The Thomas Hardy Society Annual General Meeting 2025

THS Members are warmly invited to attend this year's AGM, which will be held on 13th September at 4pm in The Casterbridge Room at The King's Arms.

In addition to the formalities of the AGM itself, there will be a short presentation by Dr Ruth Barton, Dorset History Centre on `The Hardy Archives'.

The Dorset History Centre (DHC) hosts the world’s largest archive of Thomas Hardy material. That is, written or pictorial material created by Hardy and those he interacted with – from childhood through to his final few weeks of life. It is the richest collection of primary sources for anyone seeking to study or understand Hardy and his contemporaries. The archive is inscribed by UNESCO in its Memory of the World as a collection of international significance. The archive which is now held in optimum environmental conditions at DHC, is made up of the archives of Dorset Museum and DHC respectively as well as other private collections. Collectively, this represents the key archival source for the understanding and appreciation of one of Britain’s literary greats.

The event will be a very informative and enjoyable evening with the opportunity to socialise with both old friends and new.

Members will also be able to join the AGM via Zoom.

RSVP (In-person or Join by Zoom)

THE THOMAS HARDY SOCIETY

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Fifty-Eighth Annual General Meeting of the Thomas Hardy Society

will be held at 4pm on Saturday 13th September 2025 in

The Casterbridge Room, The King’s Arms Hotel, DT1 1HF

AGENDA

1. Apologies for Absence

2. To approve the Minutes of the 57th Annual General Meeting

3. Matters arising

4. Chairman’s Report

5. Treasurer’s Report and Accounts

6. Appointment of Independent Examiner of Accounts

7. a) Election of Managers b) Election of Chairman c) Election of Treasurer

(The Articles of Association of the Society state “that at the Annual General Meeting in every year subsequent to the Third Annual General Meeting one third of the Managers for the time being or, if their number is not three or a multiple of three, then the nearest one third shall retire from office. Provided that an ex-officio Manager shall not be liable to retire by rotation…” For the Purposes of this Article, Local Authority representatives are treated as ex-officio Managers in addition to the Treasurer. “The Managers to retire in each year subsequent to the third Annual General Meeting shall be those who have been longest in office since their last election….” “A retiring Manager shall be eligible for re-election.”)

Pursuant to these Articles the following Manager is due to retire:

Dee Tolfree - Publications

(Other nominations for the Council of Management. The Articles of Association of the Society state that ‘No person not being a Manager retiring at the Meeting or a Member of a Local Authority nominated under Article 28 hereof shall, unless recommended by the Council for election, be eligible to membership of the Council at any general meeting, unless within the prescribed time before the day appointed for the meeting there shall be given to the Secretary in writing, by some member qualified to be present and vote at the meeting for which such notice is given, of his intentions to propose such person for election, and also notice in writing signed by the person proposed, of his willingness to be elected. The prescribed time above mentioned shall be such that, between the date when the notice is served or deemed to be served and the day appointed for the meeting there shall not be less than four nor more than twenty-eight intervening days.

8. The Society’s President and Vice-Presidents.

9. Proposed Increase to Membership Subscription Fees.

10. Any Other Business

Any proposals for this meeting should be handed to the Secretary three weeks in advance. Likewise, any other correspondence in connection with this meeting should be sent to the Secretary, c/o Kingston Maurward, Dorchester, DT2 8PX