Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835-1915) – [Local History Notes: 21]
One of the most popular and prolific novelists of her day and the virtual founder of a new school of ‘sensational’ fiction, Miss Mary Elizabeth Braddon was born at Frith…
Charles Dickens and Richmond – [Local History Notes: 20]
Estella in Great Expectations (1861) states: ‘Our lesson is that there are two Richmonds, one in Surrey and one in Yorkshire, and that mine is the Surrey Richmond.' As early…
Making History 2: Moments in time
Do you want to help record the COVID-19 pandemic for posterity? Documents collected now will form a key part of how future generations understand the pandemic. To this end, the…
R D Blackmore (1825-1900) – [Local History Notes: 19]
R D Blackmore Richard Doddridge Blackmore was born on 7 June 1825 in Longworth, Berkshire, where his father, John Blackmore, was Curate-in-charge of the parish. Only a few months after…
Horace Walpole (1717-1797) and Strawberry Hill – [Local History Notes: 18]
Some talk of Gunnersbury, For Sion some declare; And some say, that with Chiswick House No villa can compare; But all the beaux of Middlesex, Who know the country well,…
James Thomson (1700-1748) – [Local History Notes: 17]
The poet of The Seasons was born in Ednam in Roxburghshire, Scotland, the son of Thomas Thomson, a preacher. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Southdean where James…
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) – [Local History Notes: 16]
Samuel Johnson’s Lives of the English Poets records a statement, attributed to Lady Bolingbroke, to the effect that Pope could 'hardly drink tea without a stratagem'. Pope’s career was, indeed,…
Making History: Life in Lockdown
In times like these, where everyday living suddenly changes, everything feels a little surreal. Part of that is the knowledge that we're living through history - in the future, these…
Hogarth House, Richmond – [Local History Notes: 13]
Abraham Cropp, a man of considerable wealth, died at his home in Paradise Row in 1744 (1). He owned two adjoining houses, a coach house and stables. His widow, Susanna…
Bushy House and the National Physical Laboratory – [Local History Notes: 12]
The early history of Bushy House is obscure as there were several lodges in Bushy Park with no particular names. Bushy Park, at the time of Charles I, was divided…