Petersham, London

Petersham appears in Domesday Book (1086) as Patricesham. It was held by Chertsey Abbey.{{Cite book|last=Lysons|first=Daniel|author-link=Daniel Lysons (antiquarian)|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-environs/vol1/pp399-403|title=The Environs of London: Volume 1, County of Surrey|year=1792|pages=399–403|via=British History Online|access-date = 6 March 2024}} Its assets were: 4 hides; 1 church, 5 ploughs, 1 fishery worth 1,000 eels and 1000 lampreys, {{convert|3|acre|ha}} of meadow. It rendered £6 10s 0d.{{OpenDomesday|TQ1873|petersham|Petersham}}

Archibald Campbell, later 3rd Duke of Argyll and Earl of Islay, was born at Ham House in 1682.{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Archibald-Campbell-3rd-Duke-of-Argyll | title=Archibald Campbell, 3rd duke of Argyll | author= Anderson, Mic|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica | date = 13 February 2024|access-date=6 March 2024}} He went on to found the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh in 1727.

The explorer George Vancouver retired to Petersham, where he wrote A Voyage Of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World.Targett, Simon (2024). "A house, a tomb, a monkey puzzle tree, a fight and a book of discovery" in Smith, Robert (ed.) Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society, 44: 46-56, {{ISSN|0263-0958}} He lived in a house in River Lane that is now two separate dwellings – Navigator's House (formerly known as Craigmyle Cottage) and Glen Cottage. He died in 1798 and is buried in the churchyard of Petersham Parish Church. The Portland stone monument over his grave, renovated in the 1960s, is now Grade II listed in view of its historical associations.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1380182|desc=Tomb of Captain George Vancouver in the Churchyard of St Peter's Church|date=23 March 2000|access-date= 4 September 2016}}

In 1839 Charles Dickens rented Elm Cottage, renamed Elm Lodge,{{Cite web |title=Elm Lodge |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1357743?section=official-list-entry |website=Historic England}} where he wrote Nicholas Nickleby.{{Cite web |date=4 October 2019 |access-date = 11 June 2024|title=Dickens in Richmond upon Thames |url=https://www.richmond.gov.uk/dickens_in_richmond_upon_thames |author= Richmond Local Studies Library and Archive|website=London Borough of Richmond upon Thames}}

In 1847 Queen Victoria granted Pembroke Lodge in the Petersham part of Richmond Park to John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, and it became the Russell family home.{{cite book | title=Richmond Park: Portrait of a Royal Playground | author= Fletcher Jones, Pamela|year=1972 | page=41| publisher=Phillimore & Co Ltd|isbn= 0850334977}} Lord Russell's grandson, Bertrand Russell, spent some of his childhood there.Russell, Bertrand (1967). The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell 1872–1914. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd. p. 19.{{cite web | url=http://hearsumcollection.org.uk/the-collection-and-the-friends-of-richmond-park/item/bertrand-russell-the-young-philosopher-in-the-park | title=Bertrand Russell – the young philosopher in the park | publisher=The Hearsum Collection | work=The Collection | date=12 June 2015 | access-date=19 February 2022}}{{Cite journal |first=Sheila|last= Turcon |date=Spring 2012 |title= Russell’s Homes: Pembroke Lodge |url=https://bertrandrussellsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/brsb_146_spring_2012_public.pdf|journal=The Bertrand Russell Society Bulletin |issue=146 |pages=3-8 |issn=1547-0334}}>{{Cite journal |last= Hirschler |first= Rachel|date=2024 |title=Bertrand Russell's childhood years at Pembroke Lodge |journal= Richmond History: journal of the Richmond Local History Society |volume=44 |pages=11}} During World War II the GHQ Liaison Regiment (also known as Phantom) established its regimental headquarters nearby at the Richmond Hill Hotel,{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5mc7AwAAQBAJ&q=richmond+hill+phantom+regiment+GHQ+headquarters&pg=PT352 | title=Defending London: A Military History from Conquest to Cold War | publisher=The History Press | author=Osborne, Mike | isbn=9780752479316|year=2011}} with its base (including the officers' mess and billet) at Pembroke Lodge.{{cite book |date=2011 |title="History" in Guide to Richmond Park |author= Lankester, Max|publisher=Friends of Richmond Park |location=London |page=91|isbn= 978-0-9567469-0-0}}

In the early 19th century, Charles Stanhope, styled Lord Petersham, later Earl of Harrington, gave the Petersham name to a type of greatcoat.{{cite web|title= Petersham|work=The Free Dictionary|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/petersham|access-date=1 August 2015}} In 1955 Petersham also gave its name to {{HMS|Petersham}},{{cite book |editor-last=Blackman |editor-first=Raymond V B |title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1952–53 |year=1953}} which was a {{sclass2|Ham|minesweeper|1}}.

Listed buildings include a watchman's box, that also served as a village lock-up{{National Heritage List for England |num=1065343|desc=Watchman's Box and Village Lock Up|date= 25 June 1983|access-date=14 September 2016}} and dates from 1787.{{cite web | url=http://www.petershamvillage.org/PV/Village_Lock-up.html | title=Village Watchman's Hut & Lock-up | publisher=Petersham Village | access-date=18 October 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019160006/http://www.petershamvillage.org/PV/Village_Lock-up.html | archive-date=19 October 2013 | url-status=dead }}

Petersham Road (part of the A307) includes an extremely sharp right-angled bend edged by a pair of handsome wrought iron gates. This is the entrance to Montrose House, one of the most notable houses in Petersham. After a spate of serious accidents on the bend in the road, the neighbours formed a group in the 1850s called Trustees of the Road. The Hon. Algernon Tollemache of Ham House was their leader and they managed to persuade the owner of Montrose House to part with some land to reduce the sharpness of the bend. But various dents in the brick wall today reveal that motorists are still taken unawares by it.Weinreb and Hibbert, p. 610

Adjacent to Montrose House and equally as impressive is Rutland Lodge, built in 1666 for a Lord Mayor of London;{{cite web | url=https://www.architecture.com/image-library/RIBApix/image-information/poster/rutland-lodge-petersham-london-the-main-front/posterid/RIBA42036.html | title=Rutland Lodge, Petersham, London: the main front | publisher=RIBApix | access-date=23 July 2016}} it is Grade II* listed.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1065338|desc=Rutland Lodge and Entrance Gate and Piers to Rutland Lodge|date = 10 January 1950|access-date= 13 June 2023}}

Another historic house in Petersham is Douglas House, just off the west drive to Ham House. One of its notable inhabitants was Catherine, Duchess of Queensberry. In 1969 it was bought by the Federal Republic of Germany for use as a German school. New buildings have been erected in the grounds, but the original house and stables have been preserved.Weinreb and Hibbert, p. 241

Petersham is served by only two bus routes: the 65 and 371, both linking the village with Richmond and Kingston upon Thames. It has only a few bus stops such as Sandy Lane, Sudbrook Lane (The Russell School) and Ham Street and The Dysart.

{{main|List of schools in Richmond upon Thames}}

• Deutsche Schule (DSL), London (the German School London), is based at Douglas House.
• The Russell School, now on Petersham Road, was founded in 1851 by Lord John Russell, who served twice as Britain's Prime Minister. It was originally located in Richmond Park, near Petersham Gate, but the building was irreparably damaged by a bomb in 1943 and demolished.{{cite web | url=http://hearsumcollection.org.uk/the-collection-and-the-friends-of-richmond-park/item/lost-buildings-in-richmond-park-the-prime-minister-s-school-and-a-magnificent-mansion | title=Lost buildings in Richmond Park: The Prime Minister's school and a magnificent mansion | publisher=The Hearsum Collection | work=Stories | date=9 June 2015 | access-date=19 February 2022}}{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=David |date=2018 |title=The Russell School, Petersham |journal=Ham & Petersham Community Magazine |pages=20-21}}
• Sudbrook School is a nursery school housed in Petersham's village hall on Bute Avenue.

{{main|St Peter's Church, Petersham}}

Petersham Parish Church is believed to pre-date the Norman conquest of England, as a church at Petersham is mentioned in Domesday Book (1086).

{{main|All Saints' Church, Petersham (London)}}

All Saints', on Bute Avenue, was built as a church but was never consecrated.{{cite web | url=http://www.historyworld.net/placesinhistory/hamallsaints.asp | title=Ham and Petersham – All Saints' Church | work=HistoryWorld | author=Blomfield, David | author-link=David Blomfield |access-date=1 June 2015}} It was built between 1899 and 1909 by Leeds architect John Kelly for Mrs Rachael Warde (née Walker) (1841–1906){{cite web | url=http://mhutils.com/person-1000060_108841351_108841351/laetitia-rachael-warde-born-walker | title=Laetitia Rachael Warde (born Walker) | publisher=MyHeritage | date=24 February 2011 | access-date=19 April 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629212213/http://mhutils.com/person-1000060_108841351_108841351/laetitia-rachael-warde-born-walker | archive-date=29 June 2013 | df=dmy-all }} as a memorial to her father Samuel Walker and her aunt Ellen Walker.{{cite journal |title=Petersham at War|last=Lee |first=J M |journal=Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society |year=2007 |volume=28 |pages=8–14|issn= 0263-0958}} During World War II it was used as an Anti-Aircraft Command post{{cite book | title=Petersham: Radar and Operational Research 1940–1946 | publisher=Richmond Local History Society | author=Lee, J M | year=2024|edition =2nd|isbn=978-1-912314-04-1}}{{cite web | url=http://www.petershamvillage.org/history1.html | title=Second World War | work=Petersham Village | access-date=14 February 2015 | author=Lee, Michael}}{{cite journal | url=http://www.richmondhistory.org.uk/wordpress/richmond-history-the-journal-of-richmond-local-history-societyno-33-2012-%E2%80%8E/no-28-2007/ | title=What role did Petersham's All Saints church play in World War Two? | journal=Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society |volume= 28 | date=2007 | issn =0263-0958|access-date=14 February 2015}} and it has also been used as a recording studio{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/9539311/Keith-Grant.html | title=Obituary: Keith Grant | work=The Daily Telegraph | date=12 September 2012 | access-date=19 April 2013}} and as a filming location.{{cite book | title=The Building of a Borough | publisher=London Borough of Richmond upon Thames | author=The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Local Studies Volunteer Support Group | year=2013 | pages=18–20}} It is now a private residence.

Richmond Golf Club, a private golf club, is situated in the historic Sudbrook Park,{{cite web | url=https://therichmondgolfclub.com/ | title=Welcome to the Richmond Golf Club | publisher=Richmond Golf Club | access-date=21 February 2022}} adjacent to Richmond Park. The Grade I listed building Sudbrook House, in the park, has been its clubhouse since 1898.{{cite book |first=Tom |last=Brennand |title=Richmond Golf Club: A Centenary History 1891–1991 |year=1990 |publisher=St Edmundsbury Press Ltd |pages=20,38–39,104–106}}

Ham and Petersham Cricket Club, whose home matches are played in Ham, was established in 1815.{{cite web | url=https://hampetersham.play-cricket.com/| title=Ham and Petersham Cricket Club | publisher=Ham and Petersham Cricket Club | access-date=21 February 2022}}

Ranelagh Harriers running club is based behind The Dysart restaurant.{{cite web | url=http://www.ranelagh-harriers.com/ | title=Welcome to Ranelagh Harriers | publisher=Ranelagh Harriers | access-date=18 October 2013}}

{{Main|List of people from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames}}

• Shirley Bloomer (born 1934), who won three Grand Slam tennis titles during her tennis-playing career, is the widow of Chris Brasher (see Historical figures below); they brought up their family in Petersham.
• Fearne Cotton (b. 1981), TV presenter, lived at Chestnut Cottage, Petersham from 2004 to 2008.{{cite web |last1=Pitcher |first1=Greg |title=Happy Place: Richmond Cottage Fearne Cotton Lived In While Hosting Top Of The Pops Listed For £1m |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/celebrity-homes/fearne-cotton-richmond-house-for-sale-ps1m-b1119356.html |website=Evening Standard |access-date=18 November 2023}}
• Michael Frayn (born 1933), playwright and novelist, and his wife Claire Tomalin (born 1933), journalist and biographer, live in Petersham.{{Cite news |last=Adams |first=Tim |date=16 August 2009 |title=The interview: Michael Frayn |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/aug/16/michael-frayn-interview |access-date=13 December 2022}}
• The entertainer Tommy Steele (born 1936) bought Montrose House in 1969.{{cite journal | title=New Light on Old Petersham Houses – 2 | author= Cloake, John | author-link= John Cloake | journal=Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society | year=1998 | volume=19|page= 17|issn= 0263-0958}}{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sAA9olZqPSMC&q=montrose+house+steele+tommy&pg=PA559| title=The London Encyclopaedia | publisher=Pan Macmillan |author1=Hibbert, Christopher |author-link=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Keay, John |author2-link=John Keay |author3=Keay, Julia | year=2010 | pages=559| isbn=9781405049252 }} He sold it in about 2004.{{Cite news |last=Douglas |first=Rachel |date=21 April 2004 |title=Celebs on the move |work=Evening Standard|access-date= 20 February 2021|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/celebs-on-the-move-7225031.html}}
• Lynne Truss (born 1955), author, journalist, novelist, and radio broadcaster and dramatist, grew up in Petersham.{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/lynne-truss-the-effoff-society-321609.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/lynne-truss-the-effoff-society-321609.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | title=Lynne Truss: The eff-off society | work=The Independent | date=22 October 2005 | access-date=7 February 2016 | author=Byrnes, Sholto}}
• Peter Voser (b. 1958), the former CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, lived in Petersham. He has since moved back to his native Switzerland.{{cite web | url=http://www.checkcompany.co.uk/director/4845446/PETER-ROBERT-VOSER | title=Peter Robert Voser | publisher=Check Company | access-date=28 July 2017}}

• Daisy Ashford (1881–1972), who is most famous for writing The Young Visiters, was born at Elm Lodge, Petersham.{{cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-30769|title= Ashford [married name Devlin], Margaret Mary Julia [Daisy]|author= Brunner, Hugo|date = 23 September 2004|doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/30769|isbn= 978-0-19-861412-8|access-date = 6 January 2022}}{{Cite web |title=Daisy Ashford |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp58888/margaret-mary-julia-daisy-ashford |access-date=29 November 2020 |website=National Portrait Gallery, London}}
• Chris Brasher (1928–2003), an athlete and sports journalist who co-founded the London Marathon, lived in River Lane, Petersham.{{cite web | url=http://ptn.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/newsletter0204.html | title=Chris Brasher Memorial Run. | publisher=The Petersham Trust | work=Petersham Trust Newsletter | date=February 2004 | access-date=12 April 2013 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130504223639/http://ptn.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/newsletter0204.html | archive-date=4 May 2013 | url-status=dead }}
• The author and illustrator Charles George Harper (1863–1943) lived in Petersham in later life, and died there in 1943.{{cite journal | title=The English traveller: Charles G. Harper, 1863–1943 | author=Webster, N W | journal=Antiquarian Book Monthly Review | year=1974 | issue=16}}
• Lodowick Carlell (1602–1675), courtier and playwright, and his wife Joan Carlile (c.1606–1679), portrait painter, lived at Petersham Lodge in Richmond Park. They are buried together in St Peter's churchyard, but the location of their grave is not known.{{cite ODNB | url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4681 | title=Joan Carlile | date=2004 | access-date=3 December 2012 | author=Burnette, Arianne| doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/4681 }}
• Major Herbert Byng Hall (1805–1883) was an officer in the British Army and later a Queen's Messenger who wrote several books on travel, sport and food, as well as two novels. He lived at Rose Cottage, River Lane, from about 1859 to 1878. His wife is buried at St Peter's church.
• Prince Rupert Loewenstein (1933–2014), aristocrat, merchant banker and longtime financial manager of The Rolling Stones, lived at Petersham Lodge in River Lane, a former grace-and-favour mansion, purchased for about £2 million in 1987.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10847031/Prince-Rupert-zu-Loewenstein-obituary.html Prince Rupert zu Loewenstein – obituary], The Daily Telegraph, 21 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014. It is an early 18th-century house, built for Catherine Douglas, Duchess of Queensberry, and Grade II listed by Historic England.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1250211 |desc=Petersham Lodge|date= 10 January 1950|access-date= 14 September 2016}}
• The businessman Tony Rampton (1915–1993), who was chairman of the clothing retailer Freemans, lived at Gort Lodge, an early 18th-century Grade II listed house in Petersham, where he and his wife Joan, who were both philanthropists, brought up their family, including their son Richard Rampton KC (1941–2023),{{Cite news |first=Gloria |last=Tessler |date=12 January 2024 |title=Richard Rampton, KC |url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-jewish-chronicle/20240112/282127821320494 |access-date=11 June 2024 |work=The Jewish Chronicle |via= PressReader}} who became a libel lawyer. Tony and Joan Rampton are buried in St Peter's churchyard.{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Talk by Judy Weleminsky on Tony Rampton OBE, Petersham's pioneering philanthropist |url=https://www.richmondhistory.org.uk/wordpress/events/talk-by-judy-weleminsky-on-tony-rampton-obe-petershams-pioneering-philanthropist/ |access-date=10 May 2021 |website=Richmond Local History Society}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuWAM5dMmNk&t=1969s |author-link= Judy Weleminsky|author= Weleminsky, Judy|title=Judy Weleminsky 19.4.21 Tony Rampton, Petersham's pioneering philanthropist |publisher= Richmond Local History Society via YouTube|date=26 April 2021|access-date = 6 June 2024}}Weleminsky, Judy (2021/22) "Tony Rampton, Petersham's pioneering philanthropist" in Smith, Robert (ed.) Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society 42: 50–59 {{ISSN| 0263-0958}}
• George Vancouver (1757–1798), Captain in the Royal Navy and one of Britain's greatest explorers and navigators, retired to Petersham and lived on River Lane; he is buried in St Peter's churchyard.
• Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton (1784–1841), politician, sociopolitical theorist and colonial administrator, who was Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies between 1821 and 1828, and Governor of Ceylon from 1831 to 1837, lived and died at Sudbrook Park, Petersham.[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/horton-sir-robert-wilmot-2199/text2841/ "Horton, Sir Robert Wilmot (1784–1841)"], Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1966. Retrieved 11 June 2024.

• German School London

{{Reflist|3}}

• {{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sAA9olZqPSMC&q=montrose+house+steele+tommy&pg=PA559| title=The London Encyclopaedia | publisher=Pan Macmillan |author1=Hibbert, Christopher |author-link=Christopher Hibbert |author2=Keay, John |author2-link=John Keay |author3=Keay, Julia | year=2010 | isbn=9781405049252 }}

{{Commons category|Petersham, London}}

• [https://www.richmond.gov.uk/media/3982/petersham_conservation_area_6.pdf/ Description and map of Petersham Conservation Area]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071121165018/http://www.petershamvillage.co.uk/ A community site run by residents of Petersham]
• [http://hamphotos.blogspot.com/search/label/petersham/ Ham Photos blog – hundreds of photos of Petersham with brief descriptions]
• [https://richmonduponthamesdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2007/03/18th-century-police-station-50.html/ Photo of Petersham Lock-up]
• [https://richmondhistory.org.uk/ Richmond Local History Society, which covers Richmond, Kew, Ham and Petersham]

{{LB Richmond}}

Category:Areas of London

Category:Districts of London on the River Thames

Category:Districts of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames