13
Aug

Wet, Windy and Welcome!

   Posted by: Julia Redlich   in Meetings, News, NSW Branch News

Saturday, 11 August, saw our first meeting at our new venue, the Harry Jensen Centre in Argyle Street, Millers Point. Despite pouring rain and wild winds, a welcome number of rugged-up and weather-proofed Ricardians arrived. It certainly helps to have the bus stop and shelter at the entrance!

Our chairperson Judith opened the proceedings. There were apologies from those laid low with winter ills, a summary of activities since our last meeting that included Rosemary’s and Julia’s visit to the ‘Richard Loves Richard’ presentation at Carriageworks. Apparently more light was needed to appreciate the format, but they managed to talk to other visitors about Richard and the Society.

Treasurer Judy reported on the Branch finances that were in good order and they would be dealt with in more detail in the annual report at the AGM in October.

Dorothea, our Webmaster, reported on her visit to Europe where, as a new member of the Bulletin committee, she had attended a meeting, had been warmly welcomed and her fellow members had sent good wishes to our Branch. She apologised for the limited number of postings while she was away, but in fact there had been plenty on the Ricardian Calendar to keep us interested. Since her return she had posted two items with a Ricardian link from her travels: a visit to Lambeth Palace Library for an exhibition on the Book of Common Prayer, including Richard’s Book of Hours. And seeing his original handwriting – compact and so legible – was an enormous thrill. The other visit was to Bosworth Battlefield Centre to visit the battlefield, the church, rest on the Paul Murray Kendall bench presented by the Society – and to indulge in the gift shop, where mementos of Richard III soundly trounced anything Tudor.

Sales Officer Lynne, who had battled trackwork closures on the rail line from Newcastle to reach us, said that sales had been slow. She was checking the price of the pewter boar brooches, in which several people showed interest. It had been suggested that requests and money should be given to Lynne for orders and she would send for them at limited intervals to ease the transfer costs.

Secretary Julia welcomed everyone to the new venue. Our next Ricardian event would be the Bosworth Service, on Sunday, 19 August at 10am at St Mary’s Church, Birrell Street, Waverley. They had given us a great welcome last year. Afterwards there would be lunch at Arthur’s Pizzeria, 139 Oxford Street Mall, Bondi Junction, and a very short bus ride from outside St Mary’s in Bronte Road. This had been tested by Kevin, Rosemary and Julia and found to be warm, welcoming and very reasonable – and licensed. More that just pizzas with many toppings, there were also mains of veal and chicken, vegetarian options, pasta dishes  with a great range of sauces, salads and plenty of tea and excellent coffee. Members were encouraged to contact Kevin to confirm attendance.

The next meeting would be the Annual General Meeting and documents regarding this would be sent at the end of August. Judy would be waiting for your membership renewals , and Julia for nominations for the committee. It was very important to have more people involved and to help an over-burdened committee with all the work for the Australasian Convention next July.

The speaker at the this meeting would be Kevin, repeating his talk on the Dukes of Norfolk that he gave in Melbourne last August.

Julia drew attendtion to a special showing of the film “Barrymore” starring Christopher Plummer, showing at selected cinemas on the weekend of August 25 – 26. It opens with Barrymore preparing for his famous role in “Richard III”. Contact www.sharmillfilms.com.au?p=1835 for more information.

David Mee, a popular speaker at Mittagong in May, had told us about an auction in the USA in September of a very rare Richard III gold angel. Opening bids were starting at US$4,750 …

Judith then introduced our first Scrabble speaker: Judy Howard who had picked the letter A and elected to speak on Anne, Duchess of Exeter, the older sister of Edward IV and Richard III. Judy’s talk has been posted separately on our website. Don’t miss it because Anne was a fascinating woman and was left for too long in the shadow of the other siblings – Elizabeth, George and Margaret.

Our next Scrabble speaker was a welcome new member, Cynthia Gregan, who had taken up the cudgels and the letter L, electing to speak on medieval London. Those of us who had been sightseeing in that city courtesy of the televised Olympic Games, were treated to a wonderful journey through the sites and buildings of a very different era, when the heart of London was so close to the area that had been the world focus for two weeks. Cynthia’s talk was well researched and there were some wonderful illustrations.

Finally, Kevin took the floor, standing in for Moya who was unable to be with us, using the letter V as the basis for his talk on the Valois queens. Family trees showed the connections of the women of the house of Valois with the English monarchy. Chief among these of course was Isabella, wife to Edward II and mother of Edward III, and more familiarly known as the She Wolf of France. Then came another French princess, Isabella, who, at the age of eight, married Richard II after the death of his beloved first wife,Anne of Bohemia.  Isabella was devoted to Richard who treated her with kindness, and it was some time after his death before she married Charles of Orleans. Her sister Catherine, married to Henry V and the mother of Henry VI, later married Owen Tudor and became grandmother of Henry Tudor.

This lively meeting finished with our usual raffle draw, followed by afternoon tea in the capable hands of Rosemary.

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 13th, 2012 at 17:57 and is filed under Meetings, News, NSW Branch News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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