The first general meeting of 2010 promises to be a special treat and we are sure you will want to mark 13 February in red in your diary.

Our  speaker at this meeting will be Dr Carole Cusack.   A historian and broadcaster, Carole is Associate Professor in the Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney.  She has often been a guest speaker of our Branch of the Richard III Society, and for the last 10 years she has been the Honorary President of the Plantagenet Society.  Those of us who had the pleasure of hearing Carole speak on earlier occasions know what an exceptional pleasure it is to listen to her well-researched and lively talks.

This time her topic will be  “Writing about Richard:  Admissible Sources and Emotional Responses”.  She is going to look at the way how different historians’ biographical treatments of Richard III approach the question of admissible sources (remember, only Dominic Mancini is actually contemporary, all other sources were written at a later date).   Which sources historians accept, influences their picture of Richard III’s reign as well as their judgement on difficult questions like whether he ‘could have’ done away with his nephews.

Finally, reception history is interested in the way that historical persons and events are received by audiences across cultures and time periods.  What is it about Richard III that provokes an emotional response, when so many other British monarchs are of scant interest to twenty-first century people?

This is a meeting not to be missed.

As always, guests are most welcome.

Our final meeting for the year and our Christmas party was held on the 12th December.  First, we welcomed Jennie, a visitor from England.  Further discussion was held on the design of the Australasian flag which will be a distinctive item along with our wreath at Sutton Cheney church.  This matter will be resolved after consultation with the other Australasian branches.  Our Secretary Julia spoke about next year’s speakers and their topics, and about the mini-conference to be held in May.

Our guest speaker was Chairperson Judith Hughes, who spoke on the topic ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ – the real meaning behind this popular carol, as well as an overview of medieval Christmas customs.  After this most interesting talk, we held our party – complete with Christmas cake prepared by Julia, and our ‘bring and buy’ table did good business.

The final part of the meeting was a game of scattergories.  A Scrabble tile is chosen and a sheet filled in with a person’s name of that letter, a town, river, battle and cathedral.  As usual, Kevin our Social Secretary prevailed.

Our Society has enjoyed a successful year and all members are looking forward to the next meeting in February.

Merry Christmas to all.

 On October 23rd six Ricardians accepted the invitation of Heraldry Australia to hear Professor Stephanie Trigg of Melbourne University talk about eminent women who became members of the Order of the Garter.   It was an interesting subject covering the Order, its establishment, robes, and ladies past and presently companions of the Order, which is the premier honours system in the UK. Read the rest of this entry »

Please write Saturday, 15 May 2010 in your diary now.  It’s when we hold our one-day conference at the North Sydney Leagues Club in Cammeray from 10am – 4pm.

We’re still in the planning stages, but there is a definite theme of Books and Bookmakers.  Already Margaret Patton from the State Library has agreed to speak on printing in medieval times with a special look at maps (something she currently manages at the Library);  Carol Gerard is longing to tell us about Caxton and his book The Discovery of Britain’;  and Isolde Martyn and Felicity Pulman, whose historical novels are so well known to us, are going to speak on the pleasure and problems of writing them.  The day promises to be as informative and enjoyable as our last ”mini conference” at Bundanoon in April 2008.

The North Sydney Leagues Club is very accessible by public transport and, there is plenty of car parking.   Lunch, morning and afternoon tea will be provided.  We look forward to seeing you all there – and remember that your friends and family are welcome to join us.  It’s not a Members Only event!

At the recent meeting of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society on 11 August those members attending were entertained and enlightened by a group of their fellow Ricardians.  They represented a discussion between Richard’s family and friends entitled Remembering Richard, written by member Kevin Herbert.

Good use was made of medieval costumes, this helped to create the atmosphere of the late 15th century as they took the parts of those involved in Richard’s life and times.

Many aspects of his short but important life were discussed.  His early years at Middleham and the key role he played in military and administrative affairs of the Kingdom.  His marriage to Anne Neville, the tragic loss of their son at only ten years and Anne’s early death.  The relationship with his sister-in-law Elizabeth Woodville and friends such as Francis Lovell and James Tyrell.  There was even a possible solution to the disappearance of his nephews from the tower.  The characters were introduced by Katherine Gordon, and also included the princes Edward and Richard as well as their sister Elizabeth and Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Buckingham.

That afternoon I could almost imagine I was back in the late 15th Century as I listened to these very interesting conversations about Richard’s life.

I am sure it will be well received at the Ricardian Conference in West Australia in October

We shall be remembering Richard’s cruel death at the Battle of Bosworth on August 22, 1485 with a social event.  This year we will be attending the 10am service at All Souls’ Church, Leichhardt   on Sunday August 23.  They are always so welcoming to those Ricardians who do attend their services, that we urge you to make the effort to attend to show our appreciation of their kindness.  Parking in some of the streets nearby is apparently at no cost on Sundays – and their morning teas after the service are delightful.

Please join your fellow Ricardians for the service.  This is, after all, the most significant time in our year!

We will of course go on to have lunch at La Galletta Restaurant at 161 Norton Street when Tony will present his usual delicious menu choices to us for a very reasonable price.

For more information or if you would like to attend, please contact social@richardiii-nsw.org.au.

Please note that Saturday’s (8 August) General Meeting will be in the meeting room on Level 5 of the Sydney School of Mechanics, which is larger than our usual room which could be a good thing for the performance of Remembering Richard.

Julia has been given a key to Level 5 – and there will be a notice by the lifts to tell everyone where we are meeting.

See you all there!

“Remembering Richard”, a discussion between Richard’s family and friends with a possible solution to the mystery of the Princes. Written by Kevin Herbert and read by Judith, Kevin, Carol, Dorothea, Julia, Lynne, Jan and Jackie.

The proposal by the New South Wales Branch that the date on the coverof the Ricardian Bulletin should give the month rather than the season to be in keeping with the Society’s world-wide membership, was passed unanimously by the  UK Executive Committee.  Thanks to the NZ Branch for seconding our proposal.

Unfortunately the UK mailing agency in its wisdom sent the New South Wales copies of the 2009 Ricardian and the June 2009 Ricardian Bulletin to New Zealand.  However, Rob Smith has kindly forwarded them to us, and they arrived earlier this week.  All members will be able to pick up their copy at the meeting.  If you do not come to the meetings that regularly, but are planning to come this time, please let us know at library@richardiii-nsw.org.au so that we can make sure to bring your copy along.  All others will be posted afterwards.

The second issue of our own journal, The Chronicles of the White Rose, is with the printers and should also be available at the meeting.

Surely this should be an extra reason to come and attend what promises to be a very enjoyable afternoon.

The speaker at the general meeting on June 13 was one of the Branch members, Lynne Foley.  She spoke on Architecture and Excavations at Medieval Battlesites.  Much of this reflected the amazing amount of recent work on the site of the Battle of Towton which employed recent forensic techniques that told us so much about the men who fought there – and whose skeletons provided information about the method of their deaths. Illustrations showed the excavation in progress (thanks to the generous owners of Towton Hall who lived with the work for 10 years) and the various weapons and other items that were uncovered. Read the rest of this entry »