Annual General Meeting, 9th September 2021, and the end of an era

The much delayed 2020 Annual General Meeting was held, along with the slightly less delayed 2021 Annual General Meeting, on Thursday 9th September 2021 by Zoom. The agenda for the meeting was similar to that of previous AGMs with the main items being the President's report, the presentation of the audited accounts, and the election of office bearers and committee members.

Since a new committee was elected in 2016 following the adoption of the new constitution, many of its members had either come to the end of their periods of office or had decided to retire. In the latter category were Mrs Rita Bennie (Treasurer 2017-21) and Mr Les Jenkins (Press Officer 2016-19). Rita took over as Treasurer from the President, who was the acting Treasurer for a year following the sudden death of David Brown in 2016, and kept very accurate records of the many varied monies arising from subscriptions, visitor donations and outing tickets - frequently all having to be collected at the same time. Les revived the role of Press Officer by having advance notices and reports on meetings of the Society published in the Kirkintilloch Herald. With the meetings being normally held on Thursday evenings, he had to draft his report that evening or first thing next morning to meet the newspaper’s deadline for its next issue.

The AGM also marked the retirement as Secretary of Mr Don Martin, after an unprecedented forty-ones years in the post, following a spell as Vice-President during 1978-80 and before that as a committee member. While Secretary, Don took responsibility for assembling the programme of meetings in which he usually participated each year – sometimes accompanying himself on guitar – and kept the Society informed of issues and projects that it should be aware of or involved in. In addition to the normal duties of Secretary, he organised the Society’s participation in East Dunbartonshire’s Local History Week and Doors Open events, frequently leading walks, including around Kirkintilloch, Waterside or the Auld Aisle Cemetery. Don has also written histories of Kirkintilloch and Lenzie, the Forth & Clyde canal, and the development and decline of the local railway network. However, his retirement does not end his involvement with the Antiquaries as he has been created an Honorary Member of the Society, and as such will still be an active member of the committee.

All three retiring committee members were warmly thanked by the President for their contributions over the years, as were the other members of the committee, and the general membership who helped with the running of the Society.

Dr Ivan Ruddock was re-elected President but he indicated that he did not wish to serve a full four year term and that it would be for one year only in the first instance. Dr David Graham was re-elected Vice-President, Dr Murray Reid was elected as the new Secretary and Mrs Caroline Brooks was elected to one of the vacancies on the committee. Those committee members – Mrs Elizabeth Corroon, Mrs Ianthe McAlpine and Mrs Valerie McClure - who were willing to stand again for the committee were confirmed as members although Elizabeth and Ianthe only intend to serve for one year each.

Don leading a walk in Kirkintilloch's

Auld Aisle Cemetery during Doors

Open, September 2019. (© I S Ruddock)

Don with some of his scrapbooks at the February

2018 Members' Night on 'Collections'. In 1986,

he started Members' Night as an extra event 

in the programme. (© I S Ruddock)

Paul Bishop: Kirkintilloch and the Flax and Linen Industries: March 2021

Prof Paul Bishop, a member of the Society, is a geographer and retired academic from the University of Glasgow with interests in local  history and industrial archaeology. In this talk, he presents an overview of the linen industry in Kirkintilloch and district, including the various stages from the harvesting of flax through to the weaving of linen.

The video can be viewed directly by clicking on the above image of the first slide in Paul's presentation, or by going to the Society's YouTube channel which can be accessed by clicking here.

Members' Night: February 2021

The recorded contributions for this session's virtual Members' Night - "The place in Scotland I most want to return to post-Covid" - are now available for viewing. As on previous Members' Nights, there is a variety of interpretations of the theme and, in addition this year, there is a new participant who has not previously spoken to the Society.

The video can be viewed directly by clicking on the above image of the title slide, or by going to the Society's YouTube channel which can be accessed by clicking here.

Jeff Hopewell: The Stained Glass of Douglas Hamilton and the Stephen Adam Stained Glass Studio: February 2021

The fifth of the virtual'meetings in the 2020-21 session of the Antiquaries is a talk by Canon Jeff Hopewell entitled 'The Stained Glass of Douglas Hamilton and the Stephen Adam Stained Glass Studio'. In this video, Jeff describes Hamilton’s early life and training with Alf Webster and the Stephen Adam Studio in Glasgow, and his ten years at Guthrie & Wells before he started his own business in 1938, which he ran until his death in 1959. This subject is also of local interest as windows made by the Stephen Adam Studio and Douglas Hamilton can be found in Kirkintilloch's St Mary's and St David’s Memorial Park parish churches.

 

Jeff is a retired Church of England priest based in Leicestershire who has long been interested in church buildings and furnishings, with a particular bent towards stained glass. His first book on this subject, ‘Orchestrations of Colour’, covering the life and work of Douglas Hamilton, was published last year, and he is currently researching the work of the Victorian firm of the Horwood Brothers, Frome. He also has a knowledge of Japanese woodblock prints and modestly claims to be a world expert on ganjifa, the traditional hand-painted playing cards of India.

The talk can be viewed directly by clicking on the above image of the front cover of Jeff's book on Douglas Hamilton, or by going to the Society's YouTube channel which can be accessed by clicking here.

The Society's January 2021 Newsletter

The January 2021 edition of the Society's newsletter has recently been created and edited by committee member Valerie McClure. It includes the immediate plans of the Antiquaries, a review of last year and items of general interest for members. It can be viewed or downloaded by clicking on the image of the first page below.

The newsletter has already been circulated to those members of the Society who provided their email addresses following the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018. The list of active email addresses will be updated using the information supplied on the membership renewal slips for the 2021-22 session.

Nina Baker: Scotswomen Working in Engineering: January 2021

The fourth of the 'virtual' meetings in the 2020-21 session of the Antiquaries is a talk by Dr Nina Baker entitled 'Scotswomen Working in Engineering'. In this presentation, she shares some of the terrific stories about amazing women, from her years of research into these hidden histories, focussing on women who were engineering graduates of the Scottish universities or who worked in Scotland. 

Nina has had a varied career - she became a merchant navy deck officer on leaving school and then, in her 30s, obtained an engineering design degree from the University of Warwick and later a PhD in concrete durability from the University of Liverpool. She has lived with her family in Glasgow since 1989, working variously as a materials lecturer in further education and as a research administrator, and, until 2017, as an elected city councillor. Now retired, her interest in promoting STEM careers for girls has led her to become an independent researcher, mainly specialising in the history of women in engineering. It is hoped that she will be able to give a full talk on this subject matter whenever the Society reverts to conventional meetings.

The presentation lasts for less than half an hour and can be viewed directly by clicking on the above image of Dorothee Pullinger, the automobile engineer, or by going to the Society's YouTube channel which can be accessed by clicking here.