The Annual General Meeting 2018

The one hundred and twenty-sixth Annual General Meeting was held at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, w1j 0be, on Tuesday, 16 October 2018. The President, Dr Kristian Jensen, was in the Chair. The minutes of the previous Annual Meeting (which had been printed in The Library for June 2018) were taken as read, seconded by Mr John Goldfinch, and confirmed.

The President gave an overview of the Society’s activities throughout the year. Council has producedguidelines for ad hoc funding and electronic publications. The former is available on the Society’s website, and the latter will be launched in 2019. Members of Council are also planning events outside the annual lecture programme, and these will be announced soon. The President reminded members that the 2017 Gold Medal was awarded to James Mosley before Roger Gaskell’s lecture on 21 November 2017.

The President noted that the Society was attracting new members. Council elected 32 new members in 2017/2018, and the Society now has 880 members. He lso noted with regret the deaths of Dr A. I. Doyle and Mr I. S. Bain. He then proposed the adoption of the Annual Report for 2017–2018 as circulated in advance of the Annual General Meeting. It was seconded by Mr Edmund King and carried.

The Hon. Treasurer presented the Accounts for 2017. The Accounts were published with the Annual Report and follow the same pattern as they have done for several years. Following advice, the Society has once again had the accounts examined by an independent examiner and has not had them formally audited. The accounts look healthy and allow for publications, grants and special projects. Income from The Library is at £68,000 and thus slightly lower than in the previous year. However, the Society is used to the fluctuation. Income from The Library is a significant benefit to the Society but should not be taken for granted. Subscriptions were misallocated for several years to the wrong year. This was spotted, and an adjustment was made to the figures in 2017. In 2017 the Society awarded a number of grants and published David Selwyn’s Edmund Geste and his Books. There are ample reserves for future publications. The Society’s library was moved to the University of Essex in the summer of 2017 where it is accessible to readers. The Hon. Treasurer pointed out two minor typographical errors which had been corrected. The Hon. Treasurer announced that the Accounts had been approved by Council. No questions were asked. The Hon. Treasurer proposed the adoption of the Annual Accounts for 2017. This was formally seconded by Mr. Robert Weaver.

The President reported that there are three vacancies on Council, owing to the usual rules of rotation. The retiring members are Dr Chris Fletcher, Dr Janet Freeman and Mr Matthew Payne, and the President thanked all of them for their work over the last four years. Ms Katie Birkwood, Mr Giles Mandelbrote and Mr Liam Sims were nominated to succeed them. These nominations were formally seconded by Mr John Goldfinch and approved.

The President confirmed that all existing officers were willing to serve another one-year term. The election of the Officers was proposed, seconded by Mr Julian Pooley, and carried. The President thanked all officers for their work.

The President announced that two new Vice-Presidents were to be elected and nominated Dr Maureen Bell and Dr Karen Limper-Herz. Both nominations were formally seconded by Professor Adrian Seville and Mr Anthony Davis.

The President also announced that his own term of office was ending and proposed Ms Margaret Ford, Senior Vice-President, to succeed him as President. This was seconded by Professor Adrian Seville and Mr Edmund King. The incoming President thanked the outgoing President for his work over the past two years.

The President asked for any other business; there was none.

After the formal business of the Annual General Meeting, the President introduced Heather Rowland, Head of Library and Collections at the Society of Antiquaries, who gave a presentation on the Society of Antiquaries’ collection of paintings and introduced those in the Meeting Room in particular...