Richmond History<\/em>, giving due attention to his great contribution to Richmond local history. The following tribute is based on the address at his funeral given by his close friend and fellow historian David Blomfield.<\/p>\n

“Chris died on Armistice Day. It is an easy date to remember, and fits him better than many might think. Chris was never required to serve in the forces, but he was a warrior who fought stubbornly for every cause he espoused.<\/p>\n

“He was born in 1943. He came from a family of doctors. At the age of seven he was packed off as a boarder to a private preparatory school. He then went to Haileybury. In spite of \u2013 perhaps because of \u2013 this privileged education, he developed decidedly left-wing ideals. Chris was not interested in party politics, but throughout his life he battled against injustices of every kind. Perhaps it was significant that when he was appointed head boy at Haileybury the appointment lasted only a few weeks. He simply refused to carry out any beatings.<\/p>\n

“In 1962 he went to Peterhouse College, Cambridge, where he studied Anthropology. He then, with a MSc in Politics at the LSE, began a bewildering and possibly record-breaking series of post-graduate studies.<\/p>\n

“In 1971 he married Manjeet Gill, from a Sikh family that had survived the Japanese occupation of Malaya in WW2. With Manjeet in Kew he brought up her two sons Anil and Ravi, both of whom are now doctors \u2013 in the May family tradition.<\/p>\n

“Meanwhile, Chris, being Chris, just went on studying. There was an MA from Cambridge, followed by another from Birkbeck. This was in Second Language Learning and Teaching, and the key to his future career. He was then at Holland Park Comprehensive where he fought \u2013 and won \u2013 a battle with his employers over the teaching of the children of the Vietnamese Boat People. This in turn led to his appointment in 1989 to the staff of the European School in Italy, where he would spend the next 17 years teaching students, nearly all of whom used English as a second language. Chris himself would become bilingual in both the Italian language and its culture.<\/p>\n

“By now he had completed yet another MA. This was in Early Modern History, which reflected a new interest that he had acquired in the local history of Richmond. By 1986 he had joined Richmond Local History Society’s committee and had already contributed articles to the journal. When he returned from Italy he was welcomed with sighs of relief and the posts of journal editor and chair of the Society.<\/p>\n

“For the Society Chris published under the wry, self-deprecating, nom de plume<\/em> of Edward Casaubon. Casaubon was famous in George Elliot\u2019s Middlemarch<\/em> for his inability to publish his research, but Chris was to contradict this image: he sometimes came perilously close to missing deadlines, because he was for ever finding fascinating facts that demanded his further attention. His articles and talks were always polished, witty and wise. There was always too a touch of humour, even of mischief.<\/p>\n

“Chris will be fondly remembered by Richmond historians for the brilliance of his talks, the breadth of the articles he wrote for our local history journal Richmond History<\/em> and the encouragement he offered over many years to other contributors, but he will also be remembered by a wider public. With the publication in 2009 of Kew at War,<\/em> his unique research on the US cartographers and the Italian \u2018co-operators\u2019 who camped in Kew in World War II commanded the attention of a transatlantic and a European-wide audience. It put Richmond\u2019s local history on the worldwide map, just where Chris knew that it belonged.”<\/p>\n

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\"HM<\/a>

John Cloake with HM The Queen at the opening of the Museum of Richmond in 1988<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

John Cloake<\/strong>, who died on 9 July 2014, was President, and the first chairman, of the Richmond Local History Society. He was also the founder of the Museum of Richmond<\/a> and first Chair of its Board of Trustees.<\/p>\n

John Cloake, whose career was in the diplomatic service, came to Richmond in 1962. He became an active member of the Richmond Society and established its local history section, which in 1985 became the Richmond Local History Society. As well as contributing regularly to the Society’s annual journal Richmond History<\/a><\/em> (including, posthumously,\u00a0the May 2015 issue<\/a>), he wrote several books on local history topics, including Richmond Past: A Visual History of Richmond, Kew, Petersham and Ham<\/em> and The Palaces and Parks of Richmond and Kew<\/em>.<\/p>\n

John Cloake was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1988, and awarded an Honorary DLitt. from Kingston University in 2004.<\/p>\n

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