The Museum of Richmond commemorates local trailblazers
A new exhibition dedicated to local sportswomen has opened, celebrating the trailblazers who pushed the boundaries of what is possible.
“Trailblazing Women: Richmond’s Sporting Superstars” is an exhibition at the Museum of Richmond dedicated to Kitty Godfree, Betty Nuthall, Pamela Barton and Gem Hoahing who broke new ground for female athletes.
Their careers spanned from the end of the First World War to the start of the Swinging Sixties.
Gary Enstone, the curator of the Museum of Richmond, said of the show: ”It was originally going to be about two tennis players from in and around Richmond.
“One of them is very well known or certainly remembered well within the British tennis circles, a lady called Kitty Godfree, who lived in Sheen for a large part of her life.”
Godfree was the second most successful British Olympian of all time as she won Wimbledon in the 1930s and five medals at different Olympics.
Another tennis player, Betty Nuthall, was one of the rare British winners overseas at the time. She won the US Open in 1930.
However, she was not particularly well remembered by the public.
Nuthall’s family came from Kingston but she lived in Richmond for much of her life.
Enstone said: “The idea of the exhibition was to explore these two characters and why one is quite well revered while the other has been somewhat forgotten over time.
“And then while putting the exhibition together, I found out that there was another tennis player called Gem Hoahing, who was born in Hong Kong.”
Hoahing moved to Twickenham as a child and lived in West London. The show’s curator said her career was not as successful but she still had to compete against the prejudice of the time period towards a player from an ethnic minority.
The exhibition also includes the story of golfer Pamela Barton who came from Barnes.
She won the British Open, French Open and the US Open during the time when winning overseas was very rare.
Enstone said: “She would have been more famously well-known had she sadly not died in the Second World War. I think if she survived she would have probably become one of the most famous British sports stars of all time.”
The exhibition also showcases sports equipment and personal items that belonged to those women like sports costumes and tennis rackets.
But the prize exhibit is a US Open trophy made of silver.
Enstone said: “It’s the only tennis major trophy that is on display in this country apart from the Wimbledon trophy.”
During that time every winner got to keep the trophy until people suddenly realised how expensive it was. Enstone described it as an “extremely rare piece of sporting memorabilia”.
Times have dramatically changed for women in sport with viewership and attendance numbers skyrocketing in 2024 according to Women’s Sports Alliance.
However, equality in media visibility would not be possible without women of the past who laid the groundwork for future generations.
The exhibition runs at the Museum of Richmond until March 2026.
