Richmond Local History Society

19/10/2026

You can now rewatch our October 2026 talk on Lion Gate Gardens (a case study on how to research the local history of your own house or street) and our September 2026 talk, marking the 250th anniversary of Richmond Bridge.

Go to the Society’s YouTube channel, where you can also view our three May 2026 talks – about a missing Titian painting found in Richmond, on Richmond’s connections with Doulton pottery and on the possibilities that AI offers to historians.

11/10/2026

Have you ever wondered why your house or street looks as it does, who used to live there when it was built, or how it came to get its name? In his talk tomorrow night, Monday 12 October, Stephen Bartlett, a Kew resident for many years, highlights how you might be able to find out.

The answer often is rooted in the ownership of a particular piece of land and may have involved many people before it reaches the form we see today. In Richmond we are lucky to have many resources that can help fill in the unknowns and uncover the lives of the residents who lived on the street.

In his talk, Stephen takes Lion Gate Gardens as an example of such a voyage of discovery and shows where you might look to uncover the story behind the place.

Stephen Bartlett's talk is at 8pm at Duke Street Church in Richmond town. Admission free to Richmond Local History Society members; £5 on the door for non-members.

27/09/2026

Places are still available on a guided walk next Saturday morning, 3 October, around historic Fulham, meeting at Putney Bridge Station. The walk will be led by an RLHS member, Keith Whitehouse, a former chairman of Fulham and Hammersmith Historical Society.

We shall see:

* Putney Bridge Station, the terminus of the Metropolitan District Railway in 1880
* Putney Bridge, opened in 1886
* A blue plaque to F R Simms, founder of the Daimler Motor Syndicate in 1896
* Fulham House, built about 1735, now the HQ of the Reserve Forces & Cadets Association for Greater London
* Fulham Churchyard, medieval Fulham church
* Burlington Road, remains of Fulham Convict Prison for females and Fulham Palace earthwork
* Fulham Pottery kiln
* Bishops Avenue, originally the Bishop of Fulham’s private drive to his palace
* Fulham Palace, Tudor courtyard and museum

There is a cafe for those who wish to have refreshments afterwards.

To book a place on this walk, and for more information, please contact Jill Lamb at [email protected]

Photo: Fulham Palace (Wikimedia Commons/Michael Coppins)

23/09/2026

You can now rewatch our September 2026 talk, marking the 250th anniversary of Richmond Bridge. Go to the Society’s YouTube channel, at https://www.youtube.com/, where you can also view our three May 2026 talks – about a missing Titian painting found in Richmond, on Richmond’s connections with Doulton pottery and on the possibilities that AI offers to historians.

(This image, from John Roque's map, shows Richmond, Twickenham Park and the route of the Richmond Ferry in 1746.)

18/09/2026

It is not only the Declaration of Independence that is marking its 250th anniversary this year. Richmond Bridge is also celebrating its semiquincentennial—as Mark Lucas, RLHS membership secretary, told a combined audience of the RLHS and The Richmond Society on Monday.

In a delightfully entertaining talk at Duke Street Church, Mark recounted the history of the bridge, even using the latest artificial intelligence technology to conduct a ventriloquised “conversation” with David Garrick, the famous actor and one of the commissioners selected to oversee construction.

The evening began when Dr Simon Targett, the RLHS chair, paid tribute to the many volunteers who help run the Society’s activities (and without whom the Society wouldn’t be able to function) and welcomed a special guest: the Mayor of Richmond, Cllr Nancy Baldwin. After the talk, the Mayor gave a lovely speech and generously thanked the two societies for their contribution to the Richmond community. The formal proceedings ended when JR May, representing Richmond Society, closed the meeting.

The evening finished with some lively conversation over drinks in the Duke Street Church bar and with a wonderful “Blue Boards” display of historical artifacts on Richmond Bridge from Keith Mulberry’s extensive local history collection (Keith’s "Blue Boards" displays have become a popular fixture of RLHS events).

It all made for a cracking start to the new season of talks. The next RLHS talk is on 12 October, when Stephen Bartlett will tell us about Lion Gate Gardens and how you can research the history of your house and your street. For more information, go to: www.richmondhistory.org.uk

Thanks to Zhijing Zhang and Lizzie Danckwerts of the Richmond Society for the photos.

14/09/2026

You can now rewatch our three May 2026 talks - about a missing Titian painting found in Richmond, on Richmond's connections with Doulton pottery and on the possibilities that AI offers to historians - on the Society's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/

11/07/2026

Remembering, with fondness and gratitude for his enormous contribution to the Society's work, David Blomfield, who passed away 10 years ago on 12 July 2016. David edited nine issues of our journal, Richmond History, chaired the Society for ten years and was our second President. Before the pandemic, when we discovered Zoom and started posting many of our talks on YouTube, we posted audio recordings of some of our talks on Soundcloud. You can hear a tribute to David by our then-Chairman, Robert Smith: https://soundcloud.com/richmond-history-society/a-tribute-to-david-blomfield-by-rlhs-chair-robert-smith and also an audio recording of David's last talk to us, which he gave on 11 April 2016, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Star and Garter Home in Richmond: https://soundcloud.com/richmond-history-society/sets/a-home-for-heroes-the-star-and

Robert Smith, Chairman, opened the Society's meeting on 10 October 2016 by inviting members and visitors to observe a minute's silence in memory of Dr David Blomfield, the Society's President and form

30/06/2026

Jill Lamb has arranged for a historical guided tour of Kingston for our members on Thursday, 23 July at 11 am. The maximum number for the tour is 20, and it will take about 2 hours. There is no charge, but donations to Kingston Tour Guides (on the day) are welcome.

The meeting point is the Market Place, just in front of the Queen Anne statue on the Market House. Our guide will be Julian McCarthy, who has written several books on the history of Kingston. He may also be able to suggest suitable spots for refreshments afterwards!

To book please contact Jill: [email protected]

24/06/2026

Members of Richmond Local History Society enjoy Simon Fowler's Walk - Richmond in the Second World War. The walks season continues see: https://www.richmondhistory.org.uk/wordpress/events/ for details

02/06/2026

Summer Walks Update

Simon Fowler's walk - Richmond in the Second World War - on June 3rd is now sold out. However, he is kindly repeating this walk on June 10th.

To reserve a place, please contact the Secretary, Liz Velluet, by e-mail on [email protected] or by phone on 020 8891 3825.