The 24th Offley Family Society Meeting

Saturday 10th September 2011

MINUTES OF THE 24th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF
THE OFFLEY FAMILY SOCIETY

held on 10th September 2011, at in the Wisbech Library, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.  

Present:  Mr David Nicol (Chairman), Mrs Rosemary Nicol (Treasurer), Mr Jack R. Richards (Bulletin and Pedigree Editor), Mr John M Offley (Picture Librarian), Mrs Jacqueline Martyr (Minutes Secretary) and the following members and guests:
Mrs Pamela Richards, Mrs Beryl Offley, Dr Carolyn Littlefair, Mr David and Mrs Joan Emerton.

1.         Apologies:
Mr Kevin D and Mrs Tracy Offley, Mr Harold G Offley Mrs Winifred Rushton, Mr Cyril and Mrs Dorothy Offley, Mrs Paddy E Atkins.

Proxies were announced, all 3 in favour of the Chairman.

The Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming all those present to the select gathering.  This included a special welcome to Dr Carolyn Littlefair who lives in Australia. She is currently travelling and her visit to England coincided with the AGM.  There were few members present this year, he explained, but there were a number of reasons for that.  Unfortunately Kevin Offley, the General Secretary who had organised the meeting and prepared a talk about Wisbech and the Fens to present to the meeting had been taken into hospital.  Best wishes were sent to him for a speedy recovery.  Harold Offley, President, was also absent due to family celebrations for his 87th birthday.    

David reminded everyone of the timetable for the day and the items available at the meeting.  These included a display, prepared by John and Beryl Offley, of recently acquired pictures and documents relating to the Society and the Aston papers, the working papers of the late Miss Alison Elvins.  David Kerr, of the B&MSG&H, who was responsible for preserving the material was very pleased that these papers had added them to the Offley Family Society archives. Although currently no link has been made from the records in the Aston papers to the Society it was hoped that it might be in the future.  It was noted by David Emerton that the Society should attend to the question of succession with regard to its own archives.  

2.         Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising
The Minutes of the 23rd meeting held on 4th September 2010 at the Wisbech Library, Wisbech, having been circulated to all members of the Society, were proposed by John Offley, seconded by Beryl Offley and agreed by all present as a true record.

There were no matters arising.

3.         Chairman’s Report
The Chairman, David Nicol, reported another busy and interesting year for the Society.  Information on Offleys past and present had been conveyed to members via the regular Newsflashes.  He thanked Jack for all the work he continued to do for the Society on the Newsflashes and research. 

The Society’s finances also continued to be healthy and this was again partly due to sales of items made by Jack which had netted £100 – well done Jack!

Two new members had joined the Society – Mr and Mrs Affley from Cardiff and Mr and Mrs Wares from St Albans. 

He also reported that sadly Mrs Jane Evans, a founder member of the Society, had died since the last meeting.  She was a keen genealogist and had made a substantial contribution to the Society.  Jack had visited her when the Society was originally formed and reported that she had a stack of Offley material.  However, at the time her relations had not expressed any interest in this.  It was agreed that Jack should write to the family, on behalf of the Society, and ask if they would be willing to pass on any items relating to the Offleys to the Society. 
4.         Treasurer’s Report and Statement of Accounts
The Society’s accounts were circulated and the Treasurer, Rosemary Nicol, presented her report.  These had been officially scrutinised by Tracy Offley due to Kevin’s illness.  These showed that the Society had made a small surplus, mostly due to the sales made by Jack.  It was not, therefore, proposed that there should be any change to the current basic membership subscription of £6.  However, the quarterly CD service is now running at a loss due to the increase in postage costs.  It was therefore proposed to increase this to £3.00 and it was hoped that this rate could be maintained for some years to come.  This service also includes the option that a member may request any data from the database to be included on the CD which represents very good value. 

Non-responses and late membership renewal continued to be an issue for the Society and make it difficult for Jack when distributing information.  Those who wish to receive communication from the Society should be formal members and pay the very reasonable annual fee. 

Rosemary also noted that it was better for overseas members to make payments by cheque in the currency of their own country.  This was the easiest way for members to pay and payments under £50 could be paid into the Society’s bank account with no additional charge.   

Rosemary thanked Kevin and Tracy for examining the accounts. 

Jack Richards proposed, Joan Emerton seconded and it was unanimously agreed to accept the accounts.

5.         Report from the DNA Committee
In Kevin’s absence Jack gave a brief update on the work of the DNA Committee. 

Lia Affley had paid for a DNA test and the results had shown another section in our collection.  His great grandfather was an Offley.  It might be useful to go on the next level in which case Jack would recommend the Society pays for the test as has been done for other members.

The committee was still searching for males with a connection to the Wolverhampton and Covent Garden and John Brockenborough line in America.

6.         Election of Officers and Committee Memberships for 2011/12
The following officer and committee memberships were proposed by Jack Richards and seconded by John Offley:

Officers                                                                                                           Committee
President                                                    Harold G. Offley                              Harold G. Offley
Chairman                                                    David L. Nicol                                 David L. Nicol
Treasurer                                                   Rosemary E.A Nicol                                    Rosemary E.A. Nicol
General Secretary                                       Kevin D. Offley                               Kevin D. Offley
Minutes Secretary                                       Jacqueline Martyr                           Jacqueline Martyr
Assistant Minutes Secretary                        Beryl Offley                                                Beryl Offley
Archivist                                                     Brian J. Offley                                John M. Offley
Librarian                                                     Kevin D. Offley                               Jack R. Richards
Picture Librarian                                         John M. Offley                                Ben F. Fordney
Exchange Journal Librarian                         Kevin D. Offley                               Yvonne Lonsdale
Publicity Officer & Webmaster                     Kevin D. Offley
Pedigree Editor                                           Jack R. Richards                            DNA Committee
U.S. Representative                                    Ben F. Fordney                               Kevin D. Offley
Canada Representative                               Yvonne W. Lonsdale                       Jack R. Richards
Auditor                                                       Kevin D. Offley                               Geoff H. Dolby

Jack had proposed the establishment of a Jubilee Committee to organise the AGM and any other commemoration for the Society’s Silver Jubilee in 2012 however, no names were put forward.  The Society had a good number of members, many of whom are founder members, but have made a limited contribution over the years.  New members were welcome but there is also a need for existing members to make a more active contribution or there will come a time when the newsflashes will cease due to lack of information. 

Members present agreed that the Society has sufficient funds but needs more enthusiasm from its members.  Attendance at the AGM was lower than it had ever been and it was important to consider succession planning as those currently carrying out roles may not be able to do so in the future.  It would be helpful if all positions could have a “reserve” to learn about the role so that information is not lost but volunteers are not forthcoming.  Younger members of the Society were needed to take on tasks but unfortunately they often had many other commitments such as work and families.  Those who had retired were often taking up other interests.

Jack felt that more indirect advertising could be done to attract new members with an active interest in family history.  We do not currently do much on exchange journals and casual discussions can make helpful links.  It was not useful to rely on the internet.  Enquiries had been received from the website, Jack had contacted them but received no further response.  He has offered free basic membership, i.e. just the newsflashes which has not cost the Society anything but still had no take up.  In addition 25% of the population has not got access to the internet and these are the ones we need to attract.

Attracting new members was an issue for all groups but the nature of a one name society and the wide geographical spread of members and potential members made it more difficult.  Some of those who made contact with the Society or individual members had a very narrow agenda.  Many people with the name Offley were not even members.  It was also surprising that the rise in popularity of family history research, including programmes such as “Who do you think you are?” had not encouraged new members. 

Carolyn felt that the very structure and formality of the Society was not something that people of her generation or younger thinks of or recognized.  There is much more interaction on virtual networks such as Facebook.  However, these are social networks joining people together.  They are not designed to produce or hold information in the way the Society does.  Perhaps what we should be looking at is what the Society wants to achieve and how can that be achieved in today’s world.  Most people joining group such as this are over 40 but when today’s younger generation reaches that age they are unlikely to want to join such a group.

Potential locations and dates for the 2012 AGM were discussed and it was agreed that Peterborough might be a good place to hold the meeting.  The date could be varied and David Emerton agreed to investigate whether there were any events taking place in the city that we could link to as a way to attract additional members. 

Carolyn suggested that it might be better to advertise the event as a “family fun day” or “reunion” and suggest that people bring a picnic.  Non members and families of current members could be encouraged to attend to meet long lost relations.  Perhaps we could have a commemorative family photo for the Jubilee?

 
7.         Election of an Honorary Member
Jack proposed that Brian Harry Offley and his wife be made honorary members of the Society.  They had been founder members and Brian had been FFHS rep for many years.  He is now 89 and is living in a nursing home. 

This was agreed unanimously.

8.         Annual Subscriptions 2012/13
It was agreed that these would remain at £6.
The cost of CDs would increase to £3 to take account of additional postage costs
Life Membership rates were revised
1    £75.00 for members who can receive material by email
2    £125. for those who require printed material
3    £150.00 if airmail service is required  
 

There being no other business the meeting closed at 12.30.

Previous AGMs

AGM 2009
AGM 2008
AGM 2007