The inaugural meeting of the Club was held on 25 May 1938 at The Reform Club in Manchester and the Minutes record that the idea of the Club came from a London based 1913 Club. Twenty two Chartered Surveyors who had been members of the Lancashire, Cheshire & Isle of Man Junior Branch since its inception in 1921 had been canvassed for their views of which seventeen supported the idea, three were living away from the Branch but supported the idea, one declined due to the pressure of business, and one was against the idea.
In the early days the club had twelve members including the likes of Geoffrey Sykes of what used to be Sykes Waterhouse in Liverpool and Charles Walmesley a member of the Lands Tribunal. The Club has had three past Presidents of the RICS, namely Ted Battersby, George Walford and Bertram Hobbs and in addition, John Hinks was President of the Chartered Auctioneers Institute before it was amalgamated with the RICS. The Club’s members have included 6 past National Junior / Matrics Chairmen namely Charles Walmesley, Harvey Elias, Peter Poole, Gary Halman, Andrew Guest and Charles Fifield.
During the early years the Club produced a flurry of ideas for support and encouragement of a Junior Branch. According to the records, 3 prizes were awarded for the best 10 minute papers read by a Junior at a Junior Branch meeting. There have been various prizes offered for papers, draughtsmanship, speaking competitions and auctioneering competitions. The auctioneering competition appeared to be fairly successful running from 1965 to about 1973.
The 1938 Club provided financial support for post-graduate courses offered from 1952 to 1957. In 1971 Ted Battersby presented a badge of office to the then Junior Branch Chairmen.
In 1975 the Junior Branch was split into 3 and the 1938 Club Challenge Cup was instituted in 1976 between the 3 new Junior Branches of Lancashire, Liverpool and Manchester; together with Cumbria from mid-1990’s.
More recently the Club has introduced a 1938 Club APC Prize for the best critical analysis submitted by a recently qualified Junior Member of the North West Region
The 1938 Club currently has a maximum membership of 60 active members drawn from all 4 Branches and are all former active Junior Organisation / Matrics members. In addition the Club also has Honorary and Country members.
In 2001 the Branches were reconstituted Local Association and in 2003 the Junior Organisation was rebranded RICS matrics. In 2010 the Club formally confirmed that Members should be allowed in from Cumbria.
The present day objects of the 1938 Club are the same as those conceived by the founders of the Club and the present membership are keen to support Matrics activities and to raise the profile of the Club to RICS matrics. With this in mind, the Club is considering ways of promoting Matrics activities, including the sponsorship of a Junior Branch meeting. The Officers of the Club each year meet members of the Local RICS matrics through the 1938 Club Challenge and through attendance by invitation to your Branch meetings.
