Saturday 1st August 2026
Starts 11:00 until 12:00
The Casterbridge Room, The King's Arms,, 49 High E St, Dorchester DT1 1HF

THS Members are warmly invited to attend this year's AGM

to be held on 1st August 2026 at 11am

in The Casterbridge Room at The King's Arms, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1HF

The event will discuss the activities and proceedings of the previous year, and update members on plans for the future. It will be a very informative and enjoyable meeting with the opportunity to socialise with both old friends and new.

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

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, The Thomas Hardy Society c/o Coastland College, Kingston Maurward Campus, Dorchester, DT2 8PX

Please RSVP

AGENDA

1. Apologies for Absence

2. To approve the Minutes of the 58th 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 5 Managers are due to retire:

Mark Chutter – Chair, Sue Clarke – Merchandise, Andy Worth – NHP Representative, Rebecca Shipp – THJ Editor, David Burnet – Membership Officer

(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.

Election of Managers of the Council co-opted since the last Annual General Meeting:

Harry Coutts, Sarah Gregson, Giles Keating, Adrienne Mathias, Zoe Withers

The Annual General Meeting may elect as one of the Council of Management a “Student Council Member for a period ending at the Annual General Meeting on or nearest to the second anniversary of such election or, if earlier, at a General Meeting following his or her twenty-fifth birthday. Such membership of the Council shall automatically terminate if, during the said period, the Student Council Member ceases to be a full-time student studying for a degree at a recognised British University”.

Election of Student Co-representatives co-opted since the last Annual General Meeting:

Mitchel Rowe and Emily Thackeray

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

9. Proposed Changes to the Memorandum and Articles of Association

10. Any Other Business

Any proposals for this meeting should be sent to the Secretary three weeks in advance. Likewise, any other correspondence in connection with this meeting should be sent to:

The Secretary, c/o Coastland College, Kingston Maurward Campus, Dorchester, DT2 8PX or via email: secretary@hardysociety.org