Victorian hotelier from Sudbury commemorated at new development site

The legacy of a businessman, who established a hotel in Sudbury during the Victorian era, has been commemorated at the site.

Built in the mid-1800s, The Great Eastern Hotel in Station Road was opened by Robert Kirby.

The site, which has served as a pub and nightclub in recent years, has now been converted into 15 flats.

Derek Kirby, who is from Langham, Essex, discovered he was related to the Victorian hotel owner, who is his great-uncle five times removed, after his wife, Diane, traced his family history.

“I was quite surprised,” he said. “I knew beforehand that we came from this area, but I couldn’t pin it down to Ballingdon or anywhere nearby,” said the 80-year-old.

Through extensive research, Mr Kirby learnt that Robert had worked as a brick maker – a trade many of his ancestors had pursued – in Ballingdon, before deciding to go into the hotel industry.

Married to Mary Dair, the couple had eight children, Thomas Henry, William, Robert, Walter, Maurice, Ellen Florence, Jane Maude and Laura Annie.

Their son, Thomas Henry, worked at the hotel under the role of a licensed victualler.

Reflecting on the close proximity of the former hotel to the railway station, Mr Kirby said the site would have served as an ideal location for visitors.

“People would have come in on the train from London to visit Sudbury via Marks Tey,” said the father-of-two.

Having had close ties with the building trade, Mr Kirby said it would have been likely that the hotel was designed and constructed by local labourers.

“He may have known somebody in the town who was a brick maker; if he was a brick maker by trade originally, he may have gone down the road to Ballingdon and asked if they could supply him with the bricks,” said Mr Kirby, who worked as an engraver for 60 years, before retiring.

The initials R and K had been outlined in the brickwork on the outside of the building, which were removed to make way for the new flats.

After informing C J Bardwell contractors of their significance, the company offered to pay homage to Mr Kirby’s ancestor with a commemorative brick.

“I think he should be remembered,” said Mr Kirby. “It was his hotel, he had it built and I think it’s important to have it in the town.”

Frank Balls, from Little Cornard, lived at the site for nearly two decades when his parents, Charles and Rose, ran it as a pub.

Owned by Ward & Son brewery in Foxearth, his family moved to the site in 1937 when he was six months old.

Reflecting on his memories, Mr Balls recalls a stables being located behind the pub, which had been owned by a local coal merchant.

Alongside his job at the pub, his father worked at Edme Maltings, across the road, and Bruntons Propellers.

Mr Balls’ cousins lived at the establishment when they were evacuated from London during the Second World War.

An open house event showcasing the flats was staged on Saturday.