2006 AGM - Minutes

MINUTES of ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING held at Unitarian Church, Ryland Street on Saturday 4th June 2006.

THE CHAIRMAN opened the meeting by extending a welcome to all present.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE were received from Patrick Baird, Bill Ainsworth, Jean Barnsby, Mac Joseph, Diane Creese, M. Rigby, R.A.W. Archer, Sheila Brinkley, Iris Graham, G.M.Clarke, Margaret Worsley, John Stewart & Mary Bodfish.

THE MINUTES OF THE LAST AGM were circulated, approved and acceptance was moved by Ken Hughes and seconded by Colin Brookes.

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT:

As a result of all the hard work that had gone into the project the production of the Historian had gone slightly off-track but it was hoped that this would be rectified by the end of the membership year.

For the same reason it had not been possible to organise a Local History Week or a Festival but we would seek to remedy this in 2006.

The Chairman ended by thanking all members of the committee who had helped in the running and development of BADLHA during the year.

TREASURER'S REPORT: The Treasurer introduced two financial statements, the second one being for the Joseph Priestley and Birmingham Project.

Referring to the usual statement, he said income was up slightly while expenditure was less. Only one Birmingham Historian had had to be paid for, but this gain had been partly offset by the extra cost of producing the Newsletter. Elsewhere, running cost, decreased slightly. There was a surplus of £604 at the end of the year.

Turning to the Priestley Project, he said a grant of £50,000 had eventually been awarded. The first £25,000 was paid on 28th October which meant a delay in publishing the book which had only just become available.

Expenditure on the Project was £17,403.28, leaving a balance of £7,596.72 at 31st March. During the present financial year the remaining £25,000 should be received in instalments of £5,000 and £10,000.

Subscriptions 2006/07. The Treasurer reminded members that the last AGM had agreed to raise the 2005/06 subscription by £1.50. However, having received the Lottery Award and negotiated a new contract for producing the Birmingham Historian on the same terms as previously, it was found that expenditure was less than anticipated. So the Council decided not to raise the 2005/06 Subscription.

However, as costs are likely to rise over time the Council would ask the AGM to agree to an increase in 2006/07 if they deemed it necessary.

He, therefore, proposed that the 2006/07 subscription be raised by £1.50, or any lesser amount as the Council might decide, for individual members and all categories of Societies. This was agreed.

ACCEPTANCE OF THE REPORTS was moved by Bernard Taylor and seconded by Peter Pugh.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS: The Chairman - Peter Leather, Vice Chairman - Joan Davies, Hon. Secretary ~ Patrick Baird and Hon. Treasurer - Ivor Davies were all re-elected.

ELECTION OF COUNCIL: The members of the Council were all re~elected en-bloc.

AUDITOR: Colin J. Brookes was re-elected to serve as Auditor.

There being no other business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed.

Chairman's Report in full

The Association's Heritage Lottery funded Joseph Priestley and Birmingham Project has continued to dominate our activities throughout the year. The book, distributed free to all members after last year's AGM, has received much acclaim (see over), as has the travelling exhibition, which bus been on show at Birmingham Central Library, Soho House and Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield. Next to appear will be a colourful and highly illustrated trail guide to Priestley sites both in the city centre and farther afield, and the final offering will be a DVD re-enactment of Priestley's greatest experiments, due to start production shortly. Both of these, like the book, will be distributed free to members. The Association is grateful to Dr Malcolm Dick of the University of Birmingham for his management of the project.

The one downside of all this excitement has been a continuation of our problems in meeting publication deadlines 10 he Birmingham Historian. In fact there has only been one issue (Number 27) since the last AGM and, despite the fact that another is due out shortly, we still need to produce two more issues before the next AGM to get back on track - the editorial team promises to do its best to achieve this. On a positive note, there has been a further extension, on very generous terms, of our deal with Brewin Books to produce the Historian.

Our quarterly newsletter was itself affected by the distractions of the Priestley project last year but, thanks to the sterling efforts of Joan, is pretty much back on track now.

Another casualty was our hope to have our first Local History Week or Festival since 2000 this year - that will have to await further consideration for 2007.

Birmingham History Day 2005 (our annual day-school organised jointly with the University of Birmingham) was again well attended but once more stalled in the region of 150 as opposed to pushing on towards the 200 mark as we always hope.

There is little progress to report on the development of our website and we would urge members to visit it at www.bdlha.org in order to suggest improvements or provide material.

As usual, I should like to end by thanking all members of the committee who have helped in the running and development of the B&DLHA this year.

Some Comments so far about “Joseph Priestley and Birmingham”

"This publication is excellent - good quality paper, beautiful and rare illustrations (1 am particularly impressed by his memorabilia at the University!) and extremely interesting papers. It is really a success, and accept please my congratulations!"

Olga Baird, Curator at Think Tank, Millennium Point.

“The book is brilliant!”

Tony Abrahams, member of Birmingham & District Local History Association

“I really liked the book, especially the way that the contributors provided different perspectives on Priestley's life"

Christine Round, Publicity Officer, Smethwick Heritage Centre

"What a marvellous publication, the illustrations are superb. It is a great credit to all concerned"

Bill Ainsworth, founder member of B&DLHA and former Vice-chair of the Association.

"The book looks and reads well. Congratulations!

Freddie Gick, President of Birmingham Civic Society

"It's a very welcome addition to Priestley studies, beautifully produced and I've already discovered plenty of important things 1 didn't know - e.g. Priestley's strong views on capital punishment and valuable insights on Birmingham itself."

Dr Helen Braithwaite, Priestley scholar and university teacher

"I have read the new book with great interest and congratulate you on a most impressive and useful addition to the Priestley literature."

Sandy Ellis, Member of the New Meeting Unitarian Congregation and Treasurer of the Midland Union of Unitarian Churches.

"The Priestley book is going to be a very welcome addition to my resources. My students are particularly interested in 18th century Birmingham. You have definitely filled a gap!"

Tricia Mason, Adult Education Tutor

"Very interesting with some enlightened writing, and very well put together."

John Goss, member of Birmingham & District Local History Association and University of Birmingham research student.