A historian and former verderer, has written a new book about the fight to save Epping Forest from enclosure.
Richard Morris OBE, from Loughton, spent around six months researching the life of William George Shakespeare Smith, a Victorian who kept two unique scrapbooks covering a seven-year period.
The scrapbooks compile detailed documents, letters and press releases describing the campaign known as the Secretary of The Forest Fund between 1867 and 1882.
“I was a verderer for Epping Forest for 20 years,” explained Mr Morris. “I was first elected in 1998 and retired in October 2017 I have had an interest in Epping Forest since I was born.
“In my retirement from working in the city I also became a local historian on Epping Forest.
“One name that continually cropped up during my research over 20 years was William George Shakespeare Smith, nobody really knew much about him so I decided to research more about him.”
Novel explores how Mr Smith, a solicitor by profession, and his colleagues kept the public informed on the Forest’s proposed enclosure informing newspapers across the country.
Journalists from regional and national newspapers were invited down to visit the Forest and see first-hand the natural beauty of the land.
Secretary of The Forest Fund organised several protest meetings throughout London and Essex over the following seven years to objected Parliament’s decision.
The new book also contains correspondences from 1866 to 1869 discussing then enclosure including details of important letters being published for the first time.
When Mr Morris was asked how pleased he was with his self-conducted research, he said: “Yes absolutely, it was fascinating reading the two scrapbooks containing 215 pages in each of them and seeing the hundreds of press notices from the Victorian times.
“I went to school in Woodford and used to play in the Forest of as a child and always had an interest in the beauty, botany and history of the place and if you have a forest as big as Epping, you have got a lot to learn.”
The Loughton historian spent around five months putting the novel together, gathering most of his information by visiting the Essex and London Met archives and using genealogy website Ancestry.
Alongside, his research into Epping Forest, Mr Morris has also published books on the history of verderers and Chigwell resident, William Harvey, who discovered the correct circulation of the blood.
Saving Epping Forest – William George Shakespeare Smith (1837-1903) and the Forest Fund by Richard Morris is available to buy now.
Copies can be purchased at the Epping Forest Visitor Centre at ‘The View’, Chingford, local bookshops, and online at
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