Born in 1962 from Beckenham in Kent, Richard Miller moved to Bermondsey Street in 1988. He quickly became involved in community affairs as Chair of the local tenants association and representing Bermondsey Street on the Leathermarket Gardens Neighbourhood Forum. In 1990, in partnership with residents and business owners, Richard helped relaunch the Bermondsey Street Association, and contributed to the Civic Trust Survey in 1994.

In 1997, Richard began a 15 year journey researching his family history and discovered that many ancestors worked as leather dressers in and around Bermondsey Street. “This provided a new perspective on the area I knew so well. To discover that I lived in the very streets of my ancestors 180 years before felt very powerful and gave me a greater insight into Bermondsey then and now.