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: JUNE 24, 2005
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/enews62005.htm The link to the Website is: http://www.magnacharta.org.
This Electronic Newsletter features information about text and video from our April 2005 dinner including video of Mr. Tim Guy, DiplAD FCSD FRSA who was our speaker this year. Also included are the Remarks by Chancellor Neilson.
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 ***
***Caroline Reed Molthan Wurts - August 1, 1923 - April 20, 2005
***DC Reception and Dinner - April 16, 2005 - Text and Video
***Philadelphia Luncheon - April 15, 2005
***Chancellor's Remarks April 16, 2005 - Text
***Continuing Information Available From the Internet - Book of Interest
***Report on the New York City Plans
***Participation in State Divisions
***At Lincoln -
Magna Carta/USA Week June 10, 2005 – June 15, 2005
***Tour Program - 2006 - Future Planning
***Washington DC Reception and Dinner - April 15, 2006
Greetings - Please send new email addresses
Thank you
Potential Members
Contributions
OUR E-MAIL LIST
Death of Mrs. Caroline Reed Molthan Wurts - August 1, 1923 - April 20, 2005
It is with sadness that I announce the death, on Wednesday April 20, 2005, of my mother, Caroline Reed Molthan Wurts, Registrar of the National Society Magna Charta Dames and Barons. She encouraged my interest in genealogy and was responsible for inspiring my involvement with our Society.
Washington DC Dinner - April 16, 2005
Our Washington Dinner this year was a great success, highlighted by an outstanding speech by Mr. Tim Guy, DiplAD FCSD FRSA. He is a Director of ABG and founder of Timothy Guy Design. A multi-disciplinary designer, he has taken a lead in the upcoming tour of the Lincoln Magna Charta to the United States in 2007. In 2001 he was invited by Historic Royal Palaces to develop a visitor management and signage communications strategy for the Historic Royal Palaces, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Kew Palace and the Banqueting House Whitehall. His perspective in interpreting history provided valuable perspective for our efforts to do so for the Magna Charta. Attending the reception and dinner, members and guests of the National Society Magna Charta Dames and Barons came from throughout the United States. I am pleased to inform you that I have included the text of his speech on the Website. I am pleased to also inform you that you can watch the speech as streaming video.
We have added 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. The link for the page is: http://www.magnacharta.org/2005DCDinner/DCDinner2005.htm
Philadelphia Luncheon - April 15, 2005
The luncheon was very successful with Honorary British Counsel Oliver Franklin OBE and other guests attending from New York City and Reno, Nevada. The luncheon provided an opportunity to discuss venue opportunities for the Tour of the Magna Charta in 2007 in addition to Virginia Beach.
Chancellor's Remarks 2005
We have included on our website the text of remarks by Lewis L. Neilson, Jr., Chancellor, at the dinner held in Washington DC in April, 2005.
Continuing Information Available From the Internet - Books of Interest
We are pleased to feature a link with a publication from the Online Library of the Liberty Fund, Inc. They have an excellent and informative selection on the Magna Charta and I encourage viewing it. The specific selection is: Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John, with an Historical Introduction , by William Sharp McKechnie (Glasgow: Maclehose, 1914). the html version is: http://oll.libertyfund.org/Texts/McKechnie0323/0032_Bk.html (approx 1.4MB). The introductory page can be found by copying and pasting the following into your browser: http://oll.libertyfund.org/Intros/MagnaCarta.php For some reason that page will not link.
Report on the New York City Plans
The New York Division of our Society is planning an event later this year. If you would like to be on the list for the event please let me know and I will forward your name to Dr. Lucas, Regent, and Mr. Hilliard, Vice-Regent.
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.
At Lincoln - Magna Carta/USA Week June 10, 2005 – June 15, 2005
The first Magna Carta Week was held June 10 to June 15, 2005 in Lincoln, U.K. Highlights of the week included a talk by Timothy Guy and John Brockliss (partners – ABG) - “Authors of liberty, the possible tour of Lincoln’s Magna Carta to the USA in 2007 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of settlement” and also talk by Sir Robert Worcester, a member of the Magna Carta Trust and Chairman of MORI, on “The Magna Carta: Its relevance today” . The program also included drama, tours and lectures. As quoted in the website of Lincoln Cathedral, The Very Revd Alec Knight, Dean of Lincoln, noted that he is pleased with this development. “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
Future Tour Planning 2006
We have been contacted by several members who would like to participate in an Educational Tour in June, 2006, We have presented some outstanding tours for the past several years which have been prepared by excellent travel professionals. We plan to continue to do so. Let us know if you might be interested for our planning purposes.
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.
Washington DC Dinner - April 15, 2006 - We provide the date so that you can plan ahead.
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/enews62005.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