‘A Traveller from an Antique Land’: Treasures from the Society of Antiquaries of London

Join the American Philosophical Society on Thursday, February 12, 2026, to welcome Natasha McEnroe for a discussion on ‘A Traveller from an Antique Land’: Treasures from the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Originally formed in a tavern in 1707 by three enthusiasts who brought historic objects for discussion and study (over a tankard of ale), the Society of Antiquaries of London now holds one of the most dazzling collections of art and antiquities in the world. Created long before any of the national museums in Britain opened their doors to the public, the Society’s vast collection still represents the passions of its Fellowship today.

Located on London’s Piccadilly, the Society of Antiquaries houses a busy research library in addition to extensive museum and archives collections, which include rare, printed material, textiles, manuscripts, archaeological artefacts, paintings, drawings and much else besides. Join Natasha McEnroe FSA, General Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, who will share her personal highlights and some behind-the-scenes stories of life in an ‘antique land’.

Natasha McEnroe is General Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of London in Burlington House. Until 2024, Natasha spent seven years at the Science Museum Group, where she was Keeper of Medicine at the Science Museum in South Kensington, London. During her tenure she delivered the new Medicine Galleries, immediately followed by the vast COVID-19 Collecting Project.

Previously, she was Director of the Florence Nightingale Museum, and prior to this was Museum Manager of the Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy and Curator of the Galton Collection at University College London. From 1997 – 2007, she was Curator of Dr Johnson’s House in London’s Fleet Street and has also worked for the National Trust and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Natasha's research interests focus on 18th and 19th-century medical history.