Howard Singh's place in Suffolk history as Sudbury's first mayor of black or Asian heritage and decades of public service including in Great Whelnetham, near Bury St Edmunds
Howard Singh arrived in London from Trinidad in 1956 determined to spend his life helping people . . . but it didn’t happen in quite the way he planned.
And the 21-year-old who came to England to study law certainly didn’t forsee securing a place in history as the first person of black or Asian heritage to be mayor of the Suffolk town that became his home.
Howard’s route to public service turned out to be through local government rather than the legal profession. For the last 22 years he has been a parish councillor in Great Whelnetham.
His record of more than 60 years employed by, and serving on, councils was marked last month when in his mid-80s he retired, and was presented with a long service certificate from Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC).
Sally Longmate, CEO of SALC, said: “I certainly don’t know of anyone else who has dedicated so much of their time in a variety of ways like Howard has.
“It was a privilege to present him with a long-service award and provided an opportunity for me to personally thank him on behalf of SALC and the sector - this is a truly amazing achievement.”
Howard, who came to Suffolk as one of the team co-ordinating the building of new homes for Londoners in East Anglia, was first elected to a local council in 1967.
In 1980 he was mayor of Sudbury becoming the town’s – and he believe’s Suffolk’s – first mayor of black or Asian heritage.
His grandparents were the first generation of their family to live in Trinidad.
Thousands of Indian people were transported to the island by the British under an indentured labour scheme after the abolition of the slave trade, and many stayed after the end of their ‘contracts’.
While Howard was growing up his father worked tirelessly to build a good life for their family.
“My parents had nine children. My father worked very, very hard and accrued some money and bought an estate with three little rivers running through it.
“He said those rivers have sand and gravel, and that means we are going to become quite rich.
“I thought I’m the eldest son and that’s not what I want. So I spoke to my mother quietly and said I want to go to England and study law. I want to be able to help people.”
But when he got here he realised his future might not match up to his public spirited vision.
“A lecturer said to me, if you want to make a lot of money you will always have to defend crooked people. I changed my mind about what I wanted to do.
“I got a little job at Silver City Airways. One day I was walking along the road and heard someone talking about students wanting to study acting.
“I went and had a look and it was method acting, and I enjoyed it. The people there said the best thing you can do is try to get an agent.
“My agent got me a part in a (TV docu-drama) called They Made History. I had to dress up as an Indian which I’d never done before.
“Shortly after that I was called to the BBC because they were going to do a radio play on India.”
There was just one stumbling block. Howard didn’t sound ‘Indian’ enough which was a problem because he wouldn’t be seen.
“I had always spoken English. All the schools in Trinidad taught English. They said go down the corridor and see Peter Sellers.”
The well-known actor and comedian had already – in castings that would be shocking today – darkened his skin and put on an accent to play Indian characters.
He told him to imagine a group of Welsh miners chatting over their lunch. “Close your eyes and listen and you will find they are pronouncing the words like Indians do,” he advised him.
Howard didn’t pursue a career in acting, and got a job instead in the architect and engineering department of London County Council (later the Greater London Council). It was the start of a lifetime in local government.
In London he also met his late wife Rosemary, who was studying there. They married in 1959 and had three children, Heather, Nikola and Noel.
By 1964 he was part of the LCC’s New Town team identifying places in southern England where new developments could be built to encourage people to move out of London.
He played a key role in projects that led to thousands of new houses being built for Londoners in East Anglia including in Sudbury, Thetford and Haverhill.
“At that time in London some people were living in hovels,” said Howard. “They wanted us to go round the country and talk to councils about developing new homes.
“Rosemary’s parents lived in Ipswich, and her mother was born in Sudbury. So I chose to come to this part of the country, and we went to live in Great Cornard.”
Living in Suffolk, but still employed by the LCC, as the projects progressed he oversaw work across East Anglia plus Milton Keynes and Huntingdon.
He was also becoming involved in his local community. A huge issue at the time was the planned closure of the railway connecting Sudbury with Colchester, Haverhill and Cambridge.
The line was due to go under the infamous Beeching cuts that saw numerous branch lines axed. A campaign was under way to save it, and Howard added his voice to the protests.
Using his LCC credentials he was able to get through on the phone to Dr Beeching to argue that at least the Sudbury to Colchester section, with its onward link to London, should be saved as it was used by so many people.
In the end, that part of the line was reprieved – and remains open to this day – although the rest closed in 1967.
Meanwhile Howard was also finding that, because of his LCC role, people would ask him questions about all kinds of topics.
“I was very young, still only in my 20s, and I couldn’t answer them,” he recalled.
It led to his decision, in 1967, to stand for election to Great Cornard Parish Council and Melford Rural District Council, coming top in both polls.
Two years later he was a prime mover in the setting up in Sudbury of Suffolk’s first Citizens’ Advice Bureau.
“I knew about the CAB from living in London, so I rang them and asked if we could set up a local one. They said as your town is growing, if you can get 20 or 30 people interested we will help.
“I invited them to a meeting in the town hall in Sudbury, and the place was full, so they said go ahead and do it.”
In 1974 he was involved in local government reorganisation where the old rural district councils were merged into bigger authorities.
The new district council covering Sudbury and Hadleigh needed a name, and Howard identified Babergh which had been the title of one of the old ‘hundreds’ – land divisions dating back to Anglo Saxon times.
Sudbury Town Council was also formed and, having moved into the town he became a member of both.
Meanwhile, he and Rosemary had opened a haberdashery shop, Tigit Crafts, in Sudbury. Once the local GLC housing projects were completed he was transferred back to their London offices where he worked until 1985.
His first year as Mayor of Sudbury – he was elected again in 1989 – started with a memorable celebration and a very special guest.
“The Trinidad ambassador came to my mayor making. They had read about it in the papers in Trinidad and the president had asked him to come.
“It made me think – all those years before I had acted in ‘They Made History’ and now I was making history myself.”
He also received an invitation to a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. “I met the Queen and shook her hand. It was a great privilege,” he said.
His year of office included the twinning of Sudbury with the German town of Höxter and he went to Germany to take part in the festivities which included a banquet, and a hot air balloon
trip.
He also helped the Sudbury Scout group by organising a sale to raise money towards a new headquarters.
Howard marked his second term as mayor in 1989 by creating trophies for various clubs in the town as well as taking part in numerous community events.
He also took on more voluntary roles, joining Suffolk Valuation Tribunal, and St Matthew Housing Association that provided homes for single, lonely and vulnerable people.
In 1990 he became chairman of the environmental and services committee at Babergh council, where his projects included introducing a new fuel conditioning system to make the council’s vehicle fleet more environmentally friendly.
He also accepted an invitation to join the board of Hanover Housing Association, taking responsibility for an area stretching from the Thames to Scotland.
In 2001 he moved to Great Whelnetham to live with his partner Pat Parker, who he met at a support group for people whose wives and husbands had died of cancer.
He became a member, and later chairman, of the parish council, and also a trustee of Whelnetham Community Centre.
In 2008 he organised a lunch club for older people. Creating a heating oil group for nearly 200 homes to get a better deal on oil prices was another of his achievements.
From 2016 to 2020 Howard was on the board of SALC, and also vice-chair for the St Edmundsbury area forum. He contributed to the SALC business plan, discussions and project ideas, always with the perspective of a councillor from a rural community.
