John Sadd & Sons was a Maldon institution from 1729 to 1994. From a small carpentry business, it became a major timber merchant and builder, and its legacy can be seen in the town today.

During the Second World War, John Sadd and Sons built motor launches, torpedo boats, gunboats and landing craft for the Royal Navy.

It was among hundreds of contractors up and down the country who were asked to produce small vessels for the Royal Navy. To enable the massive growth needed in these vessels, prefabrication techniques were developed so different components could be contracted out to small firms. A substantial yard like John Sadd could do the bulk of the wooden construction, and they produced several of the famous Fairmile B, D and H Motor Torpedo Boats.

The best way to appreciate this history is to visit the John Sadd Room at Maldon's Museum in the Park. (Credit: Ben Shahrabi)

The John Sadd Room at Maldon's Museum in the Park displays the history of the timber merchants, along with several models, including the Fairmile MTB 796, built at Sadds in 1944 by Aubrey Pettican.

A plaque on two large wooden doors at All Saints Church, Maldon, says they were "built by John Sadd & Sons, timber merchants, sawmillers and master joiners in Maldon from 1780 to 1968".

Large wooden doors can be found at All Saints Church in Maldon High Street, built by John Sadd & Sons. (Credit: Ben Shahrabi)

The doors were refurbished in 1990, in memory of William Adams (1898 – 1963), a managing director and secretary of the company, and his wife Kathleen (1904 – 1986).

John Granger Sadd, like many Victorians, had a large family of eleven children. His tenth child was a girl, Myra Eleanor Sadd, born 3 October 1872.

Maldon-born Myra Sadd-Brown (inset, right) was commemorated with a blue plaque outside her former home, in a ceremony attended by her granddaughter, Lady Diana Dollery (left). (Photos: Nub News)

Myra Sadd was famous in her own right as a pioneer of women's rights at a time when women were seen to be best-placed working behind the scenes to support their husbands. She went on to become a leading figure in the international women's suffrage movement, until her death in 1938.

Last November, she was commemorated with a blue plaque at her former home in Maldon, in a ceremony attended by Lady Diana Dollery (Myra's granddaughter), the Town Mayor, and the Lord Lieutenant of Essex.

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