Effingham Parish Council has been in existence since 1894, when the Local Government Act set up civil parish councils as the first tier of local government.
The galleon is the emblem of both the Parish Council and the village. The image depicts the first of no less than five Ark Royal ships to serve the Crown, and was the flagship of the English Fleet in which Lord Howard of Effingham successfully faced the Spanish Armada in 1588. Sir Walter Raleigh had the ship built in Deptford in 1587 for his own use, but before launch she was purchased by Queen Elizabeth I for £5000. Subsequent HMS Ark Royals were launched in 1914, 1937, 1950 & 1981, the last of which was decommissioned in 2011. Captain Kyd, the last commander, expressed the hope that there would be a sixth Ark Royal in the not-too-distant future. “It is an iconic name that has real resonance with the British people, with the Royal Navy, and around the world.”
Effingham Local History Group
Effingham Parish Council supports the work of Effingham Local History Group, made up of local people carrying out research into the fascinating history of Effingham village and our local area. Visit the ELHG website to find out more.
Clerks to the Parish Council
There have been just six Clerks to Effingham Parish Council before our current Clerk, with Edward Crouch MBE serving for a remarkable 50 years.
- Arthur J. Killick
1894 – 1928 - Ernest A. Killick
1928 – 1946 - Major Oliver Cundall
1946 – 1953
- C. Edward W. Crouch
1953 – 2003 - Susan W. Morris
2003 – 2013 - Clare Ritchie
2013 – 2015
The current Clerk, Jon Short, was appointed in 2015.
Chairmen of the Parish Council
The list of previous Chairmen of Effingham Parish Council includes the engineer Sir Barnes Wallis, a long-term Effingham resident who developed his design for the ‘bouncing bomb’, used in the Dam Busters raid, at his home in Beech Avenue.
- Francis Muir
1894 – 1897 - Charles Lambert
1897 – 1910 - Edward Davis
1910 – 1921 - F. P. Robinson
1922 – 1924 - Capt. J. D. Botterill
1925 – 1927 - James Almond
1928 – 1931 - J. S. Bunce
1932 – 1936 - A. W. Carter
1937 – 1938 - A. H. Lord
1939 – 1946 - Major T. C. L. Farrar
1946 - Barnes Wallis
1946 – 1955 - C. C. Francis
1956 - Joyce Bristow
1957 – 1960 - Dr. Charles T. Sutton
1961 – 1968
- Antony D. Page
1968 – 1970 - Derek Hubbard
1970 - Antony D. Page
1971 – 1980 - Norman H. West
1980 – 1987 - Anthony Cockle
1987 – 1988 - Norman H. West
1988 – 1989 - Keith Cornwell
1989 – 1992 - Peter Grobel
1992 – 1997 - Valerie Chapman
1997 – 2000 - Jessica E. Page
2000 – 2004 - Alison Mouser
2004 – 2006 - C. Edward W. Crouch MBE
2006 – 2009 - Arnold Pindar
2009 – 2018
The current Chairman, Ian Symes, was elected in 2018.
Photograph by courtesy of Effingham Local History Group
Several past Chairmen of Effingham Parish Council attended the retirement party in 1973 of Frank Watkins, headmaster of St Lawrence School. Shown here are Antony Page (left), Sir Barnes Wallis (3rd from left), Dr. Charles Sutton (4th from left) and Anthony Cockle (right).
In April 2011, C. Edward W. Crouch MBE (right) was created the first ‘Freeman of the Parish of Effingham’ by the Parish Council, in recognition of 58 years of outstanding service as Clerk, Chairman and member of the Parish Council. Here he is presented with the certificate by Arnold Pindar (left), who was then the Parish Council Chairman.
The Minutes Books of Effingham Parish Council are stored in the Surrey History Centre.
Scans of early Effingham Parish Council Minutes are available here:
Scans of the minutes of Effingham’s Annual Parish Meetings are available here. (Those in […] are not yet available.)
