Simon Thurley
Encyclopedia
Simon John Thurley, CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, FRIBA
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...

, F.R.Hist.S.
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...

 (born 29 August 1962, Huntingdon) is an academic and architectural historian, and the present Chief Executive of English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

 (since April 2002).

Early life and education

Thurley grew up in Godmanchester
Godmanchester
Godmanchester is a small town and civil parish within the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, in England. It lies on the south bank of the River Great Ouse, south of the larger town of Huntingdon, and on the A14 road....

 - he feels that it was inevitable he became a historian since "by age seven I was helping out at Roman digs near my home ... and childhood holidays invariably involved ticking off stately homes and cathedrals". He attended Kimbolton School
Kimbolton School
Kimbolton School is a British HMC co-educational Public day and boarding school located in the village of Kimbolton, in rural Cambridgeshire but close to the borders of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, educating approximately 950 boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 18, with an almost even...

 in Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

 (1972 – 1982), before leaving to study for a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 at Bedford College (1982 - 1985). He passed with a 2:1, and continued his studies at the Courtauld Institute of Art
Courtauld Institute of Art
The Courtauld Institute of Art is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art. The Courtauld is one of the premier centres for the teaching of art history in the world; it was the only History of Art department in the UK to be awarded a top...

 (1985 - 1989). There he gained a distinction for a MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 degree in Art History
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...

, and obtained a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 degree with the thesis entitled 'English Royal Palaces 1450-1550'. In 2010 he was awarded an Honorary LLD degree from the University of Bath
University of Bath
The University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, United Kingdom. It received its Royal Charter in 1966....

.

Career

Whilst working on his PhD he took up a post as Inspector of Ancient Monuments for English Heritage (1988 to 1990), late becoming Curator of Historic Royal Palaces
Historic Royal Palaces
Historic Royal Palaces is an independent charity created in 1998 to manage Britain's unoccupied royal palaces. These are:* The Tower of London* Hampton Court Palace* Kensington Palace - the state rooms only.* Banqueting House* Kew Palace...

 (1989 to 1997) and director of the Museum of London
Museum of London
The Museum of London documents the history of London from the Prehistoric to the present day. The museum is located close to the Barbican Centre, as part of the striking Barbican complex of buildings created in the 1960s and 70s as an innovative approach to re-development within a bomb damaged...

 (1997 to March 2002). He is also a prolific history broadcaster, presenting a history slot on BBC London
BBC London
BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily BBC London News and the weekly Politics Show on television, the BBC London 94.9 radio station and local coverage of the...

 for 3 years and - in television - presenting Flying Through Time, Channel Four’s six part series Lost Buildings of Britain (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

), The Buildings that Shaped Britain (Channel 5) and a six-part history of London (Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

). He has also appeared in other programmes (such as Time Team
Time Team
Time Team is a British television series which has been aired on Channel 4 since 1994. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented by actor Tony Robinson, each episode features a team of specialists carrying out an archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson explaining...

) as a 'talking head'.

Personal life

He married Katharine Goodison (born 1963), a lawyer-turned-hat-designer and daughter of Sir Nicholas Goodison (former Stock Exchange chairman), in October 1998 in Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...

. They renovated a 30-room 17th century rectory, formerly owned by Tower Hamlets council. They divorced without children in 2007, her keeping the house. He married Anna Keay (born 1973), a fellow historian, in February 2008. She is the Properties Presentation Director for English Heritage since 2002. They had known each other for about 15 years, but got to know each other better when they worked on a documentary called The Buildings That Shaped Britain for Five in 2006, at which time his first marriage had already ended. They live in London and a medieval merchant's house in King's Lynn
King's Lynn
King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....

, Norfolk, and have two children.

Thurley is the highest paid member of English Heritage's staff - his total emoluments for the year of 2009 was £163,000 comprising a basic salary of £136,000 and a performance related award of £27,000, 20 per cent of basic salary. His relative youth at taking this post has led him to be dubbed a 'boy wonder'.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours
2011 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 7 June 2011 in New Zealand and 11 June 2011 in United Kingdom to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2011.-Privy Councillors:...

 for services to conservation.

Fellowships and other memberships

  • Visiting Professor
    Visiting Gresham Professor
    Visiting Professors at Gresham College, Holborn, London, give free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1596 / 7, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to eight and plus the Visiting Professors.The first Visiting Professors...

     of the Built Environment at Gresham College
    Gresham College
    Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in central London, England. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham and today it hosts over 140 free public lectures every year within the City of London.-History:Sir Thomas Gresham,...

  • Honorary Fellow and Visiting Professor of London Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University of London
    Royal Holloway, University of London
    Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...

  • Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
    Society of Antiquaries of London
    The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...

  • Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
    Royal Historical Society
    The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...

     (F.R.Hist.S.)
  • Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects
    Royal Institute of British Architects
    The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...

     (FRIBA)
  • President of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society
  • President of the Huntingdonshire History Society
  • Chairman of the Society for Court Studies
    The Society for Court Studies
    The Society for Court Studies is a learned society that aims to stimulate and co-ordinate the study of royal, princely, and noble courts from the late Middle Ages to the present...

  • Serves on the Council of St Paul's Cathedral
    St Paul's Cathedral
    St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...


Works

  • The Royal Palaces of Tudor England: A Social and Architectural History, 1993
  • Hampton Court Palace: The Official Guidebook, 1996
  • Whitehall Palace: An Architectural History of the Royal Apartments 1240-1698, 1999
  • Hampton Court: a Social and Architectural History, 2003
  • Lost Buildings of Britain, 2004 (accompanying the Channel Four TV series)
  • Whitehall Palace: The Official Illustrated History, 2008
  • Somerset House: The Palace of England's Queens 1551-1692, 2009
  • Excavations at Oatlands Palace 1968-73 and 1983-4, 2010 (with Rob Poulton and Alan Cook)

External links

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