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Welcome to our web site. We hope you will visit this site often. Please view our Video Links Page to view streaming video.
We are also using an additional site for some information but
for the past several days it has been down part of the time. The link to the
News Page is
http://www.magnacharta.us/News/news.htm
This is a page for current news: Past News: 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
August 7, 2008 - Our Centennial Dinner will be held on Saturday, April 18, 2009 at the University Club. We have also added considerable video from the June Conference in Lincoln .Link to Page
July 9, 2008 - We are holding an informal luncheon in Washington, DC. Members were sent a notice by email.
June 29, 2008 - We were represented in Lincoln England for the first Magna Carta Conference held by the University of Lincoln and Lincoln Cathedral. We have included one presentation and will increase that as the files are converted. The talk by Tony Benn is the first. Link to Page
June 23, 2008 - I met with Francis Neate, Esquire, Past President of the International Bar Association, to discuss the Rule of Law. Link to our conversation. This is an initiative of the IBA and can be explored at their website on the Rule of Law tab. http://www.ibanet.org .
June 20, 2008 - Lincoln Cathedral - Magna Carta Lecture presented by Baroness Elizabeth Butler Sloss, retired Senior Judge and President of the Family Division of the High Court, 1999 - 2005. "Magna Carta and Modern Day Justice - Link to Video - The text of the talk is on the website of Lincoln Cathedral http://www.lincolncathedral.com When you open the site, click on Living and Learning, then on Lectures and you will see instructions on how to download a pdf file of the lecture.
April 12, 2008 - Our dinner in DC: Link to Page
March 29, 2008 - We are beginning to send an Electronic Newsletter
March 24, 2008 - Video We express our appreciation to David Rubenstein, Esquire for purchasing the 1297 Magna Carta and placing it on permanent display at the National Archives.
February 24, 2008 - Video - I met with Ashley Mote, Member of the European Parliament, Independent MEP for Southeast-England, who shared some of his views concerning Magna Carta.
January 19, 2008 - We are beginning to send an Electronic Newsletter
To be added January 15, 2008 - We are planning for a password protected members page on the website which will include information of particular interest to our members. We are planning a special email to our members providing the password with the request that it not be given to non members. In our last Newsletter we included the request that our members send an email with MEMBER and their state in the subject line and we have tried to include those in the member list. If you are a member and have not received the email with the password by the end of the week please let us know.
January 14, 2008 - We have increased the list of qualified immigrants to 192 on the Brookfield List - for each immigrant a page has been created which includes the Surety Barons from whom the immigrant descends. We have also added pictures of the insignia to the Brookfield Products Page
January 3, 2008 - Try a silverlight presentation of the opening at the Constitution.
December 29, 2007 - We will continue to maintain this website, however, we are planning to add a significant amount of information and are using an additional site location for that information. Please click on the following link to access that site. You will observe that some of the information will require Silverlight on your computer. Silver light is a free download from Microsoft.
December 11, 2007 - We have been given permission by Southby's to include on our website an excellent study on Magna Carta which was included in the catalogue which has been prepared for the sale on December 18, 2007 of the 1297 Magna Carta. While the text is excellent there are also many pictures which are only included in the catalogue which may be ordered from Southby's. Link to Page
December 6, 2007 - We have revised and updated the video of the opening at the Constitution Center, have received video from the Magna Carta USA Week in Lincoln July 2007 and have added some video, provided by Lincoln, or archival work on the Lincoln Magna Carta. Sonme of this video may require silverlight which can be downloaded with no cost from the Microsoft Web Site. Link to Page
Our dinner in Washington DC will be held Saturday April 12, 2008 at the University Club.
July 4, 2007 - Video from the opening of the Magna Charta Exhibit at the Constitution Center. Link to Introductory Page.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on June 24, 2007.
Added April 17, 2007 - We have included a page with links to text and video of the Introduction and Lecture presented by the Revd Canon Professor Mike West, Chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral to our Society on April 14, 2007.
Added April 7, 2007 - we have sent invitations to the Washington Dinner on April 14 and to the Philadelphia Luncheon on April 13. On March 29 and 30 we attended the opening dinner and ceremony of the Exhibit, Magna Carta and the Four Foundations of Freedom, in Virginia Beach. We have included video of the opening and have prepared a page with links to the video. The talks include remarks by The Honorable Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court, Rev. Canon Philip Buckler, Dean of Lincoln, and Reg Weaver, President of the NEA. There is also video of the Exhibit.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on March 17. 2007. We have added Successor Information.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on October 18, 2006. We have added a page with information about the Magna Charta Exhibit in Virginia Beach in 2007. We have add a page with Short Term Goals and Long Visions for our Society.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on June 25, 2006. I have added a page for the Lincoln Magna Carta USA Week which provides links to the Annual Lecture. We have added brief greetings from Sir Robert Worcester who was the speaker last year. (Low Higher), We have also included a page for the Dinner held on April 15, 2006 with links to video of the Chancellor's Report and Presentation.
The invitations for our April 15, 2006 Washington DC Dinner should be in the mail shortly. You may view the invitation, the response card, the contribution card and the return envelope. All are pdf files. If you do not receive an invitation in the mail you may request one by calling our office or print out and use the response card to request a subscription.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on January 10, 2006. The date for the Washington DC Dinner is Saturday, April 15, 2006. We have prepared a preliminary itinerary for the June 2006 Educational Tour 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. We have also added to our Website the 2005 talk presented by Sir Robert Worcester KBE DL "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.
We have added a page to link to the text of talks or other presentations made to our Society or concerning Magna Charta on Dec. 13, 2005.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on June 24, 2005.
We are adding a page, including video links for our Washington DC Dinner April 16, 2005. These include the Video of the Introduction by Chancellor Neilson and Talk presented by Mr. Timothy Guy as well as the text of the talk.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on April 5, 2005.
The Chancellor's Remarks on April 17, 2004 have been included as text and as video.
The invitations for our April 16, 2005 Washington DC Dinner should be in the mail tomorrow, March 10, 2005. You may view the invitation, the response card, the contribution card and the return envelope. All are pdf files. If you do not receive an invitation in the mail you may request one by calling our office or print out and use the response card to request a subscription. Also if you wish to attend the luncheon in Philadelphia on Friday April 15, 2005 please let me know by email or call Rose Mary at the office
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on January 29, 2005.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on December, 9, 2004.
We have added, on December 5, 2004, Tour Information for the June 2005 Educational Tour to be held June 9, 2005 to June 19, 2005 in England. The estimated individual cost (sharing a room) of the Tour including nine (9) nights is $2,800.00 based on 16 participants, $2,500.00 based on 25 participants and $2,400.00 based on 30 participants, not including air. A estimated cost of a single supplement is $350.00. The Terms and Conditions are included.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on October 26, 2004. It includes links to a video of Mini Churchill on October 7, 2004 and the text of a talk given by Lord Phillips in Bury St. Edmunds, June 2004.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on June 30, 2004. It includes information about our Reception and Dinner on April 17, 2004 and the June 2005 Tour.
On June 30, 2004 we received the text of one of the talks given during the Celebration at Bury St Edmunds in June 2004 along with some pictures. We have provided a page to index this information.
On June 4, 2004 we added the text of the presentation, given by Dean Knight.
We are adding a page, including video links for our Washington DC Dinner April 17, 2004.. These include Greetings from Mrs. Linda Watkins, President General of the DAR, Introduction of Dean Alec Knight by Chancellor Neilson and the presentation given by Dean Knight, Dean of Lincoln Cathedral.
We have added in three pages the invitation for the Washington DC Dinner One Two Three .
We have finalized plans for our June 9 - 17, 2004 Tour. The cost is approximately $4,255.00 per person with a single supplement at $641.00. There is a minimum of 20 for this tour and the request for Royal Ascot has to be submitted promptly. Contact the Society Office or send an email for additional information.
In November 2003, Lord Phillips, Master of the Rolls, presented an address on the Magna Carta before the Pilgrims of the United Kingdom. His office sent the text of the address which is included on our WebSite.
We have sent an Electronic Newsletter on March 18, 2004. It includes information about our Reception and Dinner on April 17, 2004 and the June 2004 Tour.
On March 8, 2004 we sent a post card to all Magna Charta Dame and Baron Members, informing them of our WebSite and providing the opportunity for them to send their email addresses to receive our Electronic Newsletters. We also sent the card to potential members and those who might share our interest in the principles of Constitutional Liberty. If you have received a card, please check your name and address and inform us of any corrections.
We are asking our visitors to check the NCOA 2004 Lost Member Pages (Alpha and By State) for 904 Lost Members. These addresses were electronically identified as undeliverable by NCOA system on February 20, 2004. Since we do not know if these people were correctly identified as lost please check the listing which is alphabetical and by state. The same system electronically updated 1,390 member addresses.
On March 9, 2004 we updated the Lost Member Pages with a New Index Page. The original lost member page on the internet was 5,560 of which 1,080 have been found with 4,370 remaining. This is an index for seventeen pages which list 6,099 lost members in three parts. The first part is 904 names that were electronically identified as undeliverable using the NCOA system on February 20, 2004. Since we do not know if these people were correctly identified as lost, please check the list by last name and also by state of last residence. The second part is 825 names that have become lost between 1998 and 2004 listed by last name and also be state of last residence . The third part is 4,370 names that remain from the 1997 listing which was originally posted on the Internet with a detailed index of the lost members remaining.
We have sent an additional Electronic Newsletter dated December 15, 2003 announcing dates for the Washington DC dinner on April 17, 2004 and luncheon outside Philadelphia on February 21, 2004.
We have sent an additional Electronic Newsletter dated August 19, 2003 providing information about our April 12, 2003 dinner and references to the text and video of the speech. For video please refer to the DC Speaker Page.
We have sent an additional Electronic Newsletter dated February 28, 2003 issuing an invitation to our April 12, 2003 dinner.
Further continuing our introduction of video we are presenting the talks given at our Washington DC Luncheons in 1998, 1999 and 2001. Please refer to our DC Speaker Page to view.
Continuing our introduction of video we are presenting a 26 minute video of our 2001 England Tour. This clip uses Real Player and provides examples of educational information and colorful pageantry. We encourage you to consider participating in our June 2003 Tour.
We have sent our twelfth Electronic Newsletter on January 12, 2003. This Newsletter announces our Washington D.C. Dinner on April 12, 2003. It also announces that we have added streaming video of the Opening of the Magna Charta Exhibit in Philadelphia on July 3, 2002. The Index Page provides information about talks by Judge Becker, Deputy Director Murphy and Lord Goldsmith as excellent video and the English Girl's Choir.. We are planning to include the Luncheon talks the text of which is on our website and included below.
The June 2003 Tour has been scheduled for June 11-22, 2003 and the Program is now available. Terms and Conditions will be available from the Society Office. We encourage early deposits.
We have sent our eleventh Electronic Newsletter on August 24, 2002. The special significance of this Newsletter is that it announces a number of exceptional presentations concerning the Magna Charta and its contemporary, as well as historical, significance. Lord Goldsmith, Attorney General of the UK, addresses issues concerning individual liberty since September 11 and Donald Murphy, Deputy Director of the National Park Service, presents the rights within Magna Charta as an evolution of the human mind. His perspective is particularly significant as the National Park Service may be considered the largest educational organization in the United States, sharing with all Americans and visitors to this country the soul of this nation. We are grateful that three exceptionally distinguished Judges offered their perspective on Magna Charta: Judge Edward Becker, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, Judge Albert Rosenblatt, New York Court of Appeals, and Judge Louis H. Pollak, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
We have sent our tenth Electronic Newsletter on June 23, 2002. It includes information about the July 3, 2002 Opening and Luncheon for the Magna Carta Exhibit in Philadelphia. The Rt Hon the Lord Goldsmith, Her Majesty’s Attorney General, will open the Exhibit and will present an address on the "Common Roots of the Common Law" at a noon luncheon. Our Society is handling reservations for the opening and luncheon. This Exhibit of an original Magna Carta, dated 1297, is the result of the unified effort of members of the Judiciary, Bar and Government as well as interested individuals and corporations. The success of the Exhibit reflects the commitment to the rule of law established and enhanced by the Magna Carta. We are pleased that this Exhibit is during the Golden Jubilee Year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, II. Our Society is honored to participate and to offer this event to our members and guests as a Golden Jubilee activity
We have sent our ninth Electronic Newsletter on February 28, 2002. It includes information about our Reception and Dinner on April 13, 2002, the May 2002 Tour and the recently planned June 2002 Tour.
The June 2002 Golden Jubilee Weekend Educational Tour has been scheduled for May 30, 2002 to June 5, 2002 and the Program is now available. Terms and conditions are available from the Society Office.
We have scheduled our April 2002 Dinner for Saturday evening, April 13, 2002.
We have sent our eighth Electronic Newsletter on November 16, 2001. It includes information about the plans for the April 2002 Lunch or Dinner, the May 2002 Tour, the addition of the Reflections Page and the Magna Carta Triennial.
The May 2002 Tour has been scheduled for May 12-21, 2002 and the Program is now available. Terms and Conditions are available from the Society Office. We encourage early deposits.
Reflections - We have included a page for Reflections beginning with those on September 11, 2001 and have started the page with an article from Winston S. Churchill based on his observations as he was in New York City that day. We invite responsible and inspiring reflections, by email, for attachment to the page. Please refer to the page for additional information.
Magna Carta Triennial - We have added the Program for the Commemoration of the 786th Anniversary of the Sealing of Magna Carta at Runnymede Saturday 16 June 2001. We have included the Order of Service which was held at the Egham Church on 16 June 2001, the text of the Main Address given by Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Master of the Rolls and Chairman of the Magna Carta Trust and the Magna Carta Anniversary Sermon given by The Right Reverend John Gladwin, Lord Bishop of Guildford. We have included an introductory page. 1. Introductory Page, 2, Order of Service, 3, Address by Lord Phillips 4. Sermon by The Right Reverend John Gladwin.
Lost Members - We have added a page for 219 Members who have been lost for the period from 8/12/2000 to 8/21/2001. Please check this list and let us know if you know the address of any of the lost members.
We have sent our seventh Electronic Newsletter to approximately 1,750 people on April 29, 2001, an Annual Luncheon Newsletter. It includes text of letters from the President of the United States and the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia as well as the speech given by Arabella Churchill, the granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill, KG.
We have sent our sixth Electronic Newsletter to approximately 1,350 people on December 25, 2000, a Christmas Newsletter. It announces our Washington, DC luncheon on Monday, April 16, 2001.
We have sent our fifth Electronic Newsletter to approximately 1,200 people on August 12, 2000. If you are a member, or interested, and did not receive the Newsletter, please send us your E-mail address.
The June 2001 Tour has been scheduled for June 11-20, 2001 and the Program is now available. Terms and Conditions are available from the Society Office. We encourage early deposits.
We have added a page for 438 Members who have been lost for the period from 7/1/98 to 8/12/00. Please check this list and let us know if you know the address of any of the lost members.
The June, 2000 Tour has been cancelled. The fourth Electronic Newsletter was sent to approximately 1,000 people on April 3, 2000.
The dates for the June, 2000 Tour have changed to June 16, 2000 to June 26, 2000. The revised Program is attached. If you are interested, please let us know promptly as the deadline for requesting letters of entrance to the Royal Enclosure is approaching.
On December 28, 1999 the Fall Newsletters should be in the mail to all the members of the Society. The Newsletter includes information about Successor Memberships and we have added the Successor Appointment Form to our WebSite.
On October 22, 1999 we have added the Second Electronic Newsletter and the Programs for the June 2000 Tour (June 12-21, 2000) and the July 2000 Tour (July 21-31, 2000). Our Travel Page provides information about our Travel Program. We have also added the Salisbury Information Page which included links to a number of WebSites which we learned about when we were visiting the Salisbury Chapter House in June 1999.
On August 18, 1999 we have added 17 pages which list all of the deceased members of the Society over 5,000. These pages may be accessed using the Deceased Members Home Page. Also we are planning to send an Electronic Newsletter before the end of the month. If any of our members are aware of the email addresses for their friends who might be interested in receiving our Newsletters please send both the email address as well as the regular mail address using the feedback form on this WebSite. Also the dates for the June 2000 Tour have been changed to June 15 to 25, 2000.
On June 1, 1999 we have added preliminary information including dates and estimated cost for our June and July Tours for the year 2000. (Note the addresses were changed on August 18, 1999.
On May 27, 1999 we are sending our first Electronic Newsletter to approximately 300 Members and Friends of our Society. We hope that all of our visitors will provide us with their email addresses so that they can be included in future Newsletters.
Update May 18, 1999. We will be in Windsor Castle for the Royal Wedding of HRH Prince Edward. This is one of a number of excellent changes to the June Educational Tour which have been recently scheduled. When the Tour was originally planned last year the special events had not been scheduled.
We applaud the efforts of the Magna Carta Trust in England. We had added a page to our WebSite to explain their activities to our members and viewers.
The Internal Revenue Service has listed all exempt organizations on the Web. We have provided a page giving instructions on how to find the listing for our Society. We have also included a financial report for 1998 listing preliminary cash receipts and disbursements as well as the cash and investments held as of 12/31/98.
We are pleased to announce that a luncheon hosted by Marshall Richard Jenkins will be held on February 20, 1999 in Philadelphia, PA. Please contact the Society Office for further information.
On January 17, 1999 links within the 1999 June Educational Tour and 1999 Wales/England Educational Tour were included on each page. These links will enable you to see a picture or read explanatory information concerning parts of the Tour.
On January 14, 1999 the 1999 Wales/England Educational Tour (revised dates August 25, 1999 to September 3, 1999) has been added to the Site. Please note that the 1999 June Educational Tour has been shortened by one day with a corresponding reduction in price. Note that for both Tours, the price of the air is included in the price although participants may arrange for their own air travel with a separate price for the land portion of the Tour. Please refer to our Travel Page.
On December 13, 1998, the Chancellor's Update 1998 has been added to the Site.
On December 4, 1998 the new Brookfield Publishing Co. Lineage Forms [Explanation Page] have been added to the site. The links to Form #1 and Form #2 are provided. Both forms are available as PDF files which you can download to your own computer and view using software from Adobe Systems which is available without charge. Should you have any questions concerning the new forms, please contact our office at 215-836-5022.
On November 10, 1998 information concerning the June 1999 Educational Tour was added to the Travel Page. Please call the office at 215-836-5022 to receive the Program.
On September 1, 1998 the individual pages for 56 Immigrant Ancestors were initially completed including Baron ancestors (with links to the individual Baron Pages). Biographical information is to be added later. Please refer to the following web page which includes links to each of the Immigrant Ancestor Pages. Immigrant Ancestor Index Page.
On August 28, 1998 the individual pages for each of the 25 Surety Barons were completed including certain biographical information as well as the Baron's Shield. Please refer to the following web page which includes links to each of the Baron Pages. Magna Charta Barons At Runnymede Home Page .
On August 19, 1998 we are in the planning stage for the 1999 Tours. If you are interested in being on the list to receive information, please call the Society Office (215-836-5022).
On July 19, 1998 the Other Magna Charta Web Sites Page was added to the Web Site. This Page provides links to other Web Sites on the Internet which might be of interest to members of the Society. Of particular interest initially are translations of the Magna Charta.
On July 19, 1998 the Magna Charta Barons At Runnymede Home Page was added to the Web Site listing 225 Barons and others present at Runnymede in support of the Charter on June 15, 1215. While the individual pages for each Baron have not yet been completed, this page will eventually provide links to each of the individual pages when they are completed.
As of July 15, 1998, the Lost Members Listing has decreased by 90 and increased by 229. The 229 members who have been added to the list during 1998 are on the Lost Members 1998 Page. You are encouraged to check that page as well as the more comprehensive listing of Lost Members as of 12/31/97.
It may not be too late to sign up for the trip to England and France the end of August, next month. If you might be interested, please check the Travel Page.
The initial message of introduction is as follows:
For those who are not familiar with our Society, we encourage you to visit our pages which include our purposes and membership information (accessed from the Home Page).
If you are not eligible for membership in our Society but are interested in supporting our purposes, please let us know.
To convey what we are doing, we would like to present a concept which has been presented at the last two annual lunches in Washington, DC - a countdown to our Centennial in 2009 - a theme for our future efforts and to focus our present efforts. In 11 years the Society will be 100 years old. The genealogical databases which we are working on today should be complete providing in one database the ancestry of immigrants to America with noble lineage and providing in the other the ancestry of all of our members back to their immigrant ancestor or ancestors. The programs including the educational scholarship program which we are initiating today should be in place providing an opportunity for our members to actively participate. Hopefully we will have a substantial endowment which will provide income for our headquarters and for grants for scholars. We should have produced literature or programs which can be used in schools throughout the country to highlight the role of Magna Charta in the development of our Constitution. We will have continued programs at the National, State, and local levels to provide education and perspective for our members - this is currently being done exceptionally well by our divisions, colonies and chapters. We will have expanded the number of state divisions and chapters so that more of our members will be able to participate. All these accomplishments will take considerable work; we are looking for volunteers and support.
We must use our creativity to chart new courses for our Society. We welcome suggestions.
Future plans for this web site include creating a page for each of the immigrant ancestors with noble lineage.
We hope you will enjoy this site.