Happy Birthday to us – this month we are 35 years old!
March Meeting
Our March meeting was well attended by 14 people plus Ella with 3 apologies. The previous meeting’s minutes were accepted and our Treasurer informed us we had $661.10 in the bank. Correspondence included information about the new data protection legislation coming into effect from May in the UK and how it impacts on what we can and can’t do or keep. There was also the Ricardian Recorder and an article on BBC news on “The discovery of Richard III’s skeleton changed my life” to celebrate 5 years since that discovery. Another discovery with articles on Telegraph news and Daily Express was medieval accounts from the Duchy of Cornwall being found.
General business was Judith telling us of the 20 or so people she gave her talk to at the Christies Beach U3A. She also sold $15 worth of pens. After that we heard Sue Garforth tell us about Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots in another of her historical mysteries presentations. Once again Sue entertained us and kept us interested as we learnt about the people involved. A big thank you again to Sue. We surprised her with David Baldwin’s book The Lost Prince.
April Meeting
Lyn with Margaret helping is running an illumination workshop – creating a medieval miniature, at our next meeting. Rilla and I have collected up a lot of what was listed but if you have calligraphy pens, small jars please bring them along. Otherwise bring a picture to illuminate- animals, birds, flowers, coat of arms, initial letter. I have some from looking on the internet.
May meeting is the Quiz, June meeting is a talk with High Tea, July meeting is coronation lunch with an emphasis on medieval food.
10th Anniversary by Kevin Clarke April 1993
On 18th April 1983, less than a handful of Society members gathered at the home of Meredith Whitford at Clarence Park. Local members had been, unofficially, affiliated with the Victoria branch and Meredith decided to see if there was enough interest, and enough members to establish a branch in Adelaide. With that in mind,she obtained a list of SA members from the then Melbourne secretary, Stuart Soul, and rang some of us to arrange a meeting. Four people attended: Meredith, Walter Welburn, a lady who expressed interest (but never came back) and the writer Kevin Clarke. By August we had 24 members, meeting for informal discussions.
Things developed from there. By March 1984 we had enough members to have a realmeeting, held at the Elephant and Castle Hotel in the city. More than 20 people turned up, filling the upstairs room. Everybody bought a counter tea, and the to-ing and fro-ing with meals and drinks made it clear that this small room was going to be a problem if things progressed. By October we were holding our first AGM at St Leonard’s Inn at Glenelg; my diary simply says there was a giganticturnout. (There were 31, with apologies from a further 10-ed) We met at St Leonard’s for some time, until, in 1988, the hotel acquired new management which felt thirty to forty people on a Friday night every three months was not economically sound and instituted a disco instead. We moved to nearby rooms before settling at the current South Tce venue.
We quickly became a very active and innovative branch, with diverse talents being discovered (sometimes unleashed). Many members volunteered to give talks and lectures, some extremely erudite and well illustrated, and all entertaining. We also instituted the Quiz night, which has at times attracted up to 80 or so competitors.
The first real Christmas party was held at Pam Kerr’s Glenelg home and there was barely room to move. By Christmas 1985 we were being entertained by our very own mediaeval choir (the sadly now defunct Cantata Genista), a recitation of “Albert and the Lion”, and the belly dancing of one of our members. And very nice, too, as they say. Other Christmas parties have featured mummers’ plays, a mystery play, skits, and last year some Flamenco dancing.
The mediaeval dinners were popular and well attended from the start. Formal and sedate in the early years, with Cantata Genista featuring heavily, this year we tried a more informal BYO formula. The dinner now sees almost everyone in costume.
Another early highlight was the 500th Anniversary display at the State Library, a very professional piece of work which attracted a lot of attention and several new members. Some still extant items from the display reappeared at events like the Birdwood Mediaeval Fayre.
The branch has had its highs and lows. Harold Brining, an early member, outwardly like one of the prosperous and irascible farmers in “All Creatures Great and Small”, but really a kindly and thoughtful gentleman, passed away when he returned for a holiday to his native Yorkshire, to the sorrow of us all and the particular distress of his son and daughter-in-law David and Joyce. Both enthusiastic contributors to the Branch’s cultural progress as well as its frivolities, they also went “home” for a holiday, became unsettled on their return here and eventually went back to England permanently.
Another sad loss was Dr Malcolm Collings, one of the most talented and active contributors to the Branch, and cornerstone of Cantata Genista. His talks on early medicine were fascinating. I was very upset when he contracted his illness, although he, above all, had no illusions about the severity of it, and maintained an optimism and good humour which was uplifting. My enduring memory of Malcolm is of him sitting in the corner, at the peak of his illness, waving his walking stick in hearty greeting of all arrivals and engaging in bluff and lively discussions on all subjects. He commanded great respect, and deservedly so.
Hugh Lavelle passed away in December. An example to us all, Hugh will be greatly missed. A no-nonsense Yorkshire manner and good humour masked an extremely sharp brain, and his passion for knowledge culminated in his attaining an Arts degree just before he died. That he had to wait until then to fulfil his academic potential is surely an indictment of the social system in which he lived most of his life…..happily those days are gone forever, I hope.
Members come and go and some come again. Liz O’Connell, for example, moved to the South-East and is attempting to reverse the depopulation trend of rural cities. Meredith, the cause of it all, is no longer a member, but I believe this is only temporary. Walter soldiers on, our resident orator and award presenter. Interest in Richard III continues; membership remains quite high, with new members arriving regularly. I believe we are a permanent Branch, and should survive the next ten years with no difficulty.
Happy Birthday to Us!
1998 is the fifteenth anniversary of the founding of the Adelaide Branch of the Richard III Society. If you’re sitting comfortably, I’ll tell you how it all began.
In 1982, having quit a demanding job for maternity leave and the joys of domesticity, I decided to track down the Richard III Society and, if possible, join. This involved time in the State Library going through phone books for an address; no hint of any Australian Branch, but I found the London address and wrote off. The very kind reply directed me to Stuart Soul, then Victorian secretary, and from him I obtained the addresses of the other South Australian members- all four. One I couldn’t contact, one wasn’t interested in meeting other members, but Kevin Clarke and Walter Welburn were keen to meet. Instant friendship with two of the nicest men I’ve ever met, and my first experience of how many other interests Ricardians always seem to have in common. ( 2018-Interesting only 4 names given to Meredith as Rilla and I had been members of UK branch since 1980-SW)
By now it was 1983 and the Quincentenary of Richard’s accession. In the hope of arousing some public interest, Walter, Kevin and I wrote to The Advertiser about the event, and the ‘Tiser printed not only our letter but a little “interest” item including Stuart Soul as contact person for any other latent Ricardians. Very shortly afterwards Stuart rang me to say he’d received dozens of letters and it was over to me. Nights spent slaving over a hot typewriter and phone resulted in our first group meeting of, from memory, some twenty people (and my then nine month old daughter Annabel). Quick as a flash Walter was elected Chairman, on the proviso he didn’t have to be Chair person, and I got what I deserved and was elected Secretary. We had to begin as a ‘group’, the status of a constituted Branch came later. Publicity brought us more members, and I think we at one point had over 120. We began with quarterly meetings, later changed to bi-monthly, and to begin with we hired a room in a pub, first the Elephant and Castle and later St Leonard’s Inn, and on the principle that it’s what Richard would have wanted, had dinner and drinks before the meeting proper. Usually around 20 people attended, and once or twice we had 50 or 60. Publicity was easy in those days because we had the ‘hook’ of it being 500 years since the start and the tragic end of Richard III’s reign.
We rolled merrily along with ordinary meetings, Christmas parties-remember the belly-dancer?- and in 1985 our first annual medieval dinner. Our singing group Cantata Genista, managed and conducted by our lovely and much missed Malcolm Collings, began from an impromptu sing-along at one of our parties. (I’m sure I remember six of us trying to sing The Messiah!) We began our excellent library of reference material, tapes,etc. Unfortunately our efforts to persuade any TV channel to show the 1984 Trial of Richard III came to nothing; it still hasn’t been shown on Australian TV, but we were able to use its triumphant acquittal of Richard III for the Princes’ murder to good publicity effect.
1985 was the year of our two exhibitions. The Festival Theatre let us put up publicity and historical material when the STC performed Richard III at the Playhouse- more members- and the in August we mounted a comprehensive exhibition in the State Library. This was, if I say it myself as organizer and researcher, a thoroughly professional and creditable event, and a superb group effort. Geoffrey Wheeler was an inexhaustible source of help, sending photos and all sorts of material, and helpful hints. Alan Sutton Publishers waived copyright so we could use material from the book of the TV Trial. The State Library exhibition unit were endlessly helpful- and said later it was the best exhibition they’d had. Of course our best asset was Margaret Collings’ superb calligraphy, and I hate to think how many hours she put in to producing the most beautiful material. The exhibition raised the Branch’s and Society’s profiles nicely, and brought in a lot more members- though there are always people like the woman who after ages at the exhibition said she still thought Shakespeare was right. Perhaps we could think of repeating the exhibition some time.
When I went back to work in1986 I stood down as Secretary, handing over to MargCollings, who’s held the position ever since. Can’t say I miss the phone calls enquiring about the Society- of course it enjoyable talking to potential members who say “I thought I was the only one who believed in Richard III”, but there are also the……let’s say less-informed enquiries, my favourite being “Are you that dancing group?” Only at Christmas parties, ma’am.
I don’t attend many meetings these days, and I couldn’t care less who bumped off the Princes, if anyone ever did, but the Yorkist age is still my favourite period of history (and can anyone tell me of any Australian university which still teaches this period?) and when The Ricardianarrives each quarter I clear the day to sit down and read it through. Speaking of The Ricardian, in our early days Stuart Soul very kindly let us have a complete run of the journal from the 1950s to the present. I read them in order, and it was fascinating to follow the changes in the Society and the journal itself.
Of course the disappointing thing is that although the Society has existed for more than 40 years, and despite all its publicity, and The Daughter of Timeand all the excellent and unbiased works on Richard III, the old lies are still propogated by writers who should know better, and to many people, still, Shakespeare got it right. Of well, never mind, a good cleansing rage is probably good for us, and the Society has brought me many close friends in Australia and overseas. Oh, and the baby who woke up during the first meeting is now nearly 16 and bigger than me, admittedly no great feat. Fifteen years of the South Australian Branch- Loyaulteme lie. Meredith Whitford.
From Judith
Hi Everyone. The flights weren't too bad and I had a few naps. Dubai airport has been upgraded and much more organised although you have a long walk. I got into Manchester a bit early but they didn't have many officers checking passports so I was in the queue for an hour. When I went to collect my bag there was a hold up but luckily I just caught the train to Liverpool. There's a home game this afternoon so long line for a taxi. I have just got to Louise and am off to have a shower and a lie down it's 2.45.
Ricardian news
The April 2018 edition of "History of War" contains a short article regarding Richard III and the Wars of the Roses
There is an article in April’s magazineon Warwick the Kingmaker and the battle of Barnet.In next month's BBC History Magazine there will be an article on Elizabeth Woodville.
15th Century gold and silver Coins from the reign of Henry VI found in the Dutch City of Utrecht.
item on Delapre Abbey,.