The winners of the SAHB Awards for 2019

Published: 04/11/2019

The SAHB is delighted to announce the winners of its two awards for 2019.

THE MICHEAL SEDGWICK AWARD:

The clear winner was:

Graham Skillen, for his book:

The All-British Marendaz Special: the Man, the Cars and the Aeroplanes (published by Fonthill Media Limited, 2018)

This is a superb book.  Firstly, Graham Skillen has had the good sense to tell the story of an unusual man: acerbic, litigious but also highly creative and determined.  This makes the subject potentially a very interesting one.

But, better still, the author has sought out and interviewed people who worked at the Marendaz factory – some of them as far back as the 1920s.  This may very well be one of the last motoring books to be written with personal memories from such an early date, and the author is to be congratulated for this.   The book represents astounding value for money and is even available in a Kindle edition.

Member of the Judging Panel and Chairman of the Michael Sedgwick Trust, Peter Card, presented the award to Graham at the Autumn Seminar of the Society of Motoring Historians in Britain.  Graham received a plaque and a cheque for £250.

The SAHB acknowledges the generous support of the Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust in making this award.

THE MALCOLM JEAL AWARD:

The clear winners were:

Philip Newsome and Guy Loveridge for their article Paris 1919 in the June 2019 issue of The Automobile magazine.

This beautifully researched article tells the tale of Bob Cooper, Philip Newsome's great uncle.  He joined the Army Service Corps in 1916 at the age of 18 and at the end of the Great War found himself in Paris as a chauffeur to the British Delegation at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference.  He was in charge of a Rolls-Royce 40-50 h.p. (later known as a Silver Ghost) and his passengers included the then British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, and Minister of War Winston Churchill.  The article tells the story of the Peace Conference from Bob’s viewpoint – the testimony of an everyman witness to one of the 20^th Century’s most significant events.

We were delighted that Malcolm’s widow, Eunice Jeal, was once again at our Autumn Seminar to present the award to Philip and Guy.