Sydney Oliver (1905-1986)
Sydney Oliver was born in Shakespeare Cottage, Queens Road, Egham. Having assisted his father in auction portering and working with other local auctioneers, he acquired the knowledge and expertise which enabled him to become a well-known and respected antique dealer, valuer and organiser of auctions. He developed a passion for private collecting, documents, pictures, etc, particularly of Egham and neighbouring areas and was well known for his wealth of local historical knowledge and his outspoken clashes with authority (e.g. see item 8). He was a founder member of Egham-by-Runnymede Historical Society and was instrumental in setting up Chertsey Museum in its Windsor Street premises. Over the years his private collections of books, documents, pictures, etc, reached huge proportions and were deposited in various institutions. Before his death he arranged for his collections to be handed over to a charitable trust (to which he also made a substantial endowment), registered as the S.A. Oliver Charitable Settlement. One of these collections came to Royal Holloway, where it was originally housed in the College Library prior to its transfer to the University of London Library Depository in Egham.
Sydney Oliver moved to Bridport in 1978 but returned six years later to Clarence Drive in Englefield Green and then to Vicarage Road in Egham where he lived in Denham House. He continued to challenge every decision by those in authority who wanted to make changes in Egham of which he disapproved. He never "retired" and was always willing to accept any engagement which gave him the opportunity to talk about local history and his beloved antiquities. One of the supreme highlights of his career, of which he was justly very proud, was his cataloguing of the contents of David Lloyd George's house in 1968 (see items 6 and 7) .
His great friend, John Hardaker, said in a tribute to Sydney Oliver on his death: "in every little fracas he had with authority, he was always concerned for the protection of Egham and the rights of the people of Egham"
Items on Display:-
1. Sydney Oliver holding 2 items from his collection
2. The headstone in Englefield Green Cemetery where his wife Eva is buried. Sydney Oliver's ashes are buried in Beaminster, Dorset
3. School attendance certificate of Sydney Oliver, aged 14
4. One of several tributes in the local press to Sydney Oliver on his death in 1986
5. Handwritten letter entitled "Fantasy or Satire" criticising new buildings in Egham
6. "Emotional memories" of time spent cataloguing the contents of the home of David Lloyd George, "Bryn Awelon", Criccieth, NorthWales. 1968
7. The auction catalogue of the contents of "Bryn Awelon", 1968
8. "No permission to interfere with Ancestors' Graves", a letter by Sydney Oliver printed in a local newspaper (dated 10 January 1969) protesting about proposed roadways over two sections of St. John's Churchyard
Joan Wintour
June 2013
​