The Sudbury Institute Club has this year reached its 175th Anniversary and this booklet has been compiled by Phil Walker for the pleasure of those Club members who may wish to know something of the history that trails in its wake.
The basis of this work is the commemorative history of the Club prepared by our then President, Sydney Hyde, for its 150th Anniversary. Phil has added to Mr Hyde’s work, drawing on exhaustive research by another member, Walter Perry, to include notes on our Presidents from 1834 and bringing our story to the present day.
As a club we have lived through interesting times. At its foundation Wellington still strode the political stage. Were any of our founder members veterans of Waterloo or Trafalgar? And what were the views, in that rented North Street room, of the Tolpuddle martyrs? Suffolk too was a farming economy. Mr Hyde’s remark about the second world war invites the question, was there then a call for a Club memorial board?
Domestically too the Institute Club has weathered turbulent times when money was short, rents were raised or membership flagged. But always rescue has arrived through the arts of a good Treasurer, the devotion of the Committee and the loyalty of our members. With these assets, especially the last, our continuing strength, we can look forward to a long and distinguished future.
Jim Travis, President
September 2009