When you think about it, clues about the history of Sutton Coldfield are all around us.

You only need to look. For example, whilst walking past St Peter's Church in Maney the other week, I decided to pause and read the inscription on the foundation stone.

I recognised the names written on it, but I knew little about them.

I decided to find out more. I doubt if anyone in Sutton now recognises the name of J.C. Skelton, identified as a churchwarden on the foundation stone. So what follows is the story of this forgotten Suttonian.

John Charles Skelton was born in London on 18 September 1845.

His father was a military man. In December 1872 Skelton married a Sutton girl Anna Brentnall.

They set up home in Maney, at The Knoll - all houses at this time had names not numbers.

Skelton was later elected as one of the councillors for Maney. He was a director of Middlemore & Lamplugh, which manufactured saddles and harnesses and secured many government contracts during the First World War.

Why is Skelton of interest? The answer lies in his involvement in so many of the clubs and societies that flourished in Sutton in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods.

He was a vice-president of the Sutton Coldfield Institute, which arranged lectures and comedy and musical evenings at the town hall on Mill Street; secretary of the chess club, whose 16 members met weekly to play each other and visitors; and secretary of the Philharmonic Society, which put on public performances. In 1894 the Philharmonic Society performed Mendelssohn's oratorio St. Paul - which went ahead in spite of several members withdrawing on the day - and the Messiah. These were ambitious undertakings for amateur instrumentalists and singers, but were very well received in the town. It was declared that 'Sutton Coldfield would not be complete without its Philharmonic Society.'

Its existence - and that of so many other societies - demonstrates that in the decades before the First World War Sutton was a lively and interesting place to live.         

And .this was only possible because of the efforts of men like J.C. Skelton, who undertook to organise all of these activities. Skelton died in August 1927 and was buried in Sutton Coldfield.

 Glimpses into Sutton's Past Parts l-III by Stephen Roberts can be ordered from Amazon.

Associate Professor
Stephen Roberts