York Georgian Society
News Archive
News
15 November 2010
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME of winter lectures on Saturday afternoons continues on 4 December, when Niels van Manen will give a talk entitled The Abolition of Climbing Boys: Chimney Sweeps’ Apprentices in Georgian Britain. Members will remember the speaker as the first recipient of the Society’s annual Patrick Nuttgens Award which was presented to him, to support his research as a PhD student at the University of York, in February 2009. Having completed and submitted his thesis, he returns to share with us the results of this important research.
Our illustration is a detail from the trade card of Benjamin Watson, ‘Chimney Sweeper and Nightman’, of Woodstock Street, London.
Visit the Lectures page for more information, including details of the new venue, the Dianne Willcocks Lecture Theatre (DG/017) in De Grey Court, York St John University.
12 October 2010
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME of winter lectures on Saturday afternoons continues on 13 November, when Charlotte Rostek will be talking on Dumfries House and its Furniture Collection. The bookcase illustrated is a highlight of the unrivalled collection of furniture by Thomas Chippendale commissioned by the 5th Earl of Dumfries, for whom the house was built in the 1750s. It was to safeguard such contents, threatened by dispersal in 2007, that HRH The Prince of Wales headed a successful campaign to keep Dumfries House and its collections intact – for public benefit and enjoyment.
Visit the Lectures page for more information, including details of the new venue, the Dianne Willcocks Lecture Theatre (DG/017) in De Grey Court, York St John University.
Image credit: The Great Steward of Scotland’s Dumfries House Trust – Photo: Mike Scott
3 September 2010
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME of winter lectures on Saturday afternoons opens on 9 October when Crispian Riley-Smith will be giving an illustrated talk entitled From Lely to Lawrence: The Artist as Collector of Drawings.
Illustrated above is Michelangelo’s famous red-chalk study for the figure of Adam on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. This drawing passed through the possession of no fewer than three distinguished artist-collectors of that era – Jonathan Richardson, Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir Thomas Lawrence – and is now in the British Museum, London.
Visit the Lectures page for more information, including details of the new venue, the Dianne Willcocks Lecture Theatre (DG/017) in De Grey Court, York St John University.
24 March 2010
FRANCES SANDS has won the York Georgian Society’s Patrick Nuttgens Award for 2010. She is shown above with John Richard Moores, one of two further applicants in a very strong field who were highly commended by the judging panel, the other being Caitlin Blackwell. The Award was presented and the commendations announced by Bridget Nuttgens, on Saturday 20 March, at the National Centre for Early Music, York.
The Award is named in honour of the late Patrick Nuttgens, architect, broadcaster and educationist, who died six years ago (Bridget Nuttgens is his widow). A well known and warmly remembered figure, both locally and nationally, he was founding Director of the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies within the University of York, and successively Secretary, Chairman and President of the York Georgian Society.
The Patrick Nuttgens Award scheme is the result of a fruitful collaboration between the Society and the University of York. It provides for a grant to be awarded annually to a PhD student researching an aspect of the Georgian period.
Frances Sands is a third-year doctoral student in the History of Art Department at the University of York, where she took her BA and MA degrees, the latter with distinction. The subject of her thesis, nearing completion, is ‘Nostell Priory: History of a House, 1730–1900’. Her research will result in a monograph on the house – one of the most important Palladian buildings in the north of England – comprising a construction history and an architectural drawings catalogue. The Nuttgens Award will enable her to study an important group of drawings by Robert Adam at Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, a crucial final element in this research, and bring her thesis to completion.
Caitlin Blackwell, a first-year PhD student in the History of Art Department, is working on British graphic art of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. John Richard Moores is a third-year PhD student in the History Department; his research, also nearing completion, is on ‘France and the French as Represented in British Satirical Prints, 1740–1830’.
7 February 2010
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME of winter lectures on Saturday afternoons concludes on 20 March when Mark Newman of the National Trust will talk on ‘The Wonder of the North’: The Designed Landscapes of Studley Royal.
Visit the Lectures page for more information, including details of the venue, the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York.
This lecture will be preceded by the announcement of the winner of the Society’s Patrick Nuttgens Award 2010 (which was open to PhD students at the University of York researching aspects of the Georgian period) and a presentation ceremony.
12 January 2010
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME of winter lectures on Saturday afternoons continues on 6 February, when Dr Stephen Lloyd will be talking about the famous painting of the Rev. Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch, attributed to Sir Henry Raeburn, which is a firm favourite in the collection of the National Gallery of Scotland. His lecture is entitled Edinburgh’s Skating Minister: A Sporting Picture or a Cultural Icon?
Visit the Lectures page for more information, including details of the venue, the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York.
Dr Lloyd’s talk will be preceded by the seventieth Annual General Meeting. Following the death last year of the Society’s President, Lady Crathorne, the proceedings will be introduced by the Hon. Simon Howard, Vice-President. Non-members attending for the lecture should arrive at about 2.50 pm.
13 December 2009
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME OF WINTER LECTURES on Saturday afternoons continues, in the new year, on 9 January 2010, when Dr Alastair Massie will be talking on The British Army of Georgian England. Visit the Lectures page for more information, including details of the new venue, the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York.
The Society’s latest Annual Report has gone to press and and will shortly be distributed to members. For the first time, the report is being printed throughout in colour. In addition to the usual record of lectures and visits, and reports of the Society’s Historic Buildings Representatives, it includes tributes to the late Lady Crathorne (President), Derek Linstrum and Ellen Wilson, and a report on the Patrick Nuttgens Award.
19 November 2009
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME OF WINTER LECTURES on Saturday afternoons continues on 12 December, when Dr Katherine Webb will be talking about the history of the York Georgian Society from its foundation in 1939 to the death of its first Chairman, Oliver Sheldon, in 1951. Her talk, which marks the Society’s seventieth anniversary, is entitled Early Years of the York Georgian Society: Preservation, Education, Betterment and Design.
The illustration alongside shows Oliver Sheldon addressing members on a visit to Ebberston Hall in 1947; the figure leaning out of the window is the architect J.S. Syme.
Visit the Lectures page for more information, including details of the new venue, the National Centre for Early Music, York.
25 October 2009
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME OF WINTER LECTURES on Saturday afternoons continues on 14 November, when Professor Graham Parry will be talking on Sydney Smith: Regency Radical, Reformer and Wit. The Reverend Sydney Smith (1771-1845), pictured alongside, was rector of the parish of Foston-le-Clay, twelve miles from York, from 1809 to 1829, and for the first five years of his curacy lived at Heslington.
Visit the Lectures page for more information, including details of the new venue, the National Centre for Early Music, York.
5 October 2009
With deep regret, we record the death of the Society’s President, Lady Crathorne, on 24 September 2009, after a long and brave fight against cancer. Sylvia Crathorne was President for five years. During that time, despite the obstacles of ill health, she made a great impression on both the work of the Society and its members, by whom she will be warmly remembered. The photograph alongside shows her cutting a celebration cake on the occasion of the Society’s seventieth-anniversary evening at Castle Howard, just six weeks before her death. There will be a memorial service in York Minster on Thursday 15 October 2009 at 2pm, to which all are welcomed.
The Society’s programme of winter lectures on Saturday afternoons opens on 10 October, when Susan Kellerman will be talking on the intriguing subject of Georgian bath houses. Visit the Lectures page for more information, including details of the new venue.
20 August 2009
On Thursday 13 August members celebrated the seventieth anniversary of the York Georgian Society’s foundation in 1939 with a guided walk in the designed landscape of Castle Howard. This magnificent house, its subsidary buildings and landscape are of supreme importance in the history of Georgian architecture and visual culture. In addition, however, there are strong links between Castle Howard and the York Georgian Society because the late Lord Howard was the latter’s Chairman for twenty years and its President for thirteen.
On a perfect summer’s evening, members were welcomed by Mr Simon Howard, a Vice-President of the Society. With expert guidance from Dr Chris Ridgway, Curator at Castle Howard, they then set off on a walk to the Temple of the Four Winds and the Mausoleum, two outstanding architectural features in the landscape. Members returned to the Temple of the Four Winds, where they were addressed by the President, Lady Crathorne. The late Lord Howard and the Society were toasted with sparkling wine, and the President cut a celebration cake. Lord Crathorne was also present, as a member of the Society and President of the London-based Georgian Group.
18 March 2009
NIELS VAN MANEN has won the York Georgian Society’s first Patrick Nuttgens Award. It was presented to him on Saturday 14 March 2009 by Bridget Nuttgens in the Tempest Anderson Hall, at the Yorkshire Museum, York.
The Award is named in honour of the late Patrick Nuttgens, architect, broadcaster and educationist, who died five years ago (Bridget Nuttgens is his widow). A well known and warmly remembered figure both locally and nationally, he was founding Director of the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies at the University of York, and successively Secretary, Chairman and President of the York Georgian Society.
The Patrick Nuttgens Award scheme is the result of a fruitful collaboration between the York Georgian Society and the University of York. It provides for a grant to be awarded annually to a PhD student, in the second or third year of research at the University, studying an aspect of the Georgian period.
Niels van Manen, winner of the Award for 2009, took his first degree at the University of Amsterdam. He subsequently gained an MA, with distinction, at the University of York, where he is a now a third-year PhD student in the History Department. The Nuttgens Award will further his research into the social and medical history of chimney sweeps, especially those known as ‘climbing boys’, in late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Britain.
16 February 2009
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME OF WINTER LECTURES on Saturday afternoons concludes on 14 March when Dr Patrick Eyres will talk on The Creation and Restoration of the Georgian Landscape Garden at Wentworth Castle. Visit the Lectures page for more information.
This lecture will be preceded by the announcement of the winner of the Society’s Patrick Nuttgens Award 2009 (which was open to PhD students at the University of York researching aspects of the Georgian period) and a presentation ceremony.
The above will take place in the Tempest Anderson Hall at the Yorkshire Museum, York, as announced. Please note, however, that the venue for the next season of lectures, running from October 2009 to March 2010, will be the National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York. This change is necessitated by the forthcoming refurbishment of the Yorkshire Museum, during which the Tempest Anderson Hall will be out of commission.
11 January 2009
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME OF WINTER LECTURES on Saturday afternoons continues on 14 February when Dr George Sheeran will talk on The Growth of Resort Towns in Yorkshire. Visit the Lectures page for more information.
The above lecture and that on 14 March, the last in the current programme, will take place in the Tempest Anderson Hall at the Yorkshire Museum, York, as announced. Please note, however, that the venue for the next season of lectures, running from October 2009 to March 2010, will be the National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret's Church, Walmgate, York. This change is necessitated by the forthcoming refurbishment of the Yorkshire Museum, during which the Tempest Anderson Hall will be out of commission.
Uncle John Carr, the Society’s millennium publication, is currently available at a special price of £3.99. Visit the Publications page for more information.
7 December 2008
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME OF WINTER LECTURES on Saturday afternoons continues in the new year when, on 10 January, Dr Frank Salmon will give a talk entitled From York to Westminster: The Dilemma of Palladian Public Architecture. Visit the Lectures page for more information.
At the Society’s Annual General Meeting on 6 December a new constitution was adopted by majority vote. This much-needed, revised and expanded constitution does not fundamentally change the Society’s purposes or affect the expectations of members, but it puts our activities on a firmer legal footing and removes certain ambiguities with regard to our procedures. Crucially, it widens the scope of our research interests, as and when appropriate, beyond the confines of ‘York and its neighbourhood’. Click here to read the new Constitution.
Uncle John Carr, the Society’s millennium publication, is currently available at a special price of £3.99. Visit the Publications page for more information.
9 November 2008
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME OF WINTER LECTURES on Saturday afternoons continues on 6 December, when Hugh Belsey will be talking on Gainsborough and Yorkshire. Visit the Lectures page for more information.
The December lecture will follow the Annual General Meeting (starting at 2.30 pm), at which a new constitution will be presented to members for adoption. This much-needed, revised constitution, approved by the Charity Commission, does not fundamentally change the Society’s purposes or affect the expectations of members, but it puts our activities on a firmer legal footing and removes certain ambiguities with regard to our procedures. Crucially, it widens the scope of our research interests, as and when appropriate, beyond the confines of ‘York and its neighbourhood’. Click here to read the draft Constitution.
The Society’s new-look Annual Report, with full-cover colour, has been published and will shortly reach members. The re-design of the report forms part of a review of all our publicity and printed materials, intended to refresh and enhance the Society’s image in the now not-so-young twenty-first century.
Uncle John Carr, the Society’s millennium publication, is now available at a special price of £3.99. Visit the Publications page for more information.
12 October 2008
THE SOCIETY’S PROGRAMME OF WINTER LECTURES on Saturday afternoons continues on 8 November, when James Lomax will be talking about Chinoiserie silver in England from 1660 to 1830. Visit the Lectures page for more information.
A much-needed new constitution has been drafted. Approved by the Charity Commission, it will be presented to members for adoption at the Annual General Meeting on 6 December. The revised constitution does not fundamentally change the Society’s purposes or affect the expectations of members, but it puts our activities on a firmer legal footing and removes certain ambiguities with regard to our procedures. Crucially, it widens the scope of our research interests, as and when appropriate, beyond the confines of ‘York and its neighbourhood’. Click here to read the draft Constitution.
Uncle John Carr, the Society’s millennium publication, is now available at a special price of £3.99. Visit the Publications page for more information.
22 August 2008
The launch of this website is a milestone in the history of the York Georgian Society. It forms part of a review of all our publicity and printed materials, intended to refresh and enhance the Society’s image in the twenty-first century. Our familiar logo (left) has not been discarded, like the proverbial baby with the bath-water, but has been carefully re-drawn: it now shows the York Mansion House in its correct proportions. A new-look Annual Report will be published in November.
The Society’s programme of winter lectures on Saturday afternoons opens on 11 October, when Dr Christopher Ridgway will be talking about sculpture and monuments in the gardens at Castle Howard. Visit the Lectures page for more information.
Uncle John Carr, the Society’s millennium publication, is now available at a special price of £3.99. Visit the Publications page for more information.