TO MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY MAGNA CHARTA DAMES AND BARONS, POTENTIAL MEMBERS AND THOSE WHO SHARE OUR INTEREST IN THE PRINCIPLES OF CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY
FROM LEWIS L. NEILSON JR., CHANCELLOR
DATE: JANUARY 10, 2006
If this is the first Electronic Newsletter which you have received from our Society, please read the paragraph OUR E-MAIL LIST below. The link to the Newsletter on the Website is: http://www.magnacharta.org/enews12006.htm The link to the Website is: http://www.magnacharta.org.
This Electronic Newsletter features information about Washington DC Dinner on April 15, 2006 (mark your calendar), text from the 2005 presentation by Sir Robert Worcester in Lincoln and planning for our 2006 June Educational Tour.
Our membership is over 16,800 Dames and Barons
I encourage you to call our office at 215-836-5022 with membership questions. Please speak with Mrs. Rose Mary McKeown, an experienced genealogist.
Topics: New Information ***
***New York City Reception - February 15, 2006
***DC Reception and Dinner - April 15, 2006 - University Club
***Additional April Events - April 14, 2006 plus additional date to be
scheduled
***2006 Tour Program - June 13 - 22, 2006 (Including part of Magna Carta/USA
Week in Lincoln)
***Talk given June 2005 in Lincoln by Sir Robert Worcester KBE DL
***Future Events 2009 - 100th Anniversary Celebration
***Participation in State Divisions
Greetings - Please send new email addresses
Thank you
Potential Members
Contributions
OUR E-MAIL LIST
New York City Reception - February 15, 2006
We are planning to encourage our New York area members to attend a reception on February 15, 2006 hosted by the New York Commandery, Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States, in conjunction with the New York Conference of Patriotic and Hereditary Societies. The New York Division of our Society is a participant in the Conference. The Twenty-First Annual Presidents' Day Celebration will be held from 5:30 o'clock to 7:30 o'clock at the Portrait Gallery of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 122 East 58th Street, New York, NY. The dress is informal and individual decorations are optional. If you are interested in attending, please either contact our office in Philadelphia for subscription information or send your subscription directly to Mrs. Nancy W. Dale, c/o New York Commandery, MOFW, 130 Havemeyer Place, Greenwich, CT 16830-6332, including your check (payable to the MOFW) in the amount of $55.00 per person, all-inclusive. The cost will be $60.00 at the door. This should be an outstanding event and an opportunity to meet other members of our Society who could participate in the New York Division of the National Society Magna Charta Dames and Barons. Please call our office with any suggestions. If you are a New York member and wish to serve on a committee for our Society please let me know and I will forward your name to Dr. Lucas, Regent, and Mr. Hilliard, Vice-Regent.
Washington DC Dinner - April 15, 2006 - at the University Club - We provide the date so that you can plan ahead - You can send your subscription and reserve now.
The National Society Magna Charta Dames and Barons will hold our Washington DC Reception and Dinner - April 15, 2006 - at the University Club, reception at 5:45pm, dinner at 7:15pm. The cost for the reception alone is $30.00 and the cost for the reception and dinner is $85.00, each with a cash bar. Black tie is optional. Please let us know if you wish an invitation. Members may reserve space for themselves and their guests by sending the subscription (payable to the National Society Magna Charta Dames and Barons) to the Society Office. Contributions in addition to the cost of the reception and dinner are welcome.
Other Potential Events in April, 2006
We are planning a luncheon on Friday, April 14, 2005 in Philadelphia. In addition, we will be planning an event later in the year. For planning purposes, please let me know if you are interested in attending the luncheon on Friday.
Tour Program - June 13 - 22, 2006 - You may send a refundable deposit to reserve space and indicate interest.
We are pleased to have prepared an Preliminary Itinerary for our June 2006 Educational Travel Program. The June 2006 Educational Tour is scheduled for June 13 - 22, 2006. This year we will ask for $100.00 deposits per person which will be refundable until January 31, 2006. At that point if enough people have indicate interest by making deposits we will finalize the program and pricing. The deposits of those who accept the terms of the Tour will be forwarded to the Tour Operator - the other deposits will be refunded. If you wish to participate in the Lincoln portion or the London portion please let us know so that we can plan accordingly. The final pricing will depend on the number of people participating in either portion or both.
I am planning to be in Lincoln for the Celebration and welcome and encourage participation.
The Tour begins with three days in Lincoln during the Magna Carta Week in Lincoln with the remaining four days near London. We are delighted that Roy Bentham, Chief Executive and Chapter Clerk, is planning our visit to Lincoln where we will have the opportunity to see one of the four originals of the 1215 Magna Charta. Since the cost is modest considering the exchange rate and the outstanding program I anticipate considerable interest. I urge you to make your deposit as soon as possible. An additional reason for prompt planning is that there are a limited number of vouchers for the Royal Enclosure. Last year, as quoted in the website of Lincoln Cathedral, The Very Revd Alec Knight, Dean of Lincoln, noted: “The links between Historic Lincoln and the USA are strong, particularly those flowing from Magna Carta. They deserve to be highlighted and celebrated. We intend to do this in what I hope will become an annual Magna Carta/USA Week.” You may view the Official Web Site of Lincoln Cathedral: http://www.lincolncathedral.com/html/default.asp Then look at Events and Events Diary. The London area events are also excellent and I encourage you to review the Preliminary Tour Program.
The Preliminary Tour Program is located at: http://www.magnacharta.org/june061.htm
The purpose of our educational tours is to visit locations of cultural and historical significance primarily relating to the Magna Charta. We are undertaking to reduce the cost while maintaining quality.
Talk given June 2005 in Lincoln by Sir Robert Worcester KBE DL
Sir Robert Worcester presented a talk in Lincoln titled: “The Magna Carta: Its relevance today” . He is Co-Chairman of the British Committee of Jamestown 2007 Quadrennial Celebration of the first English-speaking settlement in the new world, is Chairman of the Pilgrims Society, a Governor of the English-Speaking Union, and a Trustee of the Magna Carta Trust. He is a Freeman of the City of London, a Governor of the Ditchley Foundation, and was a Member of the Fulbright Commission. The text of his talk is included on our website. http://www.magnacharta.org/WorcesterSirRobert2005.htm
Participation in State Divisions and New Divisions
Most of our State Division Regents now have email and we are considering including the email addresses on a listing to facilitate contact by members who would like to participate in Division or local programs. While the discussion continues, I will forward email from members to the Regent in their area.
Future Planning 2009
We are in the process of planning the 100th Anniversary of our Society. We plan to hold the Celebration in Houston, Texas which will coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the Texas Division. We will encourage our members to travel to Houston to participate in an outstanding weekend.
Greetings
On behalf of the Officers and Council of the Society, I bring greetings with this Newsletter. We continue to develop awareness of Magna Charta and its message. We ask each of you to participate with us in continuing the long tradition of friendship and fellowship which has continued over many years. We need to increase the number of members and friends on our email listing. Please ask your relatives or friends to send us their E-mail address. Please also send us the E-mail addresses of friends who are interested either in lineage societies or in memorializing Magna Charta. For the future, please propose new members for our Society. Please also attend your local meetings and include your children and grandchildren. We have a very special organization and I hope that you will help us to maintain its traditions.
Thank You
Since last year we have received an extraordinary response from our members to update addresses and provide new addresses for those who have been lost. . Many members have appointed successors who were eligible to do so. Updated address lists will be sent to the State Divisions. I am, however, saddened to learn when our members are deceased. I and the Society are grateful for the time, dedicated effort and financial contributions that many of those members have given to our Society. As I update the deceased role with members who I have worked with and known during the past fifteen years, I am reminded that we need to express appreciation on an ongoing basis to all of those who are helping to make our Society a wonderful organization. Thank You!
Potential Members
If you are not a member of our Society and are eligible I hope that you will join. If you are not eligible but share our interest in history and genealogy we encourage you to remain on our Email list. We also welcome your participation in our ongoing genealogical research projects and our Tours. We welcome and encourage new members and remind those submitting lineage information to include copies of referenced material.
As mentioned in prior E-Newsletters, membership continues to be of vital importance to our Society. If you wish to speed up or facilitate the membership process, please include with the Proposal Form a well documented lineage (including copies of the documentation) to either a known ancestor or to one of the qualifying Barons. If you have sent lineage information without the copies you may also speed up the process by sending copies of the documentation. Lineage Forms are provided on the Website.
Contributions
We rely on member contributions for our Society operations and we plan to build our endowment in connection with the 100th Anniversary of the founding our Society in 1909. We hope you will consider year end contributions, including contributions of appreciated securities. Our Society is a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
OUR E-MAIL LIST
We continue to significantly increase our e-mail list. To those of you who are new to our list we welcome you to receive our Electronic Newsletter and hope that you will find our Society and our mission to be interesting. Since a primary mission of our Society is to develop awareness of Magna Charta we wish to expand the circulation of our Electronic Newsletter by increasing our e-mail address list particularly including those who are members of lineage societies and/or who might share our interest in the principles of Constitutional Liberty. I would like to thank those who have shared their email lists since our last Electronic Newsletter.
We encourage you to check our Website regularly for new developments and information. The link to the Newsletter on the Website is: http://www.magnacharta.org/enews12006.htm The link to the Website is: http://www.magnacharta.org.
Our E-mail list is made up of those who have sent us e-mail, of members and friends of the Society who have responded to our Newsletter request for E-mail addresses and others who we believe might be interested in our Society or mission. If you would prefer not to receive future Electronic Newsletters, however, please let us know. If you have friends who you believe might be interested in our Society, please forward this e-mail. If you have received this as a forwarded e-mail, please visit our Website at for more information about our Society. You may also contact our Society Office at 215-836-5022.
Do not hesitate to contact me with questions or suggestions. Chancellor@magnacharta.org