Haslemere Museum has a new leader, with Alan Perry stepping up as President, supported by three Honorary Vice-Presidents.

Perry, a Haslemere native, has long been a driving force in the community. He attended Shottermill and Woolmer Hill schools before launching a career in property, rising through the ranks at Cubitt & West before co-founding Keats estate agents. In 2010, he was named Haslemere’s Business Personality of the Year.

No stranger to the museum, Perry served as a Trustee for 18 years, eight of them as Chairman. A dedicated conservationist, he has chaired both the Sussex Ornithological Society and the Haslemere Natural History Society. For nearly three decades, he has led a breeding bird survey of West Sussex heathlands.

Joining him in leadership roles are Honorary Vice-Presidents Jane Clayton, Sarah Bain, and Christopher Ashton-Jones.

Clayton, great-granddaughter of museum founder Sir Jonathan Hutchinson, has been a museum supporter for years. A former Trustee, she still organises the annual fundraising plant sale. With a background in English literature, she holds a doctorate in Medieval Letters.

Bain has lived in the Haslemere area for 36 years and chaired the Black Down & Hindhead Supporters’ Committee of the National Trust. She first became an Honorary Vice-President in 2021 after serving as a Trustee.

Ashton-Jones, a PR and business specialist, moved to Haslemere in 2001 and has since been deeply involved in local affairs. A former museum Trustee and Honorary Vice-President since 2021, he is also a council member of the Haslemere Society and a key figure in the Chamber of Trade and Rotary Club.

Founded in 1888, Haslemere Museum is one of the UK’s largest independent museums outside London. Its treasures include an Egyptian mummy, rare fossils, and over 240,000 natural history specimens.

Perry said: “I look forward to supporting this institution, respected locally, nationally, and internationally.”