Sir Clarence Thomas A Sadd 1882-1962
Sir Clarence Sadd was an influential businessman who performed an active role in Sussex chess, becoming President of the Sussex Chess Association in 1947 and of the Brighton Chess Club in 1949. In 1952 he had played an important part in securing new accommodation for the club, and from 1959 to 1961 he had served as President of the British Chess Federation.
He also carried out a number of important duties in public life apart from his involvement in chess. Some of the positions that he held were Chief Executive and Vice-Chairman of the Midland Bank, President of the Institute of Bankers, Vice-President of the Football Association, and Hon Treasurer of the International Lawn Tennis Association and of the National Sports Development Fund. Although his time was obviously precious he regularly travelled from East Grinstead to Brighton to play chess and help the local chess club. It is clear that with his death the Brighton Chess Club lost a strong leader.
Those of you local to Brighton will know of the Pavilion Gardens Cafe who contributed this interesting insight into the unassuming character of Mr. Sadd:
“Mr T (Tennant – cafe proprietor) got to know an unassuming customer who was a member of Brighton Chess Club in Pavilion Buildings. He always called in at the café for a pot of tea on his way to Brighton station. One afternoon the conversation went like this. “Are you interested in football, Mr. T, “yes certainly, was the reply. Within a few days, two tickets arrived at the café for the F.A. Cup final. Further conversations took place when tennis was mentioned. Then two tickets arrived for the Men’s final day at Wimbledon. Mr. T still wondered who this kind gentleman was. On researching Who’s Who at the Library it became clear that this man was Sir Clarence Sadd, Head of the Midland Bank, President of the Institute of Bankers and freeman of the City of London. He was also Vice President of the F.A. and L.T.A. member of MI5 and personal friend of Lord Attlee and Aneurin Bevin. This friendship continued for a number of years with many more tickets for the top sporting events to follow.”
The Sir Clarence Sadd Cup
In 1949 Sir Clarence Sadd, the president of the Sussex Chess Association presented a trophy for an individual Sussex Junior Championship.
Inscription: “Sussex Chess Association Junior Championships presented by the President Sir Clarence Sadd 1949”
It would seem that after 1967 the trophy was reassigned as a team trophy as it is further unscribed “For teams Under 16 Years”. The individual winners are reproduced here – the team winners since 1967 appear on our Historical Winners page.
SJC now award the Sir Clarence Sadd Cup to the first placed school in the Under-16 section of it’s inter-schools competitions.
| 1949 – 50 | B J Hole |
| 1950 – 51 | D T A Lamport |
| 1951 – 52 | M Davis |
| 1952 – 53 | M Davis |
| 1953 – 54 | W Turner |
| 1954 – 55 | W Turner |
| 1955 – 56 | W Turner |
| 1956 – 57 | R A J Riddle |
| 1957 – 58 | M J Warner |
| 1958 – 59 | G H James |
| 1959 – 60 | D F Parrett G R Dodd |
| 1960 – 61 | G H James |
| 1961 – 62 | R Nicholas |
| 1962 – 63 | D Tuckett G A Hollis |
| 1963 – 64 | B Denman |
| 1964 – 65 | R R Kay |
| 1965 – 66 | R R Kay |
| 1966 – 67 | M J Staples |