Minutes of the Thirteenth Annual General Meeting, 22 July 2007

The Martineau Society met at 11am on Sunday 22 July, University of East Anglia

16 members were present

1. Apologies were received from:

Jane Bancroft, Maureen Colquhoun, Howard Hague, Susan Hoeker-Drysdale, Marion and Harold Just, Deborah Logan, Margaret Marks, Mollie Martineau, and Bob Webb

2. Minutes of 12^th AGM: 16 July 2006

The Minutes were circulated and approved.

3. Matters Arising not on the agenda

There were none.

4. Chairperson’s Remarks

Thanks were proffered to Iris and Rod Voegeli, and to Sophia Hankinson for organising this year’s conference. Thanks were conveyed also to Gaby Weiner as Secretary and to all Committee members for their continued support of the Society. This year’s meeting had been particularly notable for the quality of the food, the quality of the papers and the range of events offered, both day and evening. It had also been good to gain access to the inside of the two main Norwich Martineau houses. Rod Voegeli was particularly commended for his role as personal taxi service provider.

It was noticeable this year that handovers were in process – from the first generation of Society members to the second. This year, Rob Watts was due to take over the office of Treasurer from Iris Voegeli who had held the post since the Society’s inauguration. Thanks were conveyed to Iris for all her work over the years.

The biggest challenge facing the Society was maintaining the membership. Two or three new members were joining annually via the website. The main difficulty was getting them to attend the annual meeting. At present inactive members outnumbered active members by two to one.

5. Annual Report

The Secretary circulated the summary of the main events of 2006, including last year’s conference in Edinburgh and the papers presented.

Agreed: that the report was endorsed and thanks proffered to Gaby Weiner for her work. A signed copy was to be passed on to the Treasurer.

6. Treasurer’s Report

The statement of accounts for 2006 was circulated. The following points were highlighted, that:

- the Society’s finances were in healthy state, even though the statement excluded eleven life members, each of whom had made a one-off payment of Ł150.

- Currently 44 had paid their subscriptions plus two life membership payments had been received and five institutional membership payments (Birmingham and Norwich libraries, HMC, Octagon and Keswick Unitarian Colleges)

- a problem existed regarding reimbursement for the sales of the James and Harriet Miscellanies sold by Armitt and HMC. The treasurer would continue to ask for reimbursement but it was not clear how many copies and on what dates, the books had been sent (Alan M. to check his records)

- the Society overheads are relatively small since the main activity, the annual conference, is largely self-financing from conference fees.

- it is important that members sign up to the Gift Aid List

- subscriptions had been made by the Society to ALS and Key Hill Cemetery (where Harriet was originally buried).

Agreed: to accept the Treasurer’s report, and convey thanks to Iris Voegeli for all her work.

7. Newsletter Editor’s Report

The editor reported that she had not received any recent copy other than that from Elisabeth A. One solution was to opt for one issue a year but if we are to remain with two, extra material is needed, e.g. book reviews, conference presentations as papers, the pub quiz. The Spring issue is particularly vulnerable.

Agreed:

- to remain with two newsletters a year

- articles are welcome from conference presenters in the form of (shortened) revised versions of their presentations, plus contact details, so that queries can be followed up.

- cut-off dates for copy are: 1^st October, for the November issue, and1^st March for the May issue. Black and white illustrations and engravings are welcome but it is not possible to reproduce high quality photos in the newsletter.

- copy needs to be sent as electronic attachments or pasted into emails.

- the contents list of each newsletter should be placed on the Society website (Valerie S. to arrange and Alan M. to update cumulative list of speakers).

- care needs to be taken to maintain accurate contact details of committee members which will then be included in the Newsletter (Gaby W. to provide details to Deborah L.).

- the Secretary will provide address labels for the Newsletter and will receive 5 extra copies for general distribution.

- a statement of accounts and a subscription reminder to be included in the Autumn newsletter, and the AGM minutes, in the Spring newsletter.

Agreed: to convey thanks to Deborah Logan for all her work for the Newsletter, and also to Valerie Sanders for arranging distribution.

8. Election of Officers and Committee

The following Committee members were proposed:

8.1 Chairperson Valerie Sanders (nominated by Elizabeth Arbuckle, seconded Bruce Chilton)

8.2 Treasurer/Membership Secretary Robert Watts (nominated by Rob Voegeli, seconded Deborah Logan)

8.3 Secretary Gaby Weiner (nominated by Iris Voegeli, seconded Barbara Todd)

8.4 Newsletter Editor Deborah Logan (nominated by Carol Chilton, seconded Val Sanders)

8.5 Other Committee members Elisabeth Arbuckle, Barbara Todd, Shu-Fang Lai, Margaret Marks, and Alan Middleton (nominated by Valerie Sanders, seconded David Hamilton)

Agreed: that the President is an ex-officio member of the Committee.

9. Other Matters

9.1 Harriet Martineau Sociological Society Meetings.

The most recent HMSS meeting took place at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland in May 2007. The small group attending gave papers, and there was a good and very focused discussion on HM as a cross-disciplinary writer. The Society has 12 members overall, and material from meetings is included in Sociological Origins Online edited by the convenor of HMSS, Michael Hill.

9.2 Martineau Society Website

It was reported that this was now working well. Sarah Lawson is prepared to continue in her role as webmaster. It was agreed that the Chair would arrange for a (M&S) Ł50 gift token to be sent, in appreciation.

Agreed: to try once again to get Society activities on to the ALS website (Secretary to pursue)

9.3 Publicity

Noted:

- that the copyright of the current leaflet is held by Society.

- that the disc on which the details of the leaflet are kept needs to be located and then updated (Rod V. to follow up)

- that a new Trustee, Prof. David Jackman, has been appointed to The Armitt, who is keen to refocus on Harriet Martineau, with a particular emphasis on her cottage building and relevance to affordable housing in our present society. Barbara T. was hopeful that this would lead to a special exhibition and will be advising on this. Attractive and updated Society leaflets are therefore needed urgently.

Agreed:

- that 1000 copies of the leaflet will be run off at Hull, for general distribution. Details to be left to the committee

- to investigate the cost of a portable display panel for the Society. Bruce C. to communicate to the Secretary and then if reasonably priced, to decide where to locate, what to put on it and the artwork involved.

- to investigate the production of a Society conference poster for Manchester, which may be circulated as an electronic file (Secretary to consult with Ann Peart, 2008 conference organiser).

- to develop booklet on Harriet Martineau in the Famous Norwich People booklet series (Larks Press, 22 pages long), and to strive to include Harriet Martineau in general local (Norwich) tourist literature. (Barbara T. to investigate and begin first draft).

9.4 Future events of the Martineau Society

9.4.1: AGM 2008

Agreed:

- that the 2008 conference will take place between 17 and 20 July at the Unitarian College, Manchester (main organiser, Ann Peart)

- that it should be announced immediately.

- that the organiser should liaise with Elizabeth Williams, chair of Gaskell Society (tel: 01925 764271) re- visit to Plymouth Grove, and also with Margaret Marks, Committee member living locally.

9.4.2 AGM 2009

Discussed possibility of having the meeting in London, perhaps at the Women’s Library

Possible accommodation in London includes the Penn Club, Russell Square.

Newcastle (& Tynemouth) also considered.

10. Any Other Business

10.1. Member publications

Agreed:

- that a collection of member publications should be held at HMC (Alan M. to check) & also if possible at the Armitt (Barbara T. to check)

Noted:

- that there had been a re-issue of the Autobiography in 2007 (ed. Linda Peterson, published by Broadview Press) plus publication of the impressive set of Pickering and Chatto Letters (ed. Deborah L.).

10.2 Permanent Society Archive

Proposed: that a permanent society archive should be established.

Noted: that currently Society papers are lodged at HMC, Oxford (Alan M. to check with Sue Killoran whether this could be placed on a more permanent footing) perhaps followed up by a formal letter from the Chair. If this is not possible at HMC, other repositories suggested included Birmingham University Library, Norwich Archives, the Women’s Library. ALS might have a view on this (Gaby W. to follow up)

10.3 Headstone for Harriet Martineau

Agreed: that Iris V. would contact Key Hill Cemetery to see if Harriet’s headstone could be replaced paid for by the Society. If acceptable, the new treasurer (Rob W.) was to check the ”ball park” figure, and to liaise with Mollie Martineau and other members of Martineau family about how to go about it.

10.4 Prospective publication

Proposed: re-publication of a book by Violet Martineau on Gertrude, in the form of a supplement to the journal Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society which would be paid for by the Society. (Sophia H. to come back to committee with costing, etc.)

10.5 James Martineau headstone and Gurney court plaques

Agreed: to check whether need cleaning (Rod V. to follow up)

10.6 Headed Notepaper

To update and circulate prototype to committee members (Secretary to arrange)

GGW/6-Aug-07