OUR PEOPLE
The Islington Society is a membership organisation of people who live, work or have an interest in Islington. It is a registered charity with an elected committee of officers, drawn from the membership, who manage the society.
The Society has been chaired by Leslie Wood, Raymond Harris, Beatrix Lehmann, James Ogilvy-Webb, Marion Harvey, Harley Sherlock, Andrew Bosi, David Gibson and, currently Peter Kilborn. Its President is The Rt Hon. the Lord Smith of Finsbury.
Andrew Clayton (Chair)
Andrew is the chairman of the society. Andrew acted as Vice-chair until 2024. Andrew is a retired television producer, programme editor and media company executive. He also spent ten years working to develop independent media in the Balkans after the collapse of the former Yugoslavia. He was born in the borough in 1947 and has lived in Tufnell Park since 1984. He is particularly interested in the preservation and care of Islington’s locally listed buildings and has been closely involved with the revision of the register by The Islington Society. This is now complete and can be viewed on the society’s website.
Patrick Green (Hon Treasurer)
Patrick is a solicitor with Colman Coyle solicitors, based on Upper Street and has been with the firm for several years. Patrick specialises in Private Client law with a particular interest in charity law.
Fredrik Borjesson
Fredrik has been a member of the Islington Society for several years and lives in Barnsbury. He has a special interest in building technology and architecture. He works in the financial services industry.
Andrew Bosi
Andrew has been a resident of Islington since 1978 and was a school governor at five Islington Schools between 1981 and 2024. Andrew was the past chair of Islington Society from 1999 to 2010, a councillor and a member of the Planning Committee from 1990 to 1998 and a member of the London Forum of Amenity and Civic Societies, Planning and Transport Committee. Andrew regularly writes about cricket and transport issues.
James Dunnett
James Dunnett is a practising architect who has been a member of the Islington Society committee for about twenty years. He also writes about architecture and combines an interest in the Georgian past (he lives in a Georgian house) with an engagement with the theory and practice of architecture in the twentieth century . This means he is equally concerned with the legacy of the Modern Movement and how that is treated in Islington, in relation, for example, to Ashmount School or the legacy of Lubetkin and Tecton in Finsbury, and with guarding green spaces and the green environment generally.
Aurelia Faure
Aurelia has lived in the heart of several historic cities including Paris and Oxford before moving to London. She has a special interest in architecture, historical buildings and houses. Aurelia has been a member of the Islington Society for several years and works in the financial services industry.
David Gibson
David is from Warrington, Lancashire and came to Islington as a student at University College London. David trained as a modernist architect with James Stirling and Colin St John Wilson. He has a passion for architectural conservation and established his architectural practice in Islington in 1987. David is fascinated by the uniqueness of Islington and wants to preserve the best of the environment here and improve the remainder. David was vice-chairman of the Islington Society between 1995 and 2004 and Chairman between 2010 and 2020. David represents the Islington Society on the Angel Town Centre Management Group, he is a trustee of the London Historic Buildings Trust and is a member of the principal national building conservation groups.
Andrew Robinson
Andrew Robinson has lived in Islington since the 1980s, mainly in Barnsbury. He was employed in book publishing, television production and journalism until 2006 when he became a freelance author and journalist. Since the 1980s he has written more than 25 books for trade and academic publishers on an unusually wide variety of subjects, ranging from science and the history of science to scripts and decipherment, and the history and culture of India—not to mention the history of London. He is a long-time member of the Society.
Emma Smith
Emma has lived in Islington for over 10 years and enjoys the buzz, the amenities it offers and exploring its interesting streets.
Francis has lived in Tufnell Park for over 30 years and joined the Islington Society in 2020 while campaigning on a local planning issue. As a professional photographer he has worked with architects, landscape architects, for museums and galleries, as well as pursuing and exhibiting personal work much of which is concerned with changing environments and landscapes.
Francis Ware