Our Founder was Professor Alan Robinson, who was our first Chairman in 1959-62 and then was our President until his death in 2019. However, the very first PSPS member was Mrs Eileen Pritchard who had a large influence on paddle steamer preservation in the 1960s.
President
Date Name Notes 1962 – 2019 Professor A R Robinson Founder 2019 – Present Douglas McGowan MBE
Vice President
Date Name Notes 1968 – 1989 Nick Knight 1976 – 2020 W G Prynne 1988 – Present Nigel Coombes 1999 – Present J T Sylvester 2004 – Present Nick James 2004 – 2019 Douglas McGowan MBE President from 2019 2017 – 2021 John Anderson
Chairman
Date Name Notes 1959 – 1962 Professor A R Robinson Until November 1962 1962 – 1963 J D Potter Resigned May 1963 1963 Bill Prynne Caretaker role until November 1963 1963 – 1967 Nick Knight 1967 – 1976 Bill Prynne 1976 Alan Peake Resigned due to ill health 1976 – 1980 Victor Gray 1980 – 1982 Douglas McGowan 1982 – 1988 Nigel Coombes 1988 – 1991 Jeremy Gold 1991 – 2004 Nick James 2004 – 2012 Myra Allen 2012 – 2013 Douglas McGowan 2013 – 2017 Iain Dewar 2017 – 2019 Paul Semple 2019 – 2020 Peter Morley Interim Chairman until March 2020 2020 – Present John Allen
Vice Chairman
Date Name Notes 1959 – 1962 Captain L G H Thomas 1962 – 1963 Peter Southcombe Until May 1963 1964 – 1965 Victor Gray Acting Vice Chairman. 1965 – 1967 D V Wainwright 1967 – 1976 John Millar 1976 – 1980 Douglas McGowan 1980 – 1981 Victor Gray 1981 – 1982 Nigel Coombes 1982 – 1991 Douglas McGowan 1991 – 1994 Jeremy Gold 1994 – 2001 Graham Hand 2001 – 2004 Myra Allen 2004 – 2007 Alex Lewis 2008 – 2012 David Haddleton 2013 – 2016 Jeremy Gold 2016 – 2017 Paul Semple 2017 – Present Gordon Wilson
National Secretary
Date Name Notes 1959 Tony McGinnity Resigned due to ill health 1959 – 1960 Bernard Cox Acting National Secretary. 1960 – 1962 Victor Gray 1962 – 1964 T G Cadman Resigned May 1964 1964 – 1968 W Blakeney 1968 – 1972 Christopher J M Phillips 1972 – 1975 Iain MacLeod 1975 – 1979 Mike Hodges 1979 – 2017 John Anderson 2017 – Present Angela Johnson
Assistant Secretary
Date Name Notes 1959 – ? Bernard Cox 1962 – 1968 V F Burrell 1968 – ? D K Jones
Treasurer
Date Name Notes 1959 – 1959 Tony McGinnity Acting Treasurer. 1960 – 1961 E T Y Randle 1961 – 1962 V F Burrell 1962 – 1964 D L Dougan 1965 – 1975 Victor Gray 1975 – 1980 Iain MacLeod 1980 – Present Martin Longhurst
Membership Secretary
Date Name Notes 1962 – 1965 Victor Gray Subscriptions Secretary 1965 – 1969 A P Clark 1969 – 1980 David Swaffield 1980 – 1983 John M Beveridge 1983 A W McRobb 1983 – 1993 Vacant 2000 – 2009 Brian Whitmore 2009 John Anderson Temporary 2009 – 2013 Jon Joliffe 2013 – 2015 Vacant 2015 – 2018 Jon Joliffe 2018 – Present Gordon Wilson
Subscriptions Officer / Subscriptions Secretary
Date Name Notes 1975 – 1976 Victor Gray Subscriptions Officer 1976 – 1980 G A Lewis Subscriptions Officer 1980 – 1988 P M Reid Subscriptions Secretary 1988 – 1989 Leslie Brown Subscriptions Secretary 1989 – 2000 Mrs G Anderson Subscriptions Secretary
Editor
Date Name Notes 1959 – 1961 Tony McGinnity Resigned 1961. 1961 – 1962 J H P Ellis 1963 – 1965 J H Stay 1965 – 1966 Dr Duncan Egdell 1966 – 1978 Russell Plummer PW27 – 74 1979 – 1980 Ian MacLeod Editor PW75 – 80 1981 – 1992 Russel Plummer PW81 – 126 1992 – 2022 Myra Allen PW127 – 250
Other Postholders
Date Name Notes 1960 – 1975 D L Dougan Auditor 1960 – ? Capt. LGH Thomas Records Officer 1962 – ? E A Peacock Auditor 1961 – ? Bernard Cox Curator 1979 Basil Craggs Sales Officer 1980 – ? Dr Joe McKendrick Sales Officer 1994 – 2014 Andrew Gladwell Museum Officer. 2020 – 2011 Malcolm Palmer PR & Promotions Officer 2014 – Present David Green Archivist 2014 – Present David Green Data Controller
Patron
Date Name Notes 1960 – 1984 Sir John Betjeman 2016 – Present Timothy West CBE
