Museum project remembers lives of 100 important people

Published by the Surrey Advertiser, 4th June 2010.

From left: Allan Winn, artist Alistair Grant, Michael Aspel and Mayor of Elmbridge Cllr Barry Cheyne at the launch ofthe Elmbridge Hundred. Picture by Steve Porter.

ONE hundred lives will be remembered as part of a new project spearheaded by Elmbridge Museum.

In celebration of its centenary, the museum will be creating various biographies of important people from the borough’s history. The project was officially launched on Tuesday by the new mayor of Elmbridge, Cllr Barry Cheyne.

Television presenter Michael Aspel, who was made a Freeman of the Borough of Elmbridge in 2008, also attended the launch. 

Allan Winn, director of Brooklands Museum and chairman of the Elmbridge Hundred steering group, said: “We think it's a fantastic thing. The research that has gone into it to identify all the people who have made a contribution and bringing it down to 100 has opened a lot of people’s eyes and it's just made it so obvious what a remarkable place we live in when you consider we’re just a small borough.”

Out of a long list of 600, 100 people will be given plaques to commemorate their lives.

Famous names include Henry VIII, airplane manufacturer Tommy Sopwith, cricketer Wally Hammond, and theatrical impresario Richard Doyly Carte. The museum knew that many famous figures have been associated with Elmbridge but many of their stories are in danger of disappearing and the project aims to reverse that.

Over the next year, students from ACS Cobham International School, Brooklands College, Claremont Fan Court, Esher College, Esher Church of England High School, Heathside, Hinchley Wood, Notre Dame, Rydens School and Yehudi Menuhin School will work with history enthusiasts to write the life stories of 600 historic figures associated with the borough.

Their biographies will inspire a host of artistic and cultural ventures, from lectures to literary competitions, audio trails, and poetic plaques. 

The Elmbridge Hundred is a community partnership, which brings together Elmbridge Museum, Brooklands Museum, Claremont Landscape Gardens, Landskip Organisation, Painshill Park and the Surrey History Centre with all of the borough's senior schools.

The project is also supported by the RC Sherriif Trust, the Cobham Conservation and Heritage Trust, Esher District Local History Society, Molesey and District Antiques Society, Molesey Local History Society, Walton and Weybridge Local History Society, and The Weybridge Society.

Artist, writer, and historian, Alistair Grant, and historian Joanna Tapp from Elmbridge Museum are working with the students.