EVENTS AND LECTURES 2025/26
|
VISITS
17th September. Special Visit to BURY ST EDMUNDS
For our coach trip this year, we will be visiting Bury St Edmunds to discover some of the lesser-known treasures of its 1,000-year history. In addition to its historic attractions, Bury has a wonderful shopping centre, and on Wednesday, it has the added attraction of being market day. So you can choose what you want to do
LECTURES
All meetings will be held at 6pm in the Old Generator Station, Kings Field Aldeburgh IP15 5HY with the exception of our meeting on 17th December 2025, which will be held in the Jubilee Hall. A copyof the lecture programme can be downloaded HERE.
October 15th Geoffrey Robinson: Sudden Deaths in Suffolk 1800-1850 Geoffrey Robinson will examine the proceedings of a coroner's inquest with particular reference to a rural inquest. Using the very extensive archives of the Suffolk Record Office, Geoffrey will reveal how coroner's courts in Suffolk were witness to many unusual inquests into sudden deaths during the first half of the 19th century. November 19th John Ogden Orford’s Atlantic Wall Breakers In 1942 over 400 inhabitants of the countryside between Orford, Snape and Slaughden were compulsorily evicted from their homes by the War Office and not allowed to return until 1947/48. In the interim, these 12 square miles of the Suffolk Sandlings were used as a testing ground for armoured equipment and assault techniques that would be used to great effect on D Day and beyond. John Ogden tells the story of this remarkable and little known intervention in the recent history of the local area, which had ramifications far beyond its more normally tranquil countryside. After reading history at Durham and a brief flirtation with the wine trade, John Ogden joined the Army on a short service commission and then, unlike most of his contemporaries, forgot to leave for the subsequent 34 years. He lives in Waldringfield and is currently Rear Commodore of its sailing club, Chair of the Landguard Fort Trust, and a member of the nascent Southwold Harbour Board. He was previously the Armed Forces Commissioner for Suffolk. December 17th James Thellusson: “Dickens, Aldeburgh and the will that changed the world”. THIS IS A TICKETED EVENT AT THE JUBILEE HALL HELD JOINTLY WITH THE ALDEBURGH SOCIETY. TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE In 1797, the last will of Peter Thellusson, a wealthy Huguenot banker, changed English Trust law forever. Instead of leaving his fortune to his family, he hid it away in a trust to accumulate for his great-grandsons. Peter by-passed the living for the unborn. Georgian society was appalled, and Parliament introduced the Thellusson Act in 1800 so no one could do the same again. The family, based in Rendlesham, fought the trust for 60 years, and their legal battle was so notorious that some say Dickens used them as a source for the Jarndyce and Jarndyce in ‘Bleak House’ and Tellson’s bank in ‘A Tale of Two Cities’. James Thellusson is a descendant of Peter Thellusson. His talk reflects new research into the will and its link to Dickens. After an international career in public relations with WPP, James is now a freelance writer for magazines such as the Oldie and the Idler. In 2022, he wrote a history of the school report called ‘School’s Out, truants, troublemakers and teachers’ pets’ which is available on Amazon. 2026 January 21st Members Evening Contributions for our Members evening – short talks by the Society’s friends and members - are still welcome. Talks will include Aldeburgh’s MP’s pre 1832 and Queen Mary’s religious persecutions in Aldeburgh. February 18 Sally Sibley Sutton Hoo - The Story Continues The Time Team returned to Sutton Hoo for a second season in May 2025. In collaboration with more than 80 international volunteers, FAS Heritage and the National Trust they continued to open trenches and test pits at the world famous Anglo-Saxon burial site. The end of their second residency closed the most intensive period of excavation at the site in the last 25years. Sally will describe some of these momentous investigations and a little of what has been discovered so far. Sally has been a volunteer at Sutton Hoo for 13 years. Nine years ago, she was instrumental in creating a Talks Service, regularly travelling around the region, giving presentations about various aspects of the iconic Anglo-Saxon site. March 18th Annual General Meeting followed by lecture: Dr Tom Johnson - Households and Everyday Life in Fifteenth-Century Walberswick This talk will explore the everyday life of households in a medieval fishing village. It will look at how families lived, and the ways in which the structures of their domestic lives changed over the course of the fifteenth century. Dr. Tom Johnson, Oxford (Oriel College) specialises in the social and legal history of medieval Europe. He explores the social, economic, and cultural history of Suffolk’s rich maritime history during the Middle Ages. His first book, Law in Common: Legal Culture in Late-Medieval England, was published by Oxford in 2020. He is currently working on his second book, The Fishermen's Church: Reckoning and Ruin in a Medieval Fishing Village, an economic microhistory of the fishing village of Walberswick during the 15th Century. |
Aldeburgh Parish Church Hall
Aldeburgh Old Generator Station (Community Centre)
Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall
|