HISTORY

Lewes Chamber of Commerce was inaugurated in 1935, to be the voice of Lewes’s business community.

 

From a time when there were weekly livestock auctions, and almost every shop and firm was independently owned, to a high street with several chain stores, the Chamber has always had a high profile, and in many years well known business owners took on the role of President. Below are our Past Presidents, and those who have lived in Lewes for some time will surely recognise some of these names. 

Rowland GorringeRowland Gorringe, our first President in 1935, and whose estate agency and auctioneers business that bears his name, and which commenced in 1926, is still a major business in the town today, with his grandson, Edward, as Group Chairman.

(Photo provided by Edward Gorringe.)

1935 – ROWLAND GORRINGE

1936 – S. J. STEVENSON 

1937 – C. J. RUGG

1938 – W. E. WITCHER

1939-1946 – H. E. PARRISH 

1947-1948 – W. R. S. JOHNSTON

1949-1951 – B. SANGER

1952-1954 – J. G. STACEY HENDERSON

1955 – N. J. MARTIN

1956-1958 – R. W. BROWN

1959 – J. PICKERILL

1960-1961 – J. K. HEDGECOCK

1962-1963 – CLIFFORD DANN

1964-1966 – F. E. WILLIS

1966-1976 – JOHN HOUGHTON

1976-1978 – N. V. RASHLEIGH

1978-1980 – B. W. COOLEY

1980-1982 – P. BELLAMY

1982-1985 – M. E. SQUIRE

1985-1987 – J. G. A. CLARK

1987-1988 – JANET WILMSHURST

1989-1991 – R. G. E. HILL

1991-1993 – R. SIMMONDS

1993-1996 – ANDREW CLARKE

1996-1998 – R. PATTEN

1998-2000 – GRAHAM S. MIDMER

2000-2001 – MALCOLM J. HEAVEN

2001-2005 – JOANNA YATES

2005-2012 – DAVID J. QUINN

2012-2016 – DAVID CLARK

2016-2023 – CLARE CROUCH (Immediate Past President)

Current President – ASHLEY PRICE

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