The Society in 1933
90 Years of History
The history of our Golf Society goes back to 1921 when a golfing society was formed under the then Ministry of Health. The Minister of Health at the time, Christopher Addison, was to chair the inaugural meeting but he was moved to a new post before that took place. The first President of the Society was therefore the Rt Hon Alfred Mond MP who took over from Addison in April 1921. (See pics below right).
A notable member of the Society was Rt Hon Neville Chamberlain MP who became President of the Society in 1933 and went on to become Prime Minister and infamous for the piece of white paper signed by Adolf Hitler declaring that he had no intention of invading Poland. Months later, of course, he did and WW2 began.
During the war the society, with many of it's members serving in the forces, ceased to function. The early records show that the trophies were "..sent to Hood's place in Surrey for safekeeping during the war.." It does not say who Hood was but after the war the trophies emerged as part of the Ministry of Works golf society. In the fifties this became the Ministry of Public Building and Works and in 1971, that Ministry together with the Ministry of Housing and Ministry of Transport became one big department under the heading 'Department of the Environment'.
Under the DOE banner, three golf societies existed - the MHLG Society (which was renamed DOE(LG)), the Transport Golf Society and the PSA (Property Services Agency) Society.
