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Annual General Meeting 2007
The one hundred and sixty-first Annual General Meeting of the Hakluyt Society took place at the House of the Royal Geographical Society, London, on Wednesday, 27th June 2007. In attendance were the council and officers of the Society, together with members of the Society and their guests.
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The Formal Proceedings
The President of the Hakluyt Society, Professor Roy Bridges, was in the chair and began the proceedings by welcoming members and their guests. The meeting approved the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting and the Statement of Accounts for 2006, following which the President presented his report on the developments of the past year. On the proposal of council the meeting re-elected a number of officers into their existing positions, and elected Dr Nigel Rigby and Captain Michael Barritt as Vice-Presidents. Dr Daniel Carey, Dr Ann Savours Shirley and Professor D.W.H. Walton were elected as members of Council, and Raymond Howgego as Honorary Editor (On-line Publications).
Professor Bridges had at this time intended to stand down as President but, to ensure a smooth transition to his successor, he willingly, and in accordance with the rules of the Society, offered himself for re-election to serve for a further year. To assist with the transition and to relieve the successor of what would have become an intolerable workload, two Honorary Assistant Series Editors were elected on the recommendation of Council: Dr Gloria Clifton and Professor Joyce Lorimer. The Society's Honorary Treasurer, David Darbyshire, then presented his report on the financial activities of the Society for 2006, details of which had been circulated to members. The addition to the Society's constitution of regulations regarding the Hakluyt Society Award (known as 'The President's Medal') was readily accepted by the meeting, as was the necessity to raise the cost of subscription to the Society to £50 (US$95), with effect from 1st January 2008.
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The Annual Lecture
The Society was delighted to welcome as its guest speaker Dame Anne Salmond, Distinguished Professor of Maori Studies and Anthropology and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Auckland. Familiar to Pacific scholars as the author of the two linked volumes Two Worlds and Between Worlds, dealing with early Maori-European encounters, and the highly acclaimed The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: Captain Cook in the Pacific, she took as her subject for this lecture 'Voyaging Worlds: Early Encounters between European and Polynesian Sailors'. Following a brief summary of what is known with certainty of the chronology of Polynesian migration, she went on to discuss the relationships, not all of them at all friendly, between Polynesians and European exploratory voyagers, from Mendaña and Quiros, through Wallis and Cook, to Bougainville and Boanechia.
Dame Anne described the means by which the Polynesians struggled to admit the early European voyagers into their world-view, attempting to place them within their established mythological pantheon and greeting them with ritual ceremony. She then proceeded to examine the immense contribution made by the islanders to the success of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century expeditions: the Polynesians' extraordinary navigational skills, their role as translators, and their uncanny ability to predict the weather. Dame Anne's lecture was thoroughly illustrated with maps and paintings, while her audience sat in stunned silence, spellbound by the ease with which seemingly impossible Polynesian polysyllables rolled so gently from her tongue, many of us learning for the first time the correct pronunciation of words we had encountered only in books or on maps. Following a hearty and well-deserved round of applause, Dame Anne took questions from the floor. |
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The Reception
After conveying his thanks to Dame Anne, the President brought the meeting to a close and invited members and guests to a reception in the hall adjacent. Over canapés and wine or fruit juice, the reception provided an ideal opportunity to meet up with old friends, discuss the latest news, exchange views on matters relating to the Society, and to chat with the officers and our visiting lecturer in a less formal setting.
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Full details of the proceedings of the Annual General Meeting will be circulated to all members of the Society towards the end of the year. Members will also receive a printed copy of the complete text of Dame Anne Salmond's lecture.
The next AGM will be held at the House of the Royal Geographical Society at 5.15 on Wednesday, 2nd July 2008. The Society exists only by virtue of its membership, so it is important that as many members as possible make the effort to attend the its meetings. Not only are they enjoyable occasions but they also provide the opportunity for members to meet up with like-minded individuals and to express any views they might have regarding the operations and development of the Society, either within the framework of the formal proceedings or afterwards in conversation with the President and officers.
Please make a note of the above date for your diary; you can be assured of a warm and friendly welcome. |
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