Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Bonnyrigg & Lasswade Local History Society held in the Pitcairn Centre, High Street, Bonnyrigg on Wednesday 21st April 1999 at 7.30pm. 1. Chairman's Remarks. Mr Stewart opened the meeting and welcomed those present. He explained that the programme for the evening would consist of two parts. There would be a formal part, the business meeting and an informal part, which would be a buffet. He said that the buffet was a way of saying thanks to everyone who had supported the Society throughout the year. Mr Stewart advised the meeting of the following notices:- (a) The summer outing on Sunday 9th May to the Scottish Crannog Centre at Kenmore. Details were given of the proposed transport arrangements, travel costs and the itinerary for the day. (b) A further outing to Rosslyn Chapel on the evening of Wednesday 19th May. Details of this outing were given and members were advised to make their own transport arrangements. (c) Mr Bill Scott would be invited to give a brief account on a new project to record gravestones in the local cemeteries. (d) Midlothian Libraries Local History Week 17th-24th May. Leaflets advertising the programme of events were made available to members. 2. Apologies. These were recorded on behalf of Irene Dickson, Mary Gardiner, Margaret Reid, Helen Hope, Catherine Simpson and Agnes Renwick. 3. Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting. These were formally adopted by the meeting, proposed by Mrs Jan Brown and seconded by Mrs Mary Renwick. 4. Treasurer's Report. Mr Stewart invited Mrs Dorothy Anderson to give a report on our annual accounts. He said that this would be the last time that Mrs Anderson would be reporting to us, as she would be retiring as Treasurer at this meeting. Mrs Anderson considered that the accounts were self explanatory, however she commented in detail on specific items. Referring to the Expenditure side of our accounts, she said that subscriptions had again been made to the Scottish Local History Forum and Midlothian Voluntary Action. Gift tokens to invited speakers were the same as last year. Printing & photocopying costs were lower at £20. The rent for the Pitcairn Centre was the same as last year, as were the Secretary's expenses. Sundries were higher but these included the cost of providing a bus for the last outing and the cost of the buffet meal at the last AGM. The cost of providing Public Liability Insurance was £135 and this was the largest amount of expenditure for the year. Our opening balance had been £461 and our closing balance was £113.46. Mrs Anderson advised the meeting that the committee would be recommending that the cost of membership subscriptions would have to be increased. She also recommended that we re-apply for a grant from Midlothian Council. We had not applied for this grant for the last two years. She suggested that we might also consider applying for a grant from the National Lottery. Mrs Anderson asked Mr Stewart to advise the meeting about the proposed increase in membership fees. Mr Stewart gave a brief explanation as to why the fees would be increased, mentioning the cost of Public Liability insurance as the main reason. He said that the ordinary membership fee would be increased to £5 and the optional membership fee (for senior citizens and minors) would be £3. Visitors would be charged £1 admission per meeting. The meeting approved this proposal. Mrs Anderson invited any questions regarding the accounts. Mr George Campbell asked about a possible discount from the insurers for the next renewal period. Mr Stewart advised that this was not possible with Public Liability insurance but added that he would be seeking alternative quotations from insurance brokers and other insurance companies. As there were no further questions, the accounts were formally adopted by the meeting, proposed by Mr George Campbell and seconded by Mr Alex Waugh. 5. Chairman's Report. Mr Stewart gave a brief report of the highlights of the year's activities. He reminded the meeting of the opening event of the season, in September '98, which was an outing to Mellerstain House. This outing had been well attended and everyone enjoyed the day. The first evening meeting was on the 21st October '98 when we welcomed Mr Gerry O'Sullivan from Glasgow University. He talked to us about the "Excavations at the Dalhousie Mains Iron Age Enclosure". This was an entertaining evening, perhaps not quite what we had expected, as the archaeologists did not find anything of particular interest. Indeed their only claim to fame was their discovery of a prehistoric flea, which they called "The Beast of Bonnyrigg". In November'98, we invited two representatives from the Rosslyn Chapel Trust, to tell us about "Recent Developments at Rosslyn Chapel". This was a very interesting presentation and there would of course be a further opportunity to obtain more information during our May outing to Rosslyn Chapel. In January'99, we had excellent illustrated talk by Mr George Angus from the Haddington History Society, called "Haddington Old & New". This was a very professional presentation made with two projectors and screens, showing a "before and after" effect and was a most interesting and entertaining evening. In February'99, Dorothy Kidd from the Scottish Life Archive gave us an interesting presentation on the "Life of Scottish Agricultural Workers of the 19th and early 20th Century". This was a fascinating account and was well received by the members. Last month, our speaker was Betty Smith and she gave us an illustrated talk on "Castles & Gardens of the Scottish Borders". Again this was well received and perhaps has given us some ideas of places to visit for future outings. Our archive would be the source of inspiration for two talks to be given by Mr Stewart, to other Societies. These would include talks to the Women's Rural Institute at Bonnyrigg on the family history of "William McTaggart RSA". Also a talk to be given to the Midlothian Family History Society on the "Origins of the Bonnyrigg Street Names". Mr Stewart ended his report by thanking the members for their continued support and encouragement and looked forward to seeing as many as possible at the forthcoming outings to the Scottish Crannog Centre at Kenmore and Rosslyn Chapel. 6. Election of Office Bearers and Committee. Mr Stewart gave notice of his intention to resign as Chairman, after a period of ten years, not necessarily at this AGM, but that this would definitely be his last year in the post. He said that he wished to concentrate on doing more historical research and giving more talks on behalf of the Society, rather than continuing as its leader. He felt that he could do this more effectively as an ordinary member rather than a committee member. He commented that as we were approaching a New Year and indeed a new millenium, that it was about time that someone else took over. Mr Stewart was invited to continue for the incoming season and he accepted this on the understanding that his resignation would be effective from April 2000. Mr Alex Waugh was confirmed again in the post of Vice Chairman, unanimously endorsed by the meeting. Mrs Margaret Reid was elected as Treasurer, proposed by Mr Stewart and seconded by Mrs Anderson. Mrs Sheena Johnson was invited to continue as Secretary and this was unanimously endorsed by the meeting. Mrs Ena Tait & Mrs Helen Hope were invited to continue as committee members and again this was endorsed by the meeting. Mrs Margaret Hamilton was elected to the committee, proposed by Mrs Mary Renwick and seconded by Mr Stewart. A further vacancy existed and it was decided to try to co-opt someone to join the committee during the year. The new committee was confirmed as Mr Neil Stewart, Mr Alex Waugh, Mrs Margaret Reid, Mrs Sheena Johnson, Mrs Ena Tait, Mrs Helen Hope and Mrs Margaret Hamilton. 7. Any Other Business. Dr Mary Noble invited Mr Stewart to give a further talk to the Society on "William McTaggart RSA" and this invitation was accepted. Mr Derek Smart mentioned that The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) were proposing to hold an open day later this year. He said that it would be open to groups like ourselves and agreed to get us some information on the event. Mr Bill Scott suggested a talk on John Clerk of Eldin. He said that Gordon Craig had written a book on this sometime ago and that a talk had been given to the Lasswade Civic Society. However he did not have a contact telephone number for Gordon Craig or the two researchers who gave the talk. Mr Stewart thanked him for the suggestion and would try to make contact. Mrs Mary Renwick asked about the possibility of a visit to Nunraw Abbey and Lennoxlove House, as this had been suggested last year but not taken up. Mr Stewart accepted this and said that the committee would make enquiries. Mr George Campbell asked if we could honour the memory of our one of our longest serving members who died recently, Doug Smith. He said that he had known Doug for over seventy years and would like us to stand in silence for a few moments to remember him. The members then stood in silence for a few moments as a mark of respect. Mr Campbell also suggested that we might consider an outing to or a further speaker from Haddington. He said that it was an historic town. He suggested St.Mary's Church, Jane Welsh Carlyle's House & Garden, the Adam Town House with its spire by Gillespie Graham and the Town Walls. He mentioned that this year marks the 125th anniversary of the burial of David Livingstone's remains in Westminster Abbey. He suggested that we might try to get a lecture on him and possible an outing to Blantyre. Mr Stewart thanked everyone for their suggestions and as there were no further items of business, he closed the meeting. He thanked the members for their attendance and invited Mr Bill Scott to give a brief talk on the gravestone recording project mentioned at the start of the meeting. A buffet for the members followed.