Simon Thurley | |
|---|---|
| Chief Executive Officer ofEnglish Heritage | |
| In office 2002–2015 | |
| Succeeded by | Kate Mavor |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Simon John Thurley (1962-08-29)29 August 1962 (age 63) Huntingdon,Cambridgeshire, England |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Kimbolton School |
| Alma mater | Bedford College,University of London Courtauld Institute of Art University of Bath (Honoris causa) |
Simon John Thurley (born 29 August 1962) is an English academic and architectural historian. He served as Chief Executive ofEnglish Heritage from April 2002 to May 2015. In April 2021, he became Chair of theNational Lottery Heritage Fund.
Thurley was born inHuntingdon and grew up inGodmanchester. He feels that it was inevitable he became a historian since "by age seven I was helping out at Roman digs near my home ... and childhood holidays invariably involved ticking off stately homes and cathedrals".[1] He attended the privateKimbolton School in Cambridgeshire (1972–82), before leaving to study for aBA degree in History atBedford College (1982–85).
He passed with a 2:1, and continued his studies at theCourtauld Institute of Art (1985–89). There he gained a distinction for anMA degree inArt History, and obtained aPhD degree with the thesis entitled "English Royal Palaces 1450–1550".[2] In 2010, he was awarded an HonoraryLLD degree by theUniversity of Bath.
Whilst working on his doctoral research, he took up a post asInspector of Ancient Monuments for English Heritage (1988–90), later becoming Curator ofHistoric Royal Palaces (1989–97) anddirector of theMuseum of London (1997 to March 2002). He is also a prolific history broadcaster, presenting a history slot onBBC London for three years and – in television – presentingFlying Through Time, Channel Four's 2004 six-part seriesLost Buildings of Britain (Channel 4),The Buildings that Shaped Britain (Channel 5) and a six-part history of London (Granada).[2] He also appeared as an expert in a number of episodes of the long-running Channel 4 archaeological programmeTime Team.
In 2002, at the age of 39, Thurley was appointed Chief Executive of English Heritage; his relative youth at taking this post led him to be dubbed a "boy wonder".[3] Thurley was the highest-paid member of English Heritage's staff: his emoluments in 2009 totalled £163,000, comprising a basic salary of £136,000 and a performance-related award of £27,000, twenty per cent of basic salary.[4]
Thurley married Katharine Goodison (born 1963), a lawyer-turned-hat-designer and daughter of SirNicholas Goodison (former Stock Exchange chairman). They divorced in 2007. His late father, a veterinarian, was born and raised inBritish India, and returned to England in the 1950s some years after India's independence in 1947.
Thurley married secondlyAnna Keay (born 1974), a fellow historian, in February 2008. She was the Properties Presentation Director for English Heritage from 2002 to 2011, and is now Director of theLandmark Trust.[5] They had known each other for about 15 years, but got to know each other better when they worked on a documentary calledThe Buildings That Shaped Britain forChannel 5 in 2006. They live in London and a medieval merchant's house inKing's Lynn,Norfolk, and have two children.[6][7]
He was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2011 Birthday Honours for services to conservation.[8][9]
| Cultural offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Director of theMuseum of London 1997–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Executive ofEnglish Heritage 2002–2015 | Succeeded by |
