After leaving school Sugden went into the family business. He was also a keen rugby player, and played for
Yorkshire Rugby Football Union in 1895 and 1896. In 1899 he volunteered for service with the
Imperial Yeomanry, and saw active service in the
Second Boer War with the 3rd Battalion in the
Transvaal. During the conflict he received a commission as a
lieutenant. After the war ended in June 1902, Sugden returned home with the other officers and men of his battalion in the
SS Kinfauns Castle leaving
Cape Town in early August 1902. He relinquished his commission the following month and was granted the honorary rank of Lieutenant in the Army. In 1904 he transferred to the 4th Battalion,
Duke of Wellington's Regiment, a unit of the
Territorial Army. Sugden was serving as the second-in-command of his battalion at the start of the First World War. He fought in the
Second Battle of Ypres, and was wounded in September 1915. He returned to his regiment the following November. Sugden was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order on 3 June 1916 and on 4 September 1916 he became Commanding Officer of the 4th Battalion DWR. On 17 December 1917 he was awarded a Bar to his DSO. He was promoted to brigadier-general on 7 June 1918 and took command of the
151st Infantry Brigade. The brigade was engaged in action in France between October 1918 and the
Armistice of 11 November 1918. After the war, Sugden remained in the Territorial Army and commanded the
147th Infantry Brigade until his retirement in 1926. He was made a
Companion of the Order of the Bath in the
1926 Birthday Honours. After retirement from the army he played an active role in
Brighouse society, becoming a
Justice of the Peace and serving as a
Deputy Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire. He became Honorary Colonel of the 4th Battalion DWR in 1931. ==Personal life==