Rostrum Australia is an association of Australian public speaking clubs, founded on 21 July 1930. It is the main continuation of the original Rostrum club founded in Manchester, United Kingdom on 21 July 1923. This club's other surviving descendants are "Rochdale Rostrum", a Rostrum club in the Greater Manchester area founded in 1978; and the presently dormant "Wellington Rostrum Club" in New Zealand.
Greendale Farm Mottram St Andrew, Yew Tree under which The Rostrum Club was Founded
Rostrum Club 1, July 1931 Pilgrimage to Speaker's Rock, Back Row: s c Robertson, C M Purnell, J G Hardman, Stuart McPhee, NC Burgess, Hilton Gordon, R Noble, Robert Swainson, A C Stiles, Edgar Barratt, Fred Seasons. Front Row: Jack Caffin, Charles Claiton, Alan Crook
AGH Rostrum Constitution Changi – Page 1
Rostrum Voice of Youth 1976 Advertisement
Sidney Frederick Wicks was a Congregational minister, public speaking trainer, advertising and business manager, and newspaper executive. He conducted public speaking courses and formed what is now the oldest public speaking club in the world initially called The Rostrum but now simply Rostrum.
Sidney F Wicks – Congregational Minister (1916)
Norwood Congregational Church, Liverpool
Sidney F Wicks, Dorothy his wife and sons, left to right Cedric, David and Merlin 1930s