Ricardian Bulletin Is Produced by the Bulletin Editorial Committee, General Editor Elizabeth Nokes, and Printed by St Edmundsbury Press
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Ricardian Bulletin Winter 2005 Contents 2 From the Chairman 4 The Robert Hamblin Award 2005 5 Celebrating 50 Years: The Programme 9 Society News and Notices 15 The Executive Committee: Who we are and what we are doing 16 A Gateway to the Fifteenth Century: Improvements to the Society’s website 18 Media Retrospective 19 News and Reviews 22 News from Barley Hall 24 Richard III & Yorkist History Trust Annual Report 26 The Man Himself 27 The Debate: Historical Novels: A good thing or not? 30 Logge Notes and Queries: Education, Education, Education by L Wynne-Davies 32 Battling for Bosworth by A D White 35 Irving, Cibber and Richard III by Angela Moreton 38 Richard III’s Christmas by John Ashdown-Hill 40 Correspondence 42 The Barton Library 45 Letter from America 47 Report on Society Events 51 Future Society Events 53 Branches and Groups Contacts 55 Branches and Groups Reports 61 New Members 62 Obituaries 64 Calendar Contributions Contributions are welcomed from all members. Articles and correspondence regarding the Bulletin Debate should be sent to Peter Hammond and all other contributions to Elizabeth Nokes. Bulletin Press Dates 15 January for Spring issue; 15 April for Summer issue; 15 July for Autumn issue; 15 October for Winter issue. Articles should be sent well in advance. Bulletin & Ricardian Back Numbers Back issues of The Ricardian and Bulletin are available from Judith Ridley. If you are interested in obtaining any back numbers, please contact Mrs Ridley to establish whether she holds the issue(s) in which you are interested. For contact details see back inside cover of the Bulletin The Ricardian Bulletin is produced by the Bulletin Editorial Committee, General Editor Elizabeth Nokes, and printed by St Edmundsbury Press. © Richard III Society, 2005 1 From the Chairman he Christmas season is almost upon us and in this issue we get an idea of what the season T would have been like at the court of King Richard III. There is also a new debate, focussing on the role of the historical novel. This is an interesting coincidence, for at the AGM this year the point was made that the Society owes a big debt to Josephine Tey. Over the years, her 1952 novel The Daughter of Time has led many to join the Society. As my opening remarks to this year’s AGM addressed many of the challenges that have re- cently faced us as well as looked forward to our anniversary next year, it has been suggested that these ought to be printed in the Bulletin so that they can be shared with all members. Consequent- ly, my remarks for this Chairman’s page are shorter than usual. I must however mention experiences by two members of the Society. First, the terrible for- tunes of Carole Rike, who lost both her home and her business as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Carole is the editor of the Ricardian Register and distributes the Bulletin and Ricardian to mem- bers of the American Branch. All Ricardians, I am sure, will join me in sending her our commis- erations and best wishes for the speedy restoration of her fortunes. We have in the meantime been doing all we can to help Carole and the branch. I am sure that really, luck did not come into it, but the other person I must mention is Lesley Wynne-Davies. A member of the Executive Committee and prominent in the Wills Project, Lesley has recently been awarded her PhD and we offer her our heartiest congratulations on this well earned achievement. Finally, let me wish you all a very merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. Phil Stone Chairman’s Opening Remarks to the 2005 Annual General Meeting We have had another year of change within the Society, and I think it is true to say that it has been a year of change for the better, and before I go any further, let me assure members that, con- trary to the supercilious comments printed about us in The Times newspaper just after the Bos- worth commemoration, the Richard III Society is not in great financial trouble and it is still very much committed to its aims regarding the much maligned king. True, as members will be aware, our financial position for some years has been out of bal- ance, with income not keeping up with expenditure. As Mr Micawber would have said, the result was ‘misery’. Consequently, we have had to take some tough decisions. Tough and necessary decisions. This year has seen us continuing with our review of the way we operate, looking at areas that can be made more efficient to reduce costs, while at the same time, of course, ensuring that we maintain and even improve our services to members To this end, we have reorganised the membership and sales functions, bringing them back in- house. This has saved money and, through better use of information technology, has improved the effectiveness of both. One indication that such reorganisation is working is evident when I tell you that this last year has seen the lowest number of membership lapses (i.e. members who have neither paid nor officially resigned) for well over ten years. One of the hardest bullets we have had to bite, though, has been the taking of a realistic deci- sion about subscription rates. As a relatively small and basically voluntary society, we must 2 charge members the real cost of their membership. Having increased subscription rates across the board and raised the overseas postage supplement, this has now been achieved, and my thanks go to the membership for its understanding, and especially to our much valued overseas members, where increases have hit the hardest. Fortunately, we will not be needing to make any more in- creases as we have found an overseas bulk mailing system - called M Bags - that will enable us to keep the costs down for a while yet. In relation to these increases, members can be assured of two things: firstly, in all cases, we have explored the most cost effective means of serving the membership, particularly in respect of postage costs, hence the use of M Bags, and secondly, our subscription and postage rates com- pare very favourably with those of similar societies. I firmly believe that what we have achieved represents good value for money for members. These changes for the better have meant a lot of work and so I take this opportunity to thank all those involved in developing and implementing them. Overall, we have had another successful Ricardian year. We are continuing to expand and enhance our research capacity and, through the new research community initiative, we can expect much more. The triennial conference in Cambridge this year showcased all that is best in the So- ciety. It was greatly enjoyed by all who attended, and my thanks go to the Research Officer, Wendy Moorhen, for managing our research programme and for organising the conference. Now we look forward next year to the publishing of the results of the Wills project. The continuing excellence of The Ricardian, and increasingly the Bulletin, projects our posi- tive image to the membership and the outside world. My thanks, then, to Anne Sutton for The Ricardian and to Elizabeth Nokes and the editorial team for the Bulletin. We are beginning to forge a new relationship with our branches and groups. Regional meet- ings are being planned, with the first having taken place in Bridport a few weeks ago. The dia- logue has begun and we are listening. My thanks go to John Ashdown-Hill, in the newly created post of Branches and Groups Officer, for developing and taking forward this important initiative. As you will all know by now, John is doing some very interesting work involving DNA, and we wait with much anticipation to see where this may lead. John has also had what we think is a splendid idea for encouraging younger members of the public to develop a greater interest in Richard III, and it was enthusiastically taken up by the Ex- ecutive Committee, especially when it became obvious that we could get John to do most of the work! As a result, he has been organising a nationwide competition for schools. It is broadly di- vided into two parts, with subsections for different ages. The first is for an essay on the subject of Richard III, whilst the second is a poster competition, the subject being any Ricardian site. The essays will be marked by a group of history teachers, organised by Jane Trump, whilst the judges for the posters will include the artist Graham Turner and our own Geoffrey Wheeler. My thanks go also to the rest of the Executive Committee and to the officers of the Society for all the work they have done over the year. There is not time to mention everything and every- one, but I must mention our retiring treasurer, Bill Featherstone, and thank him for his invaluable contributions during his tenure. We wish him and his family well for the future. Next year, we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the 1956 refounding of the Society. We have a special logo (or badge) for the anniversary and a growing programme of events to enjoy, which I hope will involve as many members as possible. A highlight is undoubtedly the weekend of events in York around the AGM. It promises to be a Ricardian weekend to remember. It surely goes without saying that the Society would not have been refounded without the prodigious work of our senior Vice President, Isolde Wigram, and I think it is safe to say that we will be acknowledging her contribution on a number of occasions during 2006.