This is my last report for our Annual General Meeting, so what else can I say but So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye! But it is not really goodbye to our Society or Committee. Although I have found a willing volunteer to take over from me as secretary, I shall still be a member of the committee in the guise of Website Co-ordinator and I shall still be following up any enquiries that we receive relating to ancestors or properties in Romsley or Hunnington.
I first became secretary about 22 years ago, following my husband, Eric Humphreys, when he moved on from secretary to chairman, and in those days it was almost a full time unpaid job. Three or four times a year there was the newsletter to prepare and print - the Chapmans Pannier - for circulation to all members. Most of the material for The Pannier was supplied by Joe Hunt, our then President, and when he was no longer with us, The Pannier came to a close. Also starting in the nineties Eric and I prepared numerous copies of all of Joe's talks to the History Society, for sale and distribution to societies and universities here and abroad. Four copies of each document that we published had to be lodged with the British Library.
For a number of years each September Bromsgrove Library used to set aside about forty books on history subjects which they would lend to us for the year and which our members were free to borrow. Details were taken of who had which books and it all worked very well. None ever went missing.
There was the monthly piece to be prepared for the Church magazine, one or two articles to be written for the various societies we were attached to, and of course every spring there would be the new programme of speakers to prepare ready for the AGM in May. There was also a piece for the Halesowen and Bromsgrove newspapers each month.
So I was very pleased when Pat Evans took over the writing of a piece to go in the Church magazine each month. She has done it willingly and excellently and I am very grateful to her. Thank you Pat for doing this. Thank you also Clive for preparing and circulating the posters publicising our forthcoming talks.
At our AGM 2014, one of our newer committee members, Rob Andrews, took on the job of finding a good supply of monthly speakers. Thank you Rob. And now we have Kov Riley, who has expressed great interest in taking over the rest of the administrative work from me following this year's AGM. Once again, my grateful thanks to you Kov.
A few months ago, I had an e-mail from a Samoan Kiwi in New Zealand. His name was Matt Hunt and he had followed our website with interest. For the last twelve years he had been trying to find that vital piece of evidence to prove that he is a descendant of the Hunt family who left Romsley in the 18th/19th century, visiting Samoa on their way to a new life in New Zealand. However, with assistance from my son, Brett, we were able to tell him that he is not part of the Romsley Hunts, and that he should be looking more towards the London boroughs for his ancestors. Very disappointing for him but at least we have pointed out the right track for him.
June Humphreys