The Story of the Henry Monck Tobacco Box and the Silver Collection

A happy 2026 to all our members!

On 13 November 2025 we enjoyed a talk on the 19th floor of Westminster City Hall, presented by Linda Hantrais, Alan Kraven and Nigel Israel, about the Westminster Tobacco Box (“the world’s largest”) and other items of silver which are looked after by the Past Overseers’ Society, and about how Monck Street in SW1 came to be named after Henry Monck. The event was hosted by the Lord Mayor of Westminster, Paul Dimoldenburg.

Linda has kindly worked with us to share the slides from the event, incorporating additional research, and readings by James Knudsen. You can either play the video in the embedded video player below, or you can view it in a standalone browser tab (or the YouTube app, if you have it installed) here.

Please note that there is no audio until about 2:10, at which point there are readings by James Knudsen, through till about 9:40.

We have included an amount of time per slide which feels reasonable for reading the slide contents, but of course if it’s too quick you can use the Pause function.

Many thanks to Linda for her support and research!

Proposed changes to our Constitution

The Committee has taken the opportunity, during our fortieth year, to consider some potential changes to our Constitution, to ensure it reflects current best practice.

At our recent AGM, on 4 November 2025, we initiated a consultation by circulating a document detailing the suggested changes.

We invite current members of the Society to provide feedback by 28 February 2026 (details on how to do so are at the end of the document). For reference, the existing constitution can be viewed here.

Autumn/Winter 2025 Newsletter

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The Thorney Island Society Welcomes the Public to Westminster’s Hidden Histories

On Saturday 13 September 2025 the Thorney Island Society opened its archive at 10 Old Pye Street to visitors attending the London Open House Festival. This city-wide celebration of architecture and heritage sees hundreds of buildings and organisations open their doors each September, giving the public free access to spaces usually closed or overlooked.

Known primarily among enthusiasts for its role as a guardian of Westminster’s history, the Society’s public opening offered a rare chance to delve into the physical memory of “Old Westminster Village”. Guests came from near and far, eager to explore this hidden corner of the city. What struck organisers most was the astonishing depth of interest shown by visitors – whether long-time locals or Open House participants discovering Westminster for the first time.

The Thorney Island Society, founded in 1985 originally to save the Old Westminster Public Library and now acting as a local conservation and amenity group, has long maintained an archive of books, prints, maps, plans, postcards and ephemera connected to the area around Westminster and the Royal Parks. On the day, the Society’s resident historian Victor Keegan hosted two talks on local history, drawing more than thirty members of the public who joined to hear stories of Westminster’s past.

Membership fees update

Over many years we have resisted the need to increase our membership fees. However, following the period of higher than normal inflation and with many of our suppliers increasing their fees to us, after more than 5 years we have decided to update our subscription rates to ensure our minimum running costs are covered, while still offering our members great value for money.

From 1 August 2025 the following membership fees are in place, based on an annual membership:

• Individual (Full Member): £25
• Joint (Full Members): £35
• Senior/Unwaged/Student Member: £15
• Senior/Unwaged/Student Joint Members: £20
• Corporate Member: £150

These will come into effect for existing members at their next renewal date.

For those members who pay by standing order, we ask that they please take this opportunity to update payment amounts accordingly.

We thank all our members for their continued support.

Our 40th Anniversary Celebration

On 1 July 2025, the Trustees of The Thorney Island Society (TTIS) were delighted to welcome both long-standing supporters and new members to celebrate the Society’s 40th anniversary at the Lord Mayor’s Parlour, right in the heart of Westminster.

Founded in 1985 by June Stubbs MBE and Ann Carlton to save the Old Westminster Public Library on Great Smith Street, TTIS has gone from strength to strength over the decades. Central to this success has been the enduring support of our members and the wider local community.

From a vibrant programme of social events and historic talks and walks, to providing public access to our archives for local history research, TTIS continues to thrive as a dedicated amenity society. This ongoing engagement has been the driving force behind our ability to grow and uphold our mission.

At the core of our work remains a steadfast focus on heritage and the conservation of the historic fabric of the Thorney Island area of Westminster. We are also deeply involved in scrutinising proposed planning initiatives, ensuring that the voices of local residents and the broader community are heard and represented.

In his opening remarks, TTIS Chair Glenn Murphy acknowledged the invaluable partnerships that have supported our mission over the years, including those with The Onion Garden, Westminster Connects, and our local elected representatives, Rachel Blake MP and Councillor Tim Mitchell (St James’s Ward), all of whom have been strong advocates of our cause. He also expressed gratitude to our corporate sponsors – London Heritage Quarter, Blue Orchid Hotels, Sinfonia Smith Square and Marsh Charitable Trust – whose backing has been vital in helping us fulfil our objectives.

Guests were also treated to remarks from the Lord Mayor and Dr Tracy Long CBE, Chair of Sinfonia Smith Square, followed by a beautiful musical performance by Eliza, Gordon and Filipe from Sinfonia Smith Square. The Lord Mayor, Paul Dimoldenberg, explained that he and his wife (also present at our event) were closely involved in the original campaign to save the library building on Great Smith Street, which led to the founding of TTIS, and we gratefully accepted his donation of a folder of correspondence, campaign notes and press cuttings from 1985 for our Archives.

With stunning penthouse views from the Lord Mayor’s Parlour overlooking Buckingham Palace, as well as the parks for which we are the Friends group – St James’s Park and the Green Park – the evening was a wonderful opportunity for members to connect with TTIS Trustees, make new acquaintances and celebrate a significant milestone in the Society’s history.

The Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial Masterplan Design Competition

On 7 May 2025 the five finalist designs for the proposed Queen Elizabeth II Memorial, to be sited in St James’s Park, were published by Malcolm Reading Consultants, who are running the competition to appoint the final team.

The finalists are:

• Foster + Partners with Yinka Shonibare and Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
• Heatherwick Studio with Halima Cassell, MRG Studio, Webb Yates and Arup
• J&L Gibbons with Michael Levine RDI, William Matthews Associates, Structure Workshop and Arup
• Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects, Adam Lowe (Factum Arte) and Structure Workshop
• WilkinsonEyre with Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, Andy Sturgeon Design, Atelier One and Hilson Moran

There was a brief time window for members of the public to submit feedback, although it was a very limited survey and didn’t provide for specific viewpoints from amenity societies such as the Thorney Island Society. However, our overall thoughts on the proposals so far can be summarised as follows:

• It’s important to think about the longer-term context: will every element be understood in the future?
• There is a need for good north–south connectivity across the park, which would require wide footpaths and a wider bridge than the present one.
• Similarly, there is a need to keep the bridge and paths free from today’s overcrowding, so we recommend no seating should be placed on the bridge, as this would cause further overcrowding.
• Views down the lake in both directions should be maintained – so no high-level bridge or obstructing object.
• The natural surroundings on the lakeside are trees and wildflowers – so artificial trees are not in keeping with the nature of the park.
• Maintenance should be easy for The Royal Parks.
• We recommend that a detailed footfall analysis is undertaken.

While the window for comments is closed, we hope to continue our dialogue with the parties involved, in order to push for a design which acts as an appropriate memorial while adhering to the above requirements.

Spring/Summer 2025 Newsletter

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Autumn/Winter 2024 Newsletter

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Victoria Tower Gardens update – September 2024

We were disappointed (but not surprised) that the new Government has carried on with the scheme to build the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre (HMLC) in Victoria Tower Gardens.

The Bill to disapply the 1900 Act’s protection of the gardens, so that HMLC can be built there, was given its third reading in the House of Commons on the day that Rishi Sunak called the election. Since then, it has been debated in the House of Lords and given its second reading there. 30 peers and 2 bishops spoke against the Bill, each of them expressing impressively cogent arguments against it. Only 10 peers (no Labour peers) spoke in support of Lord Khan, the Labour peer who proposed the Bill, but when it came to a vote it turned out that Labour peers had been whipped and 99 voted against our motion regretting the Bill, most of them not having heard any of the debate, while 49 voted in favour of that motion.

The next stage will be the Lords Select Committee in late 2024. There are so far no Government ‘instructions’ constraining what the Committee can consider, so we hope that an informed debate can take place and that the Committee might even support some constructive amendments from the numerous opponents, such as the Thorney Island Society, who have petitioned against the Bill. Proposed amendments could include building a memorial alone in Victoria Tower Gardens and re-thinking the Learning Centre to place it outside the gardens, either making use of existing institutions such as the Holocaust Galleries at the Imperial War Museum and/or combining it with a revived Jewish Museum, which would cover the history of the Jewish community in the UK and include exhibits relating to the Holocaust.