About Us

OUR HISTORY

In 1997 the Hearsum Family were granted a long lease on Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park, which had been largely derelict for 25 years and was in a very sad state. The research to inform the restoration works revealed that the Park has a unique and fascinating heritage, but also that the material was scattered across many locations. So Daniel Hearsum began bringing the heritage material back to Richmond Park. The collection has continued to grow and now also covers the other Royal Parks.

As one of the final phases of the restoration, in 2007 we partnered with The Royal Parks and The Friends of Richmond Park to open a small visitor information point to see if people wished to learn more, with a very positive response.

In 2009 we partnered again with the Friends to sort and catalogue the collection. Their wonderful volunteers have worked hard to good effect and the Richmond Park collection is now catalogued on a professional museum database.

In 2012 we partnered with The Royal Parks Guild to organise very popular displays for HM the Queen’s visit to Richmond Park; these interpretation boards were mounted at the entrance to Pembroke Lodge.

During these activities it became clear that many people were genuinely interested in the heritage of Richmond Park so plans to make the collection accessible to all begun. In 2013, The Hearsum Collection was registered as a charity with the Charity Commission to progress these plans and to continue sharing the heritage of the Royal Parks through our exhibitions.

WHO WE ARE
The Hearsum Collection is a registered charity (no. 1153010) with:

Four Trustees
Jane Hearsum – Chairperson of trustees and of Pembroke Lodge

Mike Fitt OBE – Former Deputy Chief Executive of The Royal Parks; Chairman of the The Royal Parks Guild; Honorary Historian for The Royal Parks

Steven Price FCA – a Chartered Accountant with responsibility for compliance

Sue Barber – former Curator of The Museum of Richmond

Staff
Sue Barber – Curator

Volunteers
Our specialist collection volunteers have backgrounds in IT and information management.
Some 80 volunteers manage the current information centre.