The Trustees, Officers and Members of The Furniture History Society are deeply saddened by the death of Sir Nicholas Goodison on 6 July, and express their condolence to his widow, Judith, and their family. 

The Society was founded in 1964, and Nicholas – though not quite a founder member, having ‘lost the roneo-ed notice of the first meeting’ – was inducted very soon afterwards by Tom Ingram (President, 1979-90).  Nicholas served on the Society’s Council for fifty-four years: as a Member (1966-71), as Hon. Treasurer (1971-90) and finally as President for thirty years, retiring in 2020. 

Thanks to his involvement, the Society and the profile of furniture history flourished – his approach probably best summed up by the remark ‘fun and scholarship go well together’ – and the editorial of the November 1969 issue of the Burlington, dedicated to furniture, noted that since the Society’s foundation ‘the study of furniture…has entered a new phase: it has acquired unprecedented professionalism’ and ‘makes a positive contribution to art history’. 

A considerable scholar and art historian, as well as a prominent financier, he published monographs including English Barometers, 1680-1860 (1968; 2^nd ed. 1977) and Matthew Boulton: Ormolu (1974; 2^nd ed. 2003), and regularly contributed articles to the Society’s journal, Furniture History.  Its 56^th volume, published in 2020, the year of Nicholas’s retirement, was dedicated to him on behalf of the Society with gratitude and affection.

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