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April 2008 Newsletter

Notice of Annual General Meeting
Meetings / Exhibition / 40th Anniversary Celebration
Review of Past Activities
For Your Information
Can Anyone Help?

Notice of Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 24 April at 7.30 p.m. in the Edward Lucas Hall of the Peel Centre. Elections will be held for committee membership and nominations for officers and members are invited. Anyone wishing to propose an individual (with the person's consent) or to stand should notify the Secretary by telephone or by returning the nomination slip at the end of this Newsletter as soon as possible. It would also be appreciated if the Secretary could be notified of any items to be raised under Any Other Business.

For your information enclosed are the new Rules of Constitution for the O.D.S. giving notice of the changes of Constitution.

Our current secretary Margaret Mace wishes to stand down and we need to find a new secretary. Margaret is willing to work with the new secretary to ease him / her into the position. If you wish to talk to Margaret about her job please contact her on the above phone number. Don't forget we need a secretary to keep the club going. Please help!

We would also like to give Margaret our many thanks for her years of hard work for the Club. She has been a marvellous secretary!

Following the business meeting Denis Clarebrough will talk to us about Sport in Dronfield.

Meetings / Exhibition / 40th Anniversary Celebration

Our meeting on MAY 22 should prove to be interesting. It will be about EDWARD CARPENTER of MILLTHORPE and SUZANNE BINGHAM will tell us his life story.

On the 7-8 June we will be having an Exhibition at the Peel Centre on our latest project "Following Dronfield Heritage Trail". Do come and support your Club. You will find some interesting facts and information about the walks. The Centre will be open from 10am to 4pm each day.

5 July is a special day for the O.D.S. It will be our 40th Anniversary Celebration. To celebrate this occasion we are holding a Buffet with entertainment from the Dronfield Light Operatic Group. It will be held in the Edward Lucas Hall at the Peel Centre from 7.30pm-10pm. Soft drinks will be provided and you may bring your own wine if you wish to do so. The tickets will be £7-50 each and there are a limited number available. (1 or 2 tickets for members only).

All meetings take place at 7.30 p.m. in the Edward Lucas Hall of the Peel Centre which is accessible by stair lift via the fire escape stairs to the left of the main entrance. Please ask a committee member for access either before or at the meeting. If you require transport to attend the meetings, please contact a committee member.

Review of Past Activities

24 JANUARY 2008. David Templeman gave a very interesting view of "Mary Queen of Scots in Captivity".

Mary was born on 8 Dec 1542. She married the Dauphin of France and when he died returned to Scotland and subsequently married her second cousin Henry, Lord Darnley in 1565. In 1566 their son James was born. Darnley was murdered in Feb 1567 and 3 months later Mary married the Earl of Bothwell. This marriage brought about Mary's eventual downfall. Suspicion about Lord Darnley's death was with her where ever she went. It was thought Bothwell murdered Darnley.

In 1559 Mary had claimed the throne of England. Mary was Catholic and Elizabeth 1 was Protestant. At that time England was 55% Protestant and 45% Catholic. Elizabeth realised it was impossible to have a Catholic Queen free to act as a rallying point for all Catholics in England.

Mary had fled to England following rebellion by the Scottish Lords. She had been forced to abdicate in favour of her son James. Mary was imprisoned by Elizabeth and from 1568 was captive with the Earl of Shrewsbury as her custodian. She was kept in a manner befitting a Queen with plenty of food, servants, ladies-in-waiting and, in the main, comfortable apartments. Before her captivity Mary was fit and active. She was 6 feet tall, proud and beautiful. She used to ride, hunt, play tennis and enjoyed archery. With all the years of captivity she was overweight, lost all her hair, could hardly walk and had poor circulation from lack of exercise. During her captivity she was imprisoned at many places such as Chatsworth, Fotheringay Castle, Castle Bolton, Tutbury Castle, Shrewsbury Castle to name but a few. They were seen as mainly stopping off places until she was sent to Sheffield. Sheffield was in the middle of the country a distance from the powerful Catholic Dukes of Cumberland and Westmorland. It was also some distance away from the coast and from possible invasion by Catholic France and Spain. Her longest stay was at Sheffield Castle where she was kept from 1570 for 14 years, a third of her life. It was the 4th largest castle at that time, built on bedrock and surrounded by the river Don. Mary would also spend time at Manor Lodge when her apartments at the castle were cleaned. Finally, after years of intrigue and plots to remove Elizabeth from her throne she realised, after much inner searching, Mary would have to die. Mary was beheaded in February 1587. She was 44 years old. Her son James V1 of Scotland became James 1 of England uniting the two countries. Elizabeth and Mary never met.

For Your Information

DRONFIELD WALKS - We are hoping to launch our new booklet showing two new walks in Dronfield and this should be ready for the Exhibition on the 7-8 June.

Can Anyone Help?

Pat Mooney is requesting information about the WARD family of CUBLEY, HOMESFIELD. She is not quite sure where Cubley is/was. Maybe someone can help please?
Family details-John Ward b.12.5.1826, Eliza Martha Ward b.1.5.1825, Joseph b.17.9.1852, Mary b.13.5.1854, Sarah b.5.5.1856, Samuel b.8.2.1859, William b.8.7.1862, Thomas b.2.10.1865, James b.22.6.1868.

Pat would like to thank Eileen Hayward for filling in a few more gaps in her family tree. The request was for information on Bull Close Farm at Hill Top. (January 2008 newsletter refers). Not only did Eileen give Pat the name of Albert Taylor, a missing link, she kindly gave her a photo of Albert, his wife and Eileen's mother having afternoon tea outside the farm.

Club members seeking information about people or places in Dronfield or the local area can include requests in subsequent newsletters -just contact any of the committee members.