TO MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY MAGNA CHARTA DAMES AND BARONS
FROM LEWIS L. NEILSON JR., CHANCELLOR
DATE: MAY 27, 1999
This is our first Electronic Newsletter and we are sending it to visitors to our Web Site who have sent us Email. We hope that you will be interested in the activities of our Society. Initially we wish to call your attention to new information on our Site. We now have over 125 pages and look forward to adding additional information in the future. In the meantime we hope that you will visit our Site.
I have added the text of the Chancellor’s Remarks on April 19, 1999 to our Web Site . The information in those Remarks provide details of our current activities.
Our 1999 Luncheon was outstanding. The title of the talk was - Ties That Bind: the Anglo-American Relationship Past and Present presented by Dr. Ray Raymond, FRSA, Political Officer of the British Consulate General in NY and Political Advisor to the British Consul General and Director General of Trade and Investments [USA]. The talk was timely and informative. We were pleased that this year we had approximately 100 participants.
Please visit our News Page which will provide information concerning recent additions to our Web Site.
Our Educational Tour Program provides education concerning Magna Charta and its history, including visits to culturally and historically significant sites in Great Britain, particularly in England.
Concerning our June, 1999 Tour which will start in a few short weeks, there have been two outstanding additions. On Friday evening, June 18 we have been invited by the Governor of the Military Knights of Windsor to at "Black Tie" dinner to Commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. On Saturday, June 19, we will drive to Windsor for the Royal Wedding of HRH Prince Edward and Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones. We are extremely fortunate to have been offered seats on the Friends of St. George’s Chapel stand right outside the Chapel where the ceremony will take place. We will, from our vantage point, be able to see all of the guests and the Royal couple arriving and leaving the Chapel. This is a unique opportunity to be so close to a Royal Wedding.
The special significance of these additions to the Tour is that they had not been planned last Fall when we scheduled our Tour. Although we try to anticipate the schedule, the best parts may be added at the last minute. Last year, we learned upon arrival in England that our group would have the opportunity to meet Prince Philip; what we subsequently learned was that each our Tour participants would have the opportunity to have a conversation with him. While we cannot promise these spectacular surprises every year, our programs have consistently proven to be better than expected. We hope that each of you will consider signing up for one of the Tours next year.
I would like to encourage additional participants for our August/September trip to Wales and England this year. Additional copies of the itinerary are available by calling our office (215-836-5022). Please note that one of the highlights of the trip is the three night stay in Windsor Castle.
Membership continues to be of vital importance to our Society. If you wish to speed up 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.
I hope that each of you are well. Do not hesitate to call me with questions or suggestions.