THE THOROTON SOCIETY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE THE COUNTY’S HISTORICAL SOCIETY FOUNDED 1897 ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS for the year ended 31st December 2015 North Muskham Parish Church – photo courtesy of Geoff Buxton 1 THE THOROTON SOCIETY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE OFFICERS JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2015 PRESIDENT Adrian Henstock BA DAA FRHistS VICE-PRESIDENTS Dr Rosalys Coope PhD FSA, Sir Neil Cossons OBE FSA FMA, Keith Goodman BA FCA, Robin Minnitt CHAIR OF THE COUNCIL Professor John Beckett BA PhD FRHistS FSA (3) Ken Brand DLit Hons (2) David Crook MA PhD FRHS FSA OBE (2) Mark Dorrington MA DAA RMARA (2) Trevor Foulds BA PhD FRHistS FSA (3) Richard Gaunt BA PGCE PhD FRHistS (3) Robert James BA BPhil DipCG (from April) (2) Philip Jones BSc MSc MA(3) David Knight BA DPhil FSA MIfA (2) Ceril Little BA (3) Penny Messenger BSc Med (3) Hannah Nicholson MA (3) Peter Reddish (until April) (1) Peter Smith (2) Margaret Trueman BSc (3) HONORARY SECRETARY Barbara Cast BA Hons * (3) Little Dower House, Station Road, Bleasby, Notts NG14 7FX HONORARY TREASURER John Wilson BPharm MPhil FRSPH * (3) HONORARY TRANSACTIONS EDITORS History - Martyn Bennett BA PhD FRHistS * (1) Archaeology – Christopher King BA MA PhD * (from April) (2) CONSULTANT EDITOR AND RECORD SERIES EDITOR Adrian Henstock BA DAA FRHistS * (2) HONORARY NEWSLETTER EDITOR John Wilson BPharm MPhil FRSPH * (3) HONORARY CIRCULATION SECRETARY David Bagley MA FLA * (2) HONORARY LECTURE SECRETARY David Hoskins IEng AMICE* (3) HONORARY EXCURSION SECRETARY Alan Langton BA * (2) HONORARY MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Judith Mills BA MA PhD * (3) *Ex-officio members of Council TRUSTEES FOR THE CHARITY John Beckett, Barbara Cast and John Wilson 2 PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE (TRANSACTIONS AND RECORD SECTION) Jenny Alexander BA PhD Professor John Beckett BA PhD FRHistS FSA (Chairman) Professor Martyn Bennett BA PhD FRHistS David Crook MA PhD FRHistS FSA OBE Lee Elliott BA PgDip (Archaeol.Sci) Trevor Foulds BA PhD FRHistS Richard Gaunt BA Ph D FRHistS FHEA Colin Griffin BA PhD Adrian Henstock BA DAA FRHistS Natasha Hodgson BA PhD Christopher King BA MA PhD Gavin Kinsley BA Chris Robinson BA PhD John Wilson BPharm MPhil FRSPH (Honorary Treasurer, Record Section) Barbara Cast, Honorary Secretary of the Society – ex-officio 3 THE THOROTON SOCIETY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE TRUSTEES REPORT FOR YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2015 LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION The full name of the society is the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire and it is governed by a constitution known as the ‘Rules of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire’. These rules are registered with the Charity Commissioners under number 237755. OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY Under the rules of the Society, its objects shall be to promote and foster the study of the history, archaeology and antiquities of Nottinghamshire for the public benefit and to promote and foster public knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Nottinghamshire’s history generally. ADDRESS FOR ENQUIRIES Barbara Cast, Honorary Secretary, Little Dower House, Station Road, Bleasby, Nottinghamshire NG14 7FX TRUSTEES The members of Council are considered to be the Trustees of the Society. Details of membership of Council are shown on page 2. MAIN ADVISORS Bankers – HSBC Bank plc, 26 Clumber Street, Nottingham NG1 3GA FUNDS The General Fund can be used for the general furtherance of the aims of the charity. In order to achieve the aims of the Record Section, the Society has the power to print original historical materials, records and manuscripts. The income from the Maurice Barley, Nora Witham, Myles Thoroton Hildyard and Neville Hoskins Funds is used for lectures. The Coddington Fund is for the William Senior Record Series volume, the Centenary Fund for the Heritage Gateway and the Davis Bequest to digitise the Nottinghamshire Bibliography. REPORT OF COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2015 INTRODUCTION AND CHAIR’S REPORT I am grateful to all those who have made this another successful year for the Thoroton Society. As the report shows, in addition to the lectures and excursions which are so familiar to members, the Society also plays a significant role in a range of other areas, including research and heritage conservation. We have an excellent website, a regularly updated county bibliography, and a Heritage Gateway which provides a remarkable range of material for researchers interested in Nottinghamshire’s history. This year we were able to make the first two Geoffrey Bond Research Awards, while the remarkable success of our Record Society volume on Newstead Abbey (edited by Rosalys Coope and Pete Smith) has demonstrated that there is still considerable interest in this great house with its Byron connections – one reason why Nottingham was recently successful in bidding for UNESCO Creative City Network membership as a City of Literature. 4 Of course, there is, inevitably, change. For the October lecture I was able to walk to the end of the road on which I live and catch a tram which dropped me close to Nottingham Mechanics. Trams were a nineteenth century invention, abandoned in Nottingham in 1936, so that Jesse Boot’s plan for a tram route to Beeston along his newly built University Boulevard was never carried out. Yet here they are again, this time displacing the buses which had displaced the trams in the 1930s! What next? Trolley buses? The suburban railway line? I have learned not to make predictions! But there are some important developments ongoing in the county which we look forward to monitoring in the months to come. Of these, I would single out the Nottingham Castle project, which we heard more about from Ted Cantle at the Annual Luncheon, but the list of archaeological work ongoing in Nottinghamshire at present (see further on in this annual report) suggests that a real appetite remains to find out more about our collective past. The Thoroton Society continues to monitor and to contribute where it can to this work, and long may we continue to be involved. John Beckett, Chair of Council PROCEEDINGS OF COUNCIL As required, the Society’s Council met three times in 2015, meeting as usual at Lenton Grove, courtesy of the University of Nottingham. Council has responsibility for overseeing the Society’s business, finance and development. Officers and those representing the Society on various organisations report to Council at each meeting. The Standing Committee, appointed by Council and consisting of the officers, meets on a regular basis and reports to Council at each meeting. It has responsibility for day to day work, detailed consideration of developments such as the Geoffrey Bond Research Grant and the planning of the programme. Members of Council and its officers are elected at the AGM for a period as set down in the Constitution: it is anticipated that all members will be involved in the business of the Society and, to this end, most of them take on specific roles. Barbara Cast, Honorary Secretary HONORARY TREASURER’S REVIEW OF THE YEAR TO 31ST DECEMBER 2015 I am pleased to report once again that the Society’s finances are sound and I have no concerns. Subscription receipts have remained steady; an indication that our membership is being maintained. This year, we have seen a considerable increase in book sales. The legacy of books from the late Bryan Churm raised an additional £502 and sales of Transactions increased to £576, up from £467 in 2014. However, the largest increase in sales was that of Newstead Abbey: A Nottinghamshire Country House 1540-1931 by Rosalys Coope and Pete Smith. The first printing of the book sold out and we had a second print run, which has continued to sell well. In addition to the shop at Newstead Abbey, the volume is available in a number of bookshops, including one in Herefordshire. Sales on our own bookstall at the Saturday lecture meetings have also increased this year, from £229 in 5 2014 to £292 in 2015. I would particularly like to thank the staff of the bookstall - Margaret Trueman, Penny Messenger and Philip Jones - for their sterling work. The Excursions did very well this year, showing a surplus of £1,100 - thank you to Alan Langton for all his work in organising them. The Society’s policy of encouraging members to bring their friends along on Thoroton excursions has proved very successful in helping to fill the coaches. Gift Aid raised £1,301 and interest on our reserves in National Savings and Investments came to £464. On expenditure, the cost of printing of Transactions was slightly down (£3,926, compared with £4,193 in 2014). The cost of printing the Newsletter was also down slightly (£2,036, compared with £2,220 in 2014). Since taking over the role of Editor of the Newsletter I have endeavoured to keep each edition to a maximum of twenty pages, with three or four pages in full colour. The General Fund of the Society at 31st December totalled £25,428. The total assets of the Society at the start of the 2016 financial year amount to £70,785. John Wilson, Honorary Treasurer MEMBERSHIP 2014 2015 Comparative membership numbers Individual members 221 213 Individual members with record series 80 88 Associate members 58 57 Life members 7 7 Student members 5 6 Honorary members 4 5 Record series only 4 3 Total individual members 379 379 Institutional members 12 10 Institutional members – with record series 49 58 Institutional members – record series only 4 1 Total institutional members 65 69 Final total 444 448 Total record series 140 150 Overall membership of the Thoroton Society has remained static during 2015. The analysis above shows that while Individual (Ordinary) memberships fell; this was 6 compensated for by the number of new members who also subscribed to the Record Series.