A woman who helped save William Hogarth's former home in Chiswick from being sold and then oversaw its restoration, which was nearly scuppered by fire, has been made an MBE.

Val Bott, chairman of the William Hogarth Trust, was named in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, published on Saturday (June 14), for her work to protect Hogarth's House and boost visitor numbers.

The museum consultant and keen historian, of Hartington Road, Chiswick, modestly said she felt 'slightly embarrassed and very chuffed' to be recognised.

Ms Bott first became involved with the 18th-century building in 1984 when she joined a successful campaign to prevent its sale by Hounslow Council, which had argued it was not attracting enough visitors.

Having helped ensure its future as a museum, she spearheaded a three-year lottery-funded project to restore the house, which reopened in 2011 , two years after nearly being gutted by fire .

Before the building - in Hogarth Lane, just off the busy Hogarth Roundabout - closed in 2008, it attracted about 5,000 visitors a year. Since the revamp that figure has rocketed to more than 12,000.

Much of that is down to Ms Bott's painstaking research into its colourful cast of occupants before and after the celebrated artist Hogarth called it home from 1749 to his death in 1764.

As she explained, their stories give nearly as great an insight into the social fabric of their age as do Hogarth's satirical sketches.

There was the first inhabitant Reverend Ruperti, a German pastor who supported refugees fleeing famine in his home country during the early 1700s and helped many set up new lives in America.

Then there were the many abandoned children from London's Foundling Hospital, of which Hogarth was a great supporter, who were invited to stay in what was then a country retreat.

Hogarth's family were followed by another reverend, Henry Cary, who was also a celebrated scribe, famed for translating Dante's Inferno, and is buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey.

Between 1867 and 1874, the swashbuckling actor Newton 'Brayvo' Hicks brought a touch of showbiz glamour to the residence. Famed for his daredevil acrobatics, which he reputedly employed once when rescuing someone from a genuine fire, his sobriquet 'Brayvo' was what adoring fans would shout at the end of every performance.

But there's no doubting who the main attraction is, especially in what is the 250th anniversary of his death, during which the free museum has a number of events planned to mark the milestone.

Asked about the artist's enduring appeal, Ms Bott said: "People can understand his art. It's not pretentious or grand, and it tells a story."

As well as being chairman of the William Hogarth Trust, which supports the council-owned Hogarth's House, Ms Bott is working on the restoration of landscape artist Joseph Turner's former country home Sandycombe Lodge, in Twickenham.

She is also a member of the Gunnersbury Park Museum steering group, which is waiting to hear whether it has been successful in securing £10 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the museum and park in Brentford.

* Gurcharan Singh Chatwal, former president of the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, in Hounslow , was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the community in the borough of Hounslow.