A reminder that your completed registration form and deposit for the biennial Australasian Convention in 2013 is due by by 31 December 2012!

‘Richard III:  The Man behind the Myth’

Friday 12 to Sunday 14 July 2013

At Novotel, Darling Harbour, Sydney

All members and friends of the Richard III Society are welcome.

Friday, 12 July 2013 (evening): Informal get-together to welcome Interstate/Overseas guests

Saturday, 13 July 2013, from 9h00: full day of presentations with breaks for morning tea, buffet lunch in Dish restaurant, and afternoon tea

19h00: banquet in the Terrace Room (partners and guests welcome)

Sunday, 14 July 2013, from 9h00: further presentations, plus a business session before our farewell buffet lunch in Dish restaurant.

For further information and/or registration please contact the New South Wales Branch per email at info@richardiii-nsw.org.au.  Please submit your completed registration form and deposit by 31 December 2012.  The balance of payment is only due by 31 March 2013.

Let’s mark the 530th anniversary of Richard and Anne’s coronation with one big celebration!

The Richard III Society has awarded Philippa Langley the Robert Hamblin Award, which was established in 2002 to recognise work of outstanding service by a member.  In addition, she was awarded honorary life membership in recognition of the particular merit of the Greyfriars Dig.

We would like to congratulate Philippa on these awards.  Our branch would like to join all Society members world-wide in thanking her for her tireless work in making this dream come true.

You can read the Press Release of the Richard III Society here.

We just received the sad news that Dr Lesley Boatwright passed away.

Phil Stone, Chairman of the Richard III Society, said on behalf of the Exceutive Committee:

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of Dr Lesley Boatwright after a short illness.  She died in the early evening of the 4thOctober.

Lesley, also known by some as Lesley Wynne-Davies, will be greatly missed,both as a friend and as a Ricardian.

A full tribute to her will appear in due course in the Bulletin.

The Executive Committee

I had the pleasure of getting to know Lesley, when attending a Bulletin Committee Meeting this July, and found her to be very helpful and enthusiastic.  So it was very sad to learn that she had been taken ill and her passing not long after.

The Executive Committee had appointed her a Vice-President on Monday and we heard that she was pleased about this well-deserved recognition.

Our branch and the Society as whole have lost a good friend.

The following report on the AGM of the Richard III Society in London is by Rosemary Burgess, a Friend of our branch.

When visiting my family in London last October, I phoned Babs Creamer, Secretary of the Richard III Society’s Dorset Group.  I had originally met Babs when I first joined the Society and attended the Australasian Convention at Sydney University in 2005.  Since then Babs has become a regular visitor to New South Wales Branch meetings and events, when she visits her daughter who lives in Sydney.

I was very lucky that my visit coincided with the Annual General Meeting of the Richard III Society in London on Saturday, 1 October 2011.  It was an extremely hot day, so we were all very glad to arrive at the large and air-conditioned auditorium of The School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

The day commenced at 10.30am with coffee and biscuits, followed by the Keynote Lecture by Dr David Starkey on “Yorkist sentiment in the reign of Henry VII”.  By the very title of this talk it was going to be controversial and amusing.  It was both – as well as being very interesting.

After our lunch break we returned for the commencement of the AGM, followed by open forum.  Living so far away and not being involved with the main centre of business, I was most impressed by the way in which the Society is managed.  All the office bearers gave interesting and professional reports, and I was proud of the report given by Hazel Hadju, the Secretary of the Victoria Branch who was also in attendance.  I was also extremely proud of the report sent by our Branch Secretary, Julia Redlich, which was very professional, and it was the only overseas branch to send a report to be read at the AGM.

There are several special events taking place in the UK in 2012, so I’ll mention them in case some of our members may be able to attend:

Sunday, 29 August 2012: Bosworth visit*
Saturday, 29 September 2012: AGM at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York*
Saturday, 15 December 2012: Christmas at Fotheringay*

It was of great interest to visit what we might call “Head Office”.  It strengthened my appreciation of the Richard III Society and made me realise that we all belong to a large and very well-organised Society.

*Further details of these events will be found in copies of the Ricardian Bulletin.

(Photograph of The School of Oriental and African Studies taken by C. Ford; obtained through Wikimedia Commons. )