History Of The Cuming Museum
Between 1780 and 1900 Richard Cuming, 1777 to 1870, and his son Henry Syer Cuming, 1817 to 1902, collected over 25,000 artefacts from around the world. Today the collection that they amassed consists of archaeology, British social history, ethnography, decorative art, geology, textiles, natural history, prints, coins, ceramics, ancient Egyptian and Etruscan objects.
Richard Cuming was the son of a tinplater from Devon. The family moved to 3 Dean's Row in the Walworth Road in 1779 when Richard Cuming was two years old. Today the Walworth Road McDonald’s is on the site of 3 Dean's Row.
Richard became interested in collecting when his aunt gave him three fossils and an old Mogul (Indian) coin. He described this gift as the: "Nucleus of his vast and varied collections of natural and artificial curiosities. "
Geology was Richard Cuming's first enthusiasm. He kept his shells and rocks in a cabinet he made, which is now part of the collection. His nickname when young was "the young philosopher", showing his passion for reading and learning about the things he collected. Later he became particularly interested in science and natural history, attending the Chemical Society of London, building scientific apparatus and buying stuffed animals.
 Henry Syer Cuming continued his father’s work of collecting things from the everyday lives of people all over the world, but his special interests were the archaeology of London and the lives of the people of South London. He collected many thousands of objects that revealed the ordinary lives of South Londoners in the 1800s from theatre adverts and rail tickets to cheap toys and good luck charms.
He was vice-president of the British Archaeology Association, where he gave lectures and published articles which reflected his many interests from a History of Slings in 1889 to a History of Mistletoe in 1878 and the superstitions surrounding fingernails in 1884.
During Henry's lifetime the growing antiques market was flooded with fakes which Henry enjoyed collecting and exposing, as in the notorious Billy and Charley fraud.
Contact us
The Cuming Museum
Tel: 020 7525 2332
Fax: 020 7525 2345
cuming.museum@southwark.gov.uk
Old Walworth Town Hall
151 Walworth Road
London
SE17 1RY
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