History Meeting Minutes - January 2009

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 20th January 2009 at 5.15pm,
Members’ Room, Société Jersiaise

Present:
Frank Falle (Chairman), Marie-Louise Backhurst, Mary Billot, Bertram Brée, Mary Gibb, Sue Groves, Nicolas Jouault, Peter King, George Langlois, Frank Le Blancq, Georgia Le Maistre, Mike Lees, David Levitt, Elinor McFadden, Ian Machin, Pat Maindonald, Will Millow, Alec Podger, Linda Romeril, Wendy Tipping, Adrian Walton, Danny White.
 
1. Apologies for absence:
Mervyn Billot, Francis & Anne Corbet, Guy Dixon, Christopher Harris, Sally Knight, Bob Le Sueur, Rose Millow, Doreen Schofield-Fost.

2. Minutes of the meeting of 16th December 2008, and amendments
 There were no amendments. The minutes were approved as a correct record.
 

3. Matters arising from the minutes not covered by the agenda
 There were no matters arising from the minutes.

4. Election of Section Officers and committee
4.1 Georgia Le Maistre took the chair for the election. The meeting unanimously agreed to the election of Frank Falle as Hon. Chairman, and Mary Billot as Hon. Secretary for the year 2009. David Levitt said that a section committee was not needed, as it has not met. His proposal of ad-hoc groups as necessary was agreed. Frank Falle then resumed the chair.

5. Chairman’s communications
5.1 Frank Falle thanked all the helpers at the Christmas party 2008 and all those who came.
5.2 (Minute 4.6 of 16/12/2008) He reported that the bell pulls of St Ouen and St Peter were both broken for the Christmas Eve Three Bells walk. 
5.3 Lunch time lectures 2009 : provisional list to date, and in no particular running order -
• Ian Machin on General Don
• Suzanne Le Feuvre on the 175th anniversary of the RJAHS
• Bertram Brée on Matthieu de Gruchy (RC priest)
• Christopher Harris on the Reformation in early 17th c. Jersey
Marie-Louise Backhurst has a talk prepared on King Street, St Helier.  Bob Le Sueur has four talks that he has given at other occasions, which he can deliver (BLeS quote ‘but only to be used if no satisfactory alternatives come up’).
5.4  Brittany study tour 2009 – Frank Falle thanked Marie-Louise Backhurst and Bob Le Sueur for their helpful suggestions about the route and length of stay. Frank has been to Go France and obtained costings that he announced. [For copy see official minutes]. There was some discussion about arrangements for circulation of the itinerary.
NOTE from Frank Falle as of 21/1/2009 : The trip based at Nantes will not go ahead in 2009 because of the distance to be travelled on the first and last day and the weak pound which has caused costs to escalate.  The itinerary will be re-examined in 2011. 
 Frank has reported back to Go France, which has been very helpful.
5.5 Captain Henry Pitcher VC – the presentation of the VC went very well on January 9th 2009. The charity ‘Raising the Standard’ was the conduit for buying the medal. Frank Falle was congratulated on his efforts in acquiring it for the people of Jersey.
5.6 Frank is willing to give a talk on his visit to Nepal at an open evening meeting, perhaps in April 2009.
5.7 Mary Billot gave notice that she might not be able to be present at the March 17th meeting, because of other commitments.

6. Military History Group
6.1 Mike Lees has nothing to report.
6.2 John Mesch is the co-ordinator for the proposal that the fortifications of the Channel Islands be put forward as a World Heritage Site. There will be a preliminary meeting in Alderney with representatives from all the islands. 

7. Local History Teaching Group
 This agendum item will lapse.

8. Members’ contributions
8.1 Mary Gibb is researching Edward Poingdestre who died on June 27th 1845 aged 17; he was buried in the Military Cemetery in Kandy, Ceylon. He was the son of John M. Poingdestre. She will contact Alex Glendinning who has researched the family in detail and she will check Payne’s Armorial of Jersey.
8.2 Danny White reported that his talk on Joseph Charles Eager is nearing completion.
8.3 Marie-Louise Backhurst made several points -
• As the Aquila Road walk was successful she suggested one around Tunnell St and the gasworks area with Jack Burch (Archaeology Section) on May 19th or June 16th
• She has recently stayed at the Hotel Saigon Morin in Hue, Vietnam, formerly the Royal capital. M. Morin, a Frenchman, founded it and the next owner was called Guerin, a Jerseyman. More checking is needed
• She visited Angkor Wat, Cambodia, which was re-discovered in 1861 by Henri Mouhot, who wrote a book about his travels in Indochina. He lived on The Parade with his wife and two sons; his wife was a niece of Mungo Park, the explorer.
• The redevelopment of the building opposite BHS in King St revealed an hotel frontage, possibly that of the York Hotel (John Damer, Vine St)
• DNB has an article about John Aster, a Dean of Jersey in the 17th century
• Charles II was proclaimed King in Scotland on 5th February 1649 (not of Scotland)
• John Le Patourel (Mediaeval administration of the CI) records a statement that boats did not use sea routes up Jersey’s east coast. This prompted some discussion.
8.4 Alec Podger reported on the recent Friends of the Maritime Museum committee meeting. It has been decided that a disk of the FMM database will be deposited in the SJ Library and at the Jersey Archive. He emphasised that input to the database has not yet been completed.
8.5 Georgia Le Maistre asked for a definition of the occupation ‘mariner’ as recorded on an English birth certificate. Alec Podger said that it described an ocean-going person.
8.6 Linda Romeril reported that the Jersey Archive has obtained further sponsorship from Appleby (lawyers) thereby enabling the Archive to open on the third Saturday of every month, February to December 2009 (mornings 9am –1pm). There will also be a short series of talks.
8.7 Bertram Brée said that there was an exhibition at the departmental archives at Saint-Lô, Normandy, which includes items relating to Jersey.
8.8 Nick Jouault said that he had set up a blog for the Marine Biology Section http://societejersiaise.wordpress.com and offered to do one for the History Section. The SJ website is not yet fully functional and the calendar is not working. It was agreed that a website editor was needed.

9. Date of next meeting
Tuesday 17th February 2009, at 5.15pm in the Members’ Room if available, otherwise in the Arthur Mourant Room.