The NSW Branch of the Richard III Society met on 12 April 2014 at the Sydney Mechanics Institute Building in the Sydney CBD. Branch Chairperson Judith welcomed all the regulars and several new members from Wagga Wagga who had made a special effort to attend the day’s meeting during their visit to Sydney.

The regular business of the branch was suspended due to time constraints, so there were no reports presented from the officers, nor review of previous minutes. However, this business had been taken care of during the Committee Meeting that preceded the General Meeting, and the Sales Officer, Treasurer, and Webmaster reports will be in the Minutes taken by the Branch Secretary.

The NSW Branch also wishes to extend their best wishes to a seriously ill member and wish her a speedy recovery

Our Guest Speaker, the Dean and CEO of the Sydney College of Divinity, Professor Diane Speed, was welcomed and introduced. Her presentation was a comprehensive and extremely interesting overview of the existing early medieval illuminated Bibles, Gospels and Psalters in the English Cathedral libraries and museums, illustrated with wonderfully detailed images painstakingly created by the monks throughout the centuries.

The next meeting will be on Saturday, 14 June 2014, when the speaker will be circus historian and author, Dr Mark St Leon, on Fairs and Circuses.

The first branch meeting of the new year was convened on Saturday, 8 February 2014, back at the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts building on Pitt Street, after a year of meeting at a venue in the Rocks. There was a very good turnout of members, including a young visitor interested in learning more about Richard for their HSC studies.

Welcoming remarks were offered by our Chairperson, Judith, followed by very brief remarks from the Treasurer, Secretary, and Sales Officer each reporting that all was well in their particular area of responsibility. The Webmaster advised that the branch website had been upgraded and was now working better than ever.

Our guest speaker was the former Member for Strathfield, Mr Bruce MacCarthy, with an in-depth review of the Angevins and Plantagenets, including the dramas between cousins Stephen and Matilda, the marriage of powerful Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II, two of whose sons – Richard and John – both became Kings. He explained that his interest in the Plantagenet dynasty had begun when he was only 5 years old, when his father obtained a copy of his family tree. It had originally been prepared as evidence in an application to the House of Lords for a vacant peerage, sadly unsuccessful. At the top of this family tree he had seen the name of a king – King Edward III. He told us that the claim was not proven, as there was an area of doubt in the late 1600’s; but the idea of having a King as an ancestor had fascinated him. He and his wife paid a visit several years ago to Fontevraud Abbey in France’s Loire Valley, where King Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and (parts of) King Richard the Lionheart are buried, and he was able to tell us a great deal about the beauty of this place and how much it meant to him. The text of his talk is on our website.

After the excellent presentation, the raffle was drawn with prizes including many fine books kindly donated to the branch by Kevin from his personal Ricardian collection. We then had a lovely afternoon tea augmented with food generously shared by the Australian Chinese Women’s Association, which was meeting in the next room. There was ample time for chatting, and catching up, and it was a good start to another exciting year for Ricardians.

The 12 April 2014 meeting will feature the Dean and CEO of the Sydney College of Divinity and formerly University of Sydney’s Senior Lecturer in Middle English Studies, Dr Diane Speed, on the topic of ‘Medieval storytelling and illustrations’. It is sure to be a wonderful talk, and we hope you will be able to join us.

Our Next General Meeting – Saturday 8 February 2014 – 2:00 PM

Our guest speaker will be former Member for Strathfield, Mr Bruce MacCarthy (above), speaking on ‘The Angevin Kings and Queens’. His interest in the Plantagenet dynasty was sparked at the age of 5 when his father was given a copy of their family tree, which was originally prepared as evidence in an unsuccessful application to the House of Lords for a vacant peerage. At the top of this family tree he saw the name of a king – King Edward III.

Bruce explains that the claim was not proven, as there was an area of doubt in the late 1600’s; but the idea of having a King as an ancestor fascinated him as a boy, and sparked his avid lifelong interest in genealogy. In 2010, he and his wife paid a visit to Fontevraud Abbey in France’s Loire Valley, where King Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine (above), and King Richard the Lionheart are buried.

PLEASE NOTE: The meeting will be at the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, Level 1, 280 Pitt St, Sydney.

The last meeting of the year of the New South Wales Branch of the Richard III Society was held on Saturday, 14 December 2013, the last meeting held at the Harry Jensen Centre. As of February 2014 we will once again, by popular demand, be meeting at the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts at 280 Pitt Street, in the central CBD.

The meeting was opened with remarks made by our Chair Judith with a warm welcome extended to the several new members and visitors present, one of whom, Joseph, came all the way from Armidale to attend! Treasurer Judy was away, but had given Judith her report and assured us of the good financial status of the Branch. Dorothea reported on the very lively branch website that has many international visitors, and can always use more contributions from members. Congratulations had been sent by Dorothea on behalf of the Branch to Sally Henshaw for winning the 2013 Robert Hamblin Award for work of outstanding service to the Richard III Society.  Our branch is grateful to Sally for keeping us  up to date with eye witness reports during the Greyfriars Dig in 2012.  Sally had thanked the NSW Branch and wished all its members a happy Christmas. Lynne reported on Sales, and her success in obtaining new supplies and showed the attractive red pens, which had been introduced for the Australasian Convention and replace the prior style. The Branch Secretary had nothing to report and Angela was unable to attend. The Branch wishes Angela a full recovery, and hopes to see her at meetings again in the New Year. The 2013 volume of our branch journal, The Chronicles of the White Rose, was distributed to all attending.

Our featured speaker was our own member Lynne, who presented a fascinating program illustrated with slides, about exquisite, intricate medieval jewellery of which she clearly knew a great deal and enjoyed sharing her enthusiasm with the branch.  We hope to be able to share her talk here in the near future.

Following the raffle, which had exceptionally nice prizes this month, we had the challenge of a delightful quiz sent by our erstwhile secretary Julia who has recently retired to the coast north of Newcastle, but is still contributing to the fun we always have at the holiday meeting. The quiz had retitled popular and traditional Christmas hymns and carols, which had to be identified by players by the correct name. Our visitor Bruce, who will also be our February speaker, scored 14 out of 15, thereby amazing the rest of us whilst winning a lovely prize. Runners up also received prizes. We enjoyed the mental challenge, and thanked Julia in absentia for such a clever activity.

A lovely afternoon tea was then held with special offerings from members’ kitchens, the last to be presented by our tea-lady Rosemary who has been involved for many years helping to make our meetings enjoyable. As of next year Joan will be taking over the role, with Moya as backup.

Our next gathering will be on 8 February 2014 when our guest speaker will be Bruce speaking on the topic of the Angevin Kings and Queens. Don’t forget to go to the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts next year!

Our guest speaker for our last meeting of the calendar year will be member Lynne Foley with a presentation about Medieval Jewellery. As it is our Christmas gathering, please bring a bread & butter plate of some Christmas food to share at afternoon tea.

Please note this will also be the last meeting that will be held at the Harry Jensen Centre in the Rocks. Starting in February 2014 we will be returning to the Sydney Mechanics Institute meeting rooms at 280 Pitt Street.

The Annual General Meeting of the New South Wales Branch of the Richard III Society was held on Saturday, 12 October 2013, at the Harry Jensen Centre.

Opening remarks were made by Chair Judith, with a review of the branch activities in the past year, a very exciting one for Ricardians. A warm welcome was extended to the new members and visitors present. Thanks were expressed for the work of all the committee members throughout the year, with gifts given to Julia and Kevin – both stepping down after many years of devoted contribution to the branch.

Thank you, Julia and Kevin, for many years of service to the branch!

Judy delivered her report as Treasurer about the financial success of the convention and good finances due to new members. Dorothea told us that the website is attracting more visitors than ever. Lynne reported on Sales. Julia presented her last report as Secretary, which included a look-back at some of the highlights of the branch activities over the past year.

The Committee then officially stepped down, and Carole facilitated the elections for all of the officers of the branch.  A number of officers returned unopposed to their roles, including Judith as Chair, Judy as Treasurer, Dorothea as Webmaster and Editor of the Chronicles, Lynne as Sales Officer, and Rosemary as Tea Lady. New faces on the committee included Rachel as Secretary, Angela as Social Secretary, Leslie as editor of the Affinity newsletter, Joan as keeper of the portrait of Richard, and Jacqueline as Deputy Chair. (You can see some of the new – and old – faces here.)

Our scheduled guest speaker was unable to come, so our Chair Judith presented a talk about the innovations encountered by the medieval crusaders when they ventured east. They brought back with them a world of new ideas and treasures including glass, lacquer, porcelain, many new spices, gems like turquoise, pearls and jade, silks and satins, buttons, ivory and ebony, paper, poppy seeds and gunpowder, the concept of the musical scale, the idea of carrying banners and of decorating one’s horses. The works of the great Greek thinkers, such as Aristotle, had been lost with the fall of Rome and during the Dark Ages, but had been preserved by Arabic scholars. These works were now re-introduced to Western Europe, leading to great intellectual development in the 11th and 12th centuries. It was a wonderful talk, illustrated with exquisite examples of gems and objets d’art from Judith’s private collection.

Our next gathering will be our Christmas meeting scheduled for 14 December 2013, when Lynne will be speaking about medieval jewelry.

The AGM of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society will be held on 12 October 2013 at 14h00 at our usual venue, the  Harry Jensen Centre, 17 Argyle Street, Millers Point.

As it is every year, the AGM is your last opportunity to renew your subscription.  If you haven’t renewed your subscription by sending your Renewal Notice and indication of payment (either by cheque or direct credit) to our treasurer Judy by Friday, 11 October 2013, you will be able to do in person at the AGM.  Please make sure that you bring payment AND the filled in Renewal Notice with you.

There will be a few changes to the composition of the committee on the cards, with some members stepping down.   We thank them for their tireless work on behalf of all of us.  However, we also thank those, who have bravely put up their hands to become part of our branch committee.

And after all the housekeeping, there will be a fascinating talk.  Unfortunately our scheduled speaker had to pull out at short notice, but Judith will come to the rescue and tell us about ‘Innovations of the Middle Ages’.  This promises to be an interesting topic.

One innovation coming to my mind immediately is Johann Gutenberg and the printing press.  We must not forget that Richard III was a strong supporter of printed books, as he explicitly exempted them from the import and export restrictions in the statutes of his only parliament.   Incidentally the statutes of the 1484 parliament were not only the first to published in English, but also the first to be printed.

So come along and join us to decide on the future committee of YOUR branch and find out which innovations can be traced to the Middle Ages.

Most Society members should have received their September 2013 Ricardian Bulletin during the last days.  Should your copy not have arrived by the AGM, please let our Bulletin coordinator Dorothea know.

On Saturday, 10 August 2013, the NSW branch of the Richard III Society was treated to a lecture on medieval contract law by Dr John Twyford.  Dr Twyford is a member of the Military History Society of NSW and has a background in law.

He spoke about the origins of law in regards to Roman law and common law starting with Justinian.  We learned that common law is legislation which is enacted by precedent and derived from previously decided cases.  The informative Domesday Book, feudalism and the laws of heresy were also touched on as well as some fascinating insights into the Magna Carta!  Trial by Ordeal and methods of determining guilt and innocence were a favoured part of the talk as well as some of the law reforms of Richard III himself.  We learned that Richard’s Parliament passed 18 private statutes and 15 public ones, many of these to do with legal reforms and removing benevolences.

We finished off this delightful talk with afternoon tea and more discussion about the search for truth in law as well as history.

Our next general meeting will take place on Saturday, 10 August, at the Harry Jensen Centre at 14h00. The speaker will be Dr John Twyford.  Dr Twyford is a lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).  He will be talking to us about Medieval Contract Law, and will show us the lesser known aspects of the Magna Carta.  He also indicated that his talk will also cover the burning of witches, so be prepared.

A talk about the Magna Carta is a fitting topic for our August 2013 meeting.  The (northern hemisphere) summer of 2013 marks the 800th anniversary of the first meeting meeting between the barons and the clergy to discuss severe grievances against King John at St Albans, in August 1213.  It was this meeting which ultimately led to the articles that became Magna Carta, sealed at Runnymede two years later in 1215.

Our meeting will more than make up for missing the celebrations planned in St Albans.