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Annual General Meetings



Apart from our annual publications and newsletters, we do rather pride ourselves on our annual general meetings, which are attended by about one quarter of the entire membership. Although the growth of the Society is making it increasingly difficult to find large enough locations, we try to meet in an interesting building in central London, often one which is not normally open to the public, or is appropriate to our annual publication.

Recent locations have included:

  • British Museum, to celebrate its 250th anniversary and see the "London 1753" exhibition.
  • Grand Temple, Freemasons' Hall, in association with the Freemasonry in the Community initiative, with access to the Museum of Freemasonry.
  • St James's Palace for the Society's 100th AGM, in the presence of our patron The Duke of Edinburgh.
  • The Banqueting House, the sole surviving part of Whitehall Palace, with its Rubens ceiling and the window through which Charles I was led to execution.
  • Westminster School, where we arranged tours of the buildings including the fine seventeenth century Ashburnham House.
  • The Governors' Hall of St Thomas' Hospital, with free entry to the Florence Nightingale Museum.
  • The church of St John-at-Hackney, with free entry to the Tudor Sutton House nearby and tours of other Hackney landmarks.

AGMs are normally held on the first Wednesday in July at 6.30pm. If possible, we start with tea, served from about 5.30, featuring sandwiches and home made cakes. The annual publication is distributed to members and there is a chance to buy other publications, some at bargain prices. After the business part of the meeting, we have one or two talks about the year's publication and the building where we are meeting.

And, just in case you wondered, here is the full list of AGM locations for the last forty years:

1959 Wax Chandlers' Hall

1960 Stationers' Hall

1961 St Bartholomew's Hospital

1962 Port of London Authority, Trinity Square

1963 City of London School

1964 Charterhouse

1965 St Paul's School, West Kensington

1966 St Paul's Cathedral, Chapter House

1967 Gresham College

1968 RIBA, Portland Place

1969 The Crypt, Guildhall

1970 Dudley House, 100 Park Street

1971 St John's, Smith Square

1972 Althorp

1973 Institute of Chartered Accountants

1974 Southwark Cathedral, Chapter House

1975 Fishmongers' Hall

1976 Chapter House, St John's Gate, Clerkenwell

1977 Home House, Portman Square

1978 Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House

1979 Mercers' Hall

1980 Coutts & Co, Strand

1981 The Holme, Regent's Park

1982 The Brewery, Chiswell Street

1983 St Etheldreda's, Ely Place

1984 London School of Economics

1985 Staple Inn Hall

1986 St Bartholomew's Hospital

1987 Crosby Hall, Chelsea

1988 Honourable Artillery Company

1989 Royal Geographical Society

1990 University College School, Frognal

1991 Bishopsgate Institute

1992 Royal Society

1993 King's College, Strand

1994 St Paul's Church, Covent Garden

1995 Governors' Hall, St Thomas' Hospital

1996 St John-at-Hackney

1997 Westminster School

1998 Banqueting House, Whitehall

1999 Guildhall Old Library

2000 St James's Palace

2001 Senate House, University of London

2002 Grand Temple, Freemasons' Hall

2003 British Museum

2004 Royal College of Music

2005 Dutch church, Austin Friars

2006 Friends House, Euston Road

2007 St Mary's church, Wyndham Place

2008 St Pancras church, Euston Road

2009 City of London School for Girls, Barbican