Whether your interest in history is personal, academic, or just a more general desire to find out how our forefathers lived, the Linton and District History Society offers a friendly welcome and helpful advice.
We meet on the first Wednesday of every month except January, 7 for 7:30 p.m., in Linton Village Hall. Tea and coffee are available at the start of the meeting. Annual membership is £20, and speaker meetings are free to members. Visitors are always welcome, and pay £5 per meeting.
Our programmes aim to cover local, national and international history – there is something for all interests, and we welcome suggestions for topics.
For all enquiries, contact our Chairman, Ernst Zillekens, ldhschair@gmail.com in the first instance.
Our next meeting is on 7th August when we will learn about Sir Isaac Newton, who was not just the eminent scientist we remember from the £1 note of yesteryear. Chris Lathan says : “The academic community portrayed Newton as a mathematical genius and father of the modern scientific method. Then in 1937 his reputation took a downward turn with people judging him from a 20th century perspective thinking him weird, strange and as one book called him : genius , bonkers and British.
The first half of this talk discusses this and the second half covers his life after academia, becoming an MP, Master of the Royal Mint, saving the country’s currency and becoming a world famous elder statesman even influencing the US constitution.”
Programme
2024
| 7th August | Chris Lathan | Isaac Newton – Scientist, Theologian, Magician and Crime Fighter? |
| 4th September | Heather Hurley | Green Lanes |
| 2nd October | Ray Wilson | The Industrial Heritage of the Forest of Dean |
| 6th November: Founders’ Lecture 2024 | Philip Bowen | The Decline of the Aristocracy and the Country House |
| 4th December | Gillian White | The Hugely Huggable History of the Teddy Bear |
| 2025 | ||
| 5th February | Andy Moir | Dendrochronology and dating of timber-framed buildings in Herefordshire |
| 5th March | Chairman’s Lecture : Ernst Zillekens | Bess of Hardwicke |
| 2nd April | AGM |
Review of our July meeting
Local author John Powell gave a most interesting insight into the origins of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, both nationally and in particular in Ross. Quakers were often persecuted because of their adamant refusal to pay tithes and other church-related taxes, but being non-violent were not seen by national government as the problem that other non-conformist groups were causing in society. As John said, other than a refusal to pay certain taxes, there was no law against being awkward!
The meeting house in Ross was originally founded in the wake of the Restoration of Charles II, and prominent Ross Quakers were instrumental in making the enforcement of the Poor Laws more humane and generous. More recently there was a scheme to help those who had suffered as a result of their refusal to fight in the Great War, and the theme of fighting social injustice has continued, with a member of the meeting house who worked for some years in Gaza, and secured the release of a man unjustly accused of a capital crime.
Queen Elizabeth I once said “There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith. All else is a dispute over trifles.” John quoted this, and reminded us that Quakers are determinedly non-judgemental. All are welcome.
Family history
We have transferred the main part of our Archive to the Herefordshire Archive and Record Centre, which is also the main port of call for those researching family history. Some of our parish records can be accessed via this link
Articles of interest
Society members write a weekly column for the Ross Gazette, and we are lucky that these are regularly published. If you would like to submit an article, please contact our Secretary.
Committee members :
Ernst Zillekens (Chairman)
Teresa Squires (Secretary)
Roger Davies (Treasurer)
Valerie Boxley (Outings Secretary) 01452 831374
Pamela Bruce
John Foley