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A black and white dated photograph of the outside of the Horniman Museum and Gardens. A clocktower stands to the right with a curved building next to it in the middle and a shorter building with two small turrets to the left. Trees and shrubs are along the front and in front of those is a road.

Our history

Read about the events that shaped the Horniman family, the Museum and collections established by Frederick Horniman.

The Horniman Museum and Gardens is located in Forest Hill, South East London.

It first opened as the Surrey House Museum in 1890 in the Horniman family residence. In 1901 it changed its name to the Horniman Museum when it re-opened in a new purpose-built museum building.

The Horniman is named after Frederick Horniman, who inherited and ran his father’s business, Horniman’s Tea, and was elected as an MP for the Liberal Party in 1895.

Frederick Horniman has historically been remembered through his museum as a social reformer who campaigned for the creation of the British Welfare State, and was committed to raising standards of living in Britain across all sectors of society. It is said that he built his museum to “bring the world to Forest Hill” and provide an opportunity for people from all walks of life to see and learn about global craftsmanship and creativity.

It is however also important to remember that the wealth that enabled him to make his collection, build his museum, and campaign as a social reformer in Britain, was reliant on the exploitation of people living in the British Empire.

The tea trade is widely known to have relied on the repurposing of land to build tea plantations, often involving the forced relocation of people already living on and using that land. This had long term economic and social impacts that continue to affect people’s lives today.

The tea growing process was labour intensive, poorly compensated, and in many cases used indentured or forced labour. The protections for workers that Horniman campaigned for in the UK were knowingly absent in the global plantations that he relied on to supply his business with tea. It is this exploitation that made the tea trade so profitable.

The Victorian and colonial context in which Frederick Horniman and his staff collected and documented objects also needs critical reinterpretation today, working with international partners and community members to ensure their cultural heritage is displayed and cared for respectfully and ethically.

The size of the collection has expanded enormously to around 350,000 objects, including internationally important collections of anthropology and musical instruments, and alongside this growth, the expectations of museum visitors around explicit recognition of the colonial legacy have increased.

Look through the timeline below to learn more about how the Horniman Museum and Gardens came to be, the Surrey House museum and the Horniman family.

Frederick Horniman was born

1835
He was born in Bridgwater, Somerset, the son of Quakers John and Ann Horniman. John, a tea merchant, sold his products in towns throughout the south west of England. The family later moved to Croydon.
An old mottled tea tin with the words Hornimans Tea on it and a picture of a woman. The tin is red and gold.

Joining the family business

1850
When he was 14, Frederick left the Quaker Friends’ School in Croydon where he had been a pupil from 1845-50. He joined the family firm, an increasingly successful tea company.

Horniman's Tea: business is booming

1855
Many foods during Victorian times were contaminated with chemicals to make them colourful. In 1855 the results of hundreds of tests were published. Horniman’s tea was declared pure and safe, giving a huge boost to sales.
A black and white family portrait with the figures seated, apart from the boy. Left to right is a girl with her head on her hand, a boy with his hand to his hip, a bearded man looking at the camera and a woman looking towards the girl.

The Horniman family

1859
In 1859 Frederick married Rebekah Emslie. They had two children, Annie (1860) and Emslie (1863). Annie went on to found the first repertory company at the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester.

Travels around the world

1860
Frederick began collecting objects, specimens and artefacts 'illustrating natural history and the arts and handicrafts of various peoples of the world' from around 1860. His overarching mission was to 'bring the world to Forest Hill' and educate and enrich the lives of the local community.

His travels took him to destinations such as Egypt, Sri Lanka, Burma, China, Japan, Canada and the United States collecting objects which 'either appealed to his own fancy or that seemed to him likely to interest and inform those who had not had the opportunity to visit distant lands'.

1884
The Horniman family often travelled overseas. In 1884 Frederick signed the visitor’s book at the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. He brought back models of the magnificent architectural restorations, used as guides for the painters.
A watercolour drawing of a house on a green hill

"The collection goes or we do..."

1888
With a house rapidly filling up with objects, Rebekah, Frederick's wife, is reported to have said 'either the collection goes or we do'.

1898
With that, the family moved to Surrey Mount - the grounds of which adjoined those of the former residence. The location of there house is where our Prehistoric Garden now sits.
A black and white photograph showing a room filled with images on the walls. A large case is central to the room with many small figures behind glass.

Surrey House Museum opens

1890
Surrey House Museum was officially opened to the public on Christmas Eve by famous physician Sir Morell Mackenzie. In the following nine years there were more than half a million visitors. The collection was divided into two sections - Art and Nature.

The museum was initially open every Wednesday and Saturday from 2pm until 9pm and on bank holidays from 10am to 9pm. Arrangements were made for the reception of schools, societies and clubs and every visitor was supplied with a free hand guide catalogue to help them examine and interpret the objects on display.
A white piece of paper showing the outlines of a building which is marked Horniman at Hays

'Agents in every town'

1891
Extensive new warehouses for Horniman’s Tea were opened at the docks where the Horniman at Hay’s pub now sits. It was reported that Horniman’s had ‘warehouses in the docks and agents in every town in the world’.

1893
During its first year, the museum was open for 110 days and received 42,808 visitors. Mr Horniman and his staff including the museum's first curator Richard Quick continued to actively develop the collections with regards to both display and content. In 1893, it was necessary to build an extension onto the museum to accommodate the growing collection.
A photocopy of a paper showing plans of an outside space with green areas marked and a water garden, next to a building that is the Horniman Museum

The Gardens opening

1895
The Gardens adjoining the Museum were officially opened to the public on 1 June 1895.
A black and white photograph of some ornamental gardens with some small trees, paths and steps

1895
They included a water Garden, a wishing seat, tennis courts and a putting green.

Elected as an MP

1895
In the same year, Frederick was elected as Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth, in Cornwall. He was a member of the Liberal Party, which later introduced the welfare reforms that led to the British welfare state.
A black and white photograph sowing a building with scaffolding around it under construction

A new museum

1898
On 29 January, Surrey House Museum opened for the last time before the move to a purpose-built building. Frederick demonstrated the new Edison Phonograph to the crowds with a recording of his own voice. Construction started on a purpose built Museum at a cost of about £40,000.
black and white photograph of men and women in stylish Edwardian dress, like top hats and gowns. They are outside in a Garden

The Horniman opens

1901
The original Museum building opened to the public on 29 June 1901 by the Duke of Fife, Lord-Lieutenant of the County of London. It now has grade 2* listed status. It is made of Doulting stone (shelly granular limestone as used in Wells Cathedral and Glastonbury Abbey), and was designed by Charles Harrison Townsend.

1904
Dr. H. S. Harrison was appointed Director of the Museum in 1904 and remained in this position until retiring due to ill health in 1937. Harrison was responsible for reorganising and extending the collections, introducing a scheme of lectures and a number of small popular guides to the collections written by Harrison himself. He also served as honorary secretary of the Royal Anthropological Institute and edited its Journal for a number of years.
An oil painting of Frederick Horniman sat at a desk

Frederick Horniman dies

1906
On 5 March 1906 Frederick Horniman died at his home in Falmouth House on Hyde Park Terrace in London. He was buried with his first wife, Rebekah in Camberwell Old Cemetery.
A stone building with two short turrets and an entrance directly in front of the camera. It has two wooden doors with round windows

The 1912 extension

1912
Frederick Horniman's son Emslie Horniman generously donated money to build a new library and lecture theatre. The extension was also designed by Charles Harrison Townsend.
A black and white photograph of a man wearing glasses and a suit

1937
Dr. L. W. G. Malcolm was appointed Director of the Museum. Originally from Australia, L. W. G. Malcolm trained as an anthropologist at Cambridge with A. C. Haddon and W. H. R. Rivers, and had worked at the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum as a Conservator. He worked at the Horniman until his death in 1947.

Credit: Wellcome Collection CC BY 4.0

1947
Dr. Otto Samson was appointed Director of the Museum in 1947. Otto greatly expanded the Horniman collection strategy through several different initiatives. This included the establishment of a post in ethnomusicology and an active collection of musical instruments.

1965
D. M. Boston OBE was appointed Director of the Museum. During his directorship, collections from field workers increased significantly - with both curators encouraged to pursue their own fieldwork and also using external field workers, some of whom were supported by the Emslie Horniman Scholarship Fund. He also secured the Study Collection Centre in Greenwich for collections storage.