About the Sunderland Antiquarian Society
Sunderland Antiquarian Society was founded on 21st November 1899 and held its first meeting on 1st February 1900.
Since then it has continued to serve the cause of local history in and around Sunderland and remains the only society of its kind which is devoted to the history of our entire local community.
The Society's aims are to communicate information regarding Sunderland's past and to preserve items of modern everyday life as a future archive for later researchers.
The Society holds talks from September to June in the Sunderland Minster, High Street West (7.45pm - 9.15pm). These talks are held on the second Tuesday of each month. A full programme of the talks is published during the summer recess. See the WHAT'S ON page for further details.
The archives also open fortnightly on Saturday mornings for research purposes (10.00am - 12noon).
The Society publishes free to members a bi-monthly newsletter which contains articles on various aspects of the local history of the city. An annual booklet is also issued free to members.
Over the years the society has acquired a considerable collection of books, documents, maps, photographs and other sources of local history. These may be looked at during our Saturday research mornings.
Membership is open to all and if you wish to join the Sunderland Antiquarian Society the subscription for one year is £15 (individual) or £25 for husband/wife or two people at the same address. Visitors to the archives/talks must pay a cover charge of £1. On joining, a Welcome Pack including the latest newsletter and annual booklet will be forwarded to you. You may join on-line by going to the MEMBERSHIP page. Alternatively you can send your subscription to the Mr R. Hope, Treasurer, 25 St. Gabriel's Avenue, Grangetown, Sunderland, SR4 7TF. Please make cheque payable to Sunderland Antiquarian Society.
Members have exclusive access to the Members Area of this website and we have now began to upload articles, features and photographs into this area. Already included are:
Sunderland Pubs Southwick's Stately Homes Josephs
Sunderland Street Name Origins John Street Villiers Street
History of Redby Junior School Mackie's Corner Southwick 1831-1881
Strawberry Cottage Bainbridge Holme
The Monkwearmouth Babbies Frederick Street
Coronation Street The King's Theatre
The East End Markets and Arcade The Sunderland Empire
St.Andrew's Church Rain's Eye Plan c.1795
Jack Crawford- Sunderland's Hero A Few Notes on High Street
Sunderland Co-operative Society Rowland Burdon
Penshaw Monument Benedict Biscop
Bishopwearmouth Rectory The Athenaeum
Sunderland' first Theatre and Music Hall Seaside Nostalgia (Roker and Seaburn)
The Blue Plaques of Sunderland
Each week we will be adding new articles for Members to access so why not join now and receive your exclusive password to allow your access to the Members Only area?
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY 2009-10
President: Mr D.W. Smith, 7 Crow Lane, Middle Herrington, Sunderland, SR3 3TE
Vice President: Mr F. Lowes
Hon. Vice Presidents: Mr R. Lawson, Mrs C. Davison
Secretary/Webmaster: Mr P. Curtis, 14 Park Parade, Roker, Sunderland, SR6 9LU email: P11cur@aol.com
Treasurer: Mr. R. Hope, 25 St. Gabriels Avenue, Sunderland SR4 7TF
Image Archivists: Mr R. Lawson, Mr. P. Phipps
Map Archivist: Mr N. Kirtlan
Librarian: Mrs C. Davison
Donations Sec: Mr G. Prince, 15 St. Nicholas Avenue, Sunderland, SR3 1YG Tel: 5297307
Membership Sec: Mr R. Davison, 17 Marion Street, Sunderland, SR2 8RG
Council Members: Mr J. Cheeseborough, Mr D. Bridge, Mr. W. Hawkins, Mr. C. Metcalf