Society Meetings

The Society holds monthly meetings at three branches, usually with a talk from a guest speaker. All meetings are open to all members, details are given below. If you miss a meeting you may like to hire a tape of the talk from our Tape Library.

Bromley Branch

Meetings are held in the Great Hall at Bromley Civic Centre, Rochester Ave, Bromley, Kent on the third Wednesday of the month. You can park in the multi-storey car park attached to the civic centre (access from Stockwell Close), price 90p. Talks begin at 8pm. The hall is open from 7.15pm giving the opportunity to browse the library and bookstall, and chat to other members.

Branch Chair - Angela Verrells, Meetings Organizer - Lynn Woodward. The branch newsletter 3rd Wednesday edited by Brenda Cope is normally available at the meeting.

The Bromley programme for 2009-10 is as follows:

 

Date Speaker Title 2009 21 Jan Chris McCooey Rogues, Rascals & Rebels 18 Feb Tom Doig Marriage & Courtship 18 Mar Geoff Hutchinson History in Comic Verse: From 1066 to the Internet 15 Apr Sharon Hintze LDS library May No Meeting 17 Jun Helen Allinson Life in England 1900-1918 seen through postcards 15 Jul Pat Mortlock Prevention and Cure: health and hospital provision 1870-1939 19 Aug Diana Rimel Sir Joseph Bazalgette: cholera, sewers etc 16 Sep Maggie Bird Jill the Ripper 21 Oct Cyril Baldwin Livery Companies & the City of London 18 Nov Derrick Fulford Smuggling, 17th Century to date  Dec No Meeting 2010 20 Jan Norman Hopkins The Huguenots in Kent 17 Feb Ian Bevan Victorian Leisure and Pleasure 17 Mar Gordon Bentley GINN: Girls in Nelson’s Navy Click here for photos taken at Bromley branch meetings.

Dartford Branch

Meetings are held on the first Saturday of the month, at our new venue Dartford Technology College. This is on the north side of Heath Lane, close to the small roundabout which intersects with Highfield Road. There is plenty of parking at the new site. The meetings room is the New Auditorium. This should be open from 9.45am with the meeting proper starting at 10.30am.

Branch Chair - Janet Rose, Meetings Organizer - Barbara Phillips. The branch newsletter Dartboard edited by Paul Wilkins is normally available at the meeting.

The Dartford programme for 2009-10 is as follows:

 

Date Speaker Title 2009 10 Jan Jeanne Bunting Maps, directories & the census 7 Feb Anne Carter 1400 and still counting: Rochester Cathedral 7 Mar Martin Lloyd Passports, Assassins, Traitors and Spies 4 Apr Branch Annual Meeting & Lady Mary Teviot "Kill or Cure": Medicine in the 19th century 2 May Derek Morris A Place in the Sun: Stepney, Mile End & the use of Insurance Records (Sun Life and the Guildhall) 6 Jun Ian Waller Agricultural Labourers 4 Jul David Williams Port Sunlight 1 Aug David Cufley Calico Printers [or, failing this, Ratcatchers] 5 Sep Ken Divall Researching your ancestors' military medals 3 Oct Joyce Hoad People did not travel in olden times, or did they? 7 Nov David Taylor "Not so rum after all" - A pictorial view of life in the Georgian Navy. The talk will look at the shipboard life of the 18th/early 19th century Navy, through the Museum's Oil Paintings, Prints & drawings 5 Dec Geoff Hutchinson Kipling - his life and verse (in costume) 2010 2 Jan Gordon Bentley History of Pub Signs 6 Feb Peter Lawrence Beneath the city streets - London's unseen history 6 Mar Diana Rimel Deptford Creek - past and present Click here for photos of the Dartford branch venue.

Sevenoaks Branch

Meetings are held on the second Thursday of the month at Sevenoaks Community Centre, Otford Road (at junction with Crampton Rd.), Sevenoaks, at 7.15pm. In addition to the talks, there is a bookstall, continuing projects and all the helpful advice that you might need. We welcome new members, so please come along.

Branch Chair - vacant, Meetings Organizer - Chris Barnett.

The Sevenoaks programme for 2009-10 is as follows:

 

Date Speaker Title 2009 Jan  No Meeting 12 Feb Eric Probert Lesser Known Sources 12 Mar Branch AM & Martin Lloyd "Without Let or Hindrance" - The Story of Passports 9 Apr Roy Ingleton History of Policing in Kent 943-1943 14 May Ian Waller Railway Workers' Records 11 Jun  Lady Mary Teviot Wills and Administrations 9 Jul John Neal Grandad's London - a Horsebus Tour through London in the 1890's Aug No Meeting 10 Sep Mike Brown "Put That Light Out!" 8 Oct Judith Kinnison-Bourke Elsie Bowerman - survivor of the Titanic 12 Nov Tom Doig Courtship and Marriage in 1880's 10 Dec Chris McCooey Sensation, Salacious and Sad in Kent 2010 Jan No Meeting 11 Feb Paul Blake London - Metropolis Nightmare: Where to find Records 11 Mar Meryl Catty "To Coin a Phrase" - the Stories behind Expressions Click here for a photo of the Sevenoaks branch venue.

Computer Branch

The Society held Computer Branch meetings at Orpington from 2000 to 2006, but at the Society AGM in April 2006 it was announced that these would be discontinued owing to difficulties in recruiting members to the Branch committee. Since then, members of the old Computer Branch have spoken at other meetings of the Society.