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RICHMOND'S HISTORIC LINKS WITH AMERICA TO BE EXPLORED IN TALK MARKING THE USA'S 250TH YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Have you ever wondered what connections exist between Richmond and America? Why did the future capital of Virginia take the same name as a town in Surrey?

To mark the 250th year of the United States of America's independence from Britain, Richmond Local History Society chairman, Dr Simon Targett, will be exploring the borough's many historic links with our neighbours across the pond at the Society's next meeting on Monday, April 13th.

"The special relationship between the USA and the UK might not be at its strongest at the moment, but Richmond's relationship with the US has deep roots," said Dr Targett, a Departmental Tutor at Oxford University specialising in Anglo-American history.

"From the moment William Byrd stood on Richmond Hill and observed the similarity between the famous bend in the Thames and that of the James River near his home in Virginia, the historic link was sealed."

Dr Targett will cover the story of William Byrd as well as Sir Francis Drake, Pocahontas, the benefactor who gave Yale University its name, a former governor of Massachusetts and two future US presidents who spent time in Richmond and the local area.

"These are people who played a significant role in British America before the War of Independence," said Dr Targett. "They helped to shape what we now know as the United States."

The talk – Presidents, Explorers, a General and a Princess: Richmond's Links with British America and the War of Independence, 1580-1783 – will take place on Monday, April 13th at 8pm at Duke Street Church, Richmond.

Dr Simon Targett is a writer, historian and award-winning journalist. He is also co-author of New World Inc: How England's Merchants Founded America and Launched the British Empire.

Tickets on the door, £5. Free for members. Full programme and membership details, visit https://www.richmondhistory.org.uk/