ALFRED ALEXANDER CHARLES HEDGES
1916 – 2001
A. A. C. Hedges (he was proud of his names and always insisted on his full initials) was born in Addlestone, Kent on 1 May 1916 the son of Alfred Edward and Mabel Elizabeth (nee Vine) Hedges. He spent much of his childhood with his mother's family (Vines) in Surrey and always supported Surrey and not Kent in the Cricket County Championship.
He went to grammar school and gained the necessary School Certificate to start a career in librarianship.
Working on the desk at Watford he met a schoolgirl Mildred (Mel) Alice Latcham whom he was to marry. Mel remembers that he used to let her off her fines!
His family had a naval tradition and so it was natural that when war broke out he should join the Royal Navy. On 22 November 1940 he and Mel were married – he in uniform. Invalided out of the Navy and having passed the exams for his Fellowship of the Library Association he became Borough Librarian of Fleetwood where in 1945 their son was born.
His next post in 1946 was Borough Librarian of Great Yarmouth where their second child, a daughter, arrived in 1948. The Central Library had been bombed during the war and so it was housed in what had been a large grocer's. Alf converted a storeroom into an art gallery and persuaded eminent painters including Sir Alfred Munnings, Edward Seago and Sir John Arnesby Brown to send works.
He had always been a keen cyclist and had won many cups and medals in his youth and cycled the two miles from Gorleston to Yarmouth every day, whatever the weather. Even his eventual move to Winterton a coastal village ten miles North of Yarmouth did not persuade him to take the bus and until he eventually got a car he continued to use his bike to commute every day.
He was an enthusiastic philatelist and for many years was secretary of the Yarmouth Stamp Club.
He had written several brochures etc including a Yarmouth town guide entitled “Golden Sands and Yesterdays” which covered some of the fascinating history of the town. Alf had become a passionate supporter of Yarmouth, its traditions and history. He was commissioned by the Borough Corporation to write a book to celebrate the seven hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the grant of a charter to the town by King John in 1209. A copy was to be given to every schoolchild in the borough and any copies left over sold in local booksellers. In fact “Yarmouth is an Antient Town” was an outstanding success and went through numerous reprints.
It was this success that launched Alf on a writing career. He wrote many books and was a regular contributor to magazines and newspapers both local and national.
Part of Alf's remit as Borough Librarian was “Number 4 South Quay”. This was the home of a friend of Miles Corbet Member of Parliament for Yarmouth in the seventeenth century. Corbet was Cromwell's Lawyer and the meeting that determined the King's death was thought to have been held at “Number 4”. When a new purpose built library was built adjoining the old Toll House, Alf acquired a second museum and the title “Borough Librarian and Curator”.
Later, with virtually no financial support, Alf created and opened “The Maritime Museum for East Anglia” on the sea front. He also successfully lobbied for the “Lydia Eva”, the last steam powered herring drifter to come back to Yarmouth and be turned into a floating museum.
When plans for the new library were drawn up Alf insisted that they include art galleries. He inaugurated the very popular “Pictures for the People” programme where artists could display and sell pictures free of charge on the understanding they were below a set price. Exhibitions and sales of local amateurs' works were also a feature.
With the local government re-organisation of 1974 Alf took the opportunity for early retirement and time to devote to his writing. He and Mel became keen caravaners.
He continued mentally alert and physically active for the rest of his life and died on 31 October 2001 following an operation to remove a blood clot in his thigh. He was buried in the churchyard of Winterton-on-Sea on 8 November.
Written by Alf's son RH
Some books by A. A. C. Hedges, with dates when first published:
Great Yarmouth – Golden Sands and Yesterdays.
Yarmouth is an Antient Town 1959 (new updated version with Michael Boon and Frank Meeres 2001 Published after his death)
Tollhouse and Number 4 South Quay.
The Herring Story.
Great Yarmouth as it Was, 1973.
Racing at Yarmouth for 257 Years, 1973
Admiral Lord Nelson
East Coast Shipping, 1974
Bottles and Bottle Collecting, 1975
Inns and Inn Signs of Norfolk and Suffolk, 1976.
What to See in Great Yarmouth and District, 1978.
Let's Collect Goss China, 1979
Let's Collect Stamps, 1979.
Let's Collect Coins and Medals, 1979.
The Gunton Story, 1977
The Voyages of Captain James Cook