With a fresh start for 2022, we re-commence monthly meetings but, as we still need to keep our guard up against Covid 19 infection, we will hold our meeting at the Imperial Hotel on Tuesday, 15 February at 5.30pm, where there is space for social distancing and the opportunity to stay on for a meal and socialise. Appropriately, our speaker Graham Wilson OAM will talk on The History of the Imperial Hotel. Please feel free to invite visitors who may be interested in attending.

Click on the link below for the February newsletter:

A message from President Judy Grieve:

ADHS Committee members have considered it necessary to delay opening
Dumaresq Chambers until the end of January.  The current rates of
infection are too high to risk possible exposure to the virus (27 new
cases in Armidale in last 24hours) and identification of positive
results from personal Rapid Antigen Tests will not necessarily be
publicly reported. Added to this, we  are not being  informed with the
same depth of information as was formerly available. Time to avoid
whatever risk situations we can.  

Following on from that dismal note- Happy, Healthy New Year!

If anyone needs information from the Centre, a number of volunteers have
keys and we could access information from the Chambers for you ( phone
me  on  67751205 or 0431223701).

Hope that the coast is clear for our first meeting on Tuesday 18th
February which is scheduled for 5.30pm at the Imperial Hotel.

Best wishes

Judith Grieve, ADHS President

This year we have organised a November meeting which will be the final meeting for 2001. We have a particularly interesting speaker, Terry Brockhall, who will speak of his experiences as a Japanese Prisoner of War in Java in World War Two.

We will meet at 5.30pm at the Imperial Hotel, cnr Beardy and Faulkner Streets on Tuesday, 16th November with the opportunity to socialise over a meal after the talk if desired.

Journal 64 will be available on the night of the meeting (for 2019/2020 financial members)
and thereafter Journals will be available at Dumaresq Chambers.

Annual Excursion Saturday, 13th November: The bus will leave the Visitors’ Centre at
8.30am on Saturday, 13th November for the excursion to Walcha. For more details dowmload the newsletter. please note! The account details in the newsletter for direct deposit for the excursion fee are incorrect! The correct details are: Regional Australia Bank, Armidale and District Historical Society Inc BSB 932000   Account no. 635782 Please add your name.

The next Society meeting will be on Tuesday 19th October at 5.30pm at the Imperial Hotel, as
Covid 19 restrictions require 4 metres per person. Please note that vaccination proof and masks are necessary.

The speaker will be Peter Hoare who will present The Story of St Mary’s in West Armidale.
West of Jessie Street, Armidale developed as a separate ‘suburb’, with its own local Council
representation. Peter will describe how West Armidale developed with its own character,
community and self-sufficiency with industries, pubs, school and church.

The October newsletter has news of the November meeting and excursion, and notes the passing of two members. You can download it by clicking on the link below:

With the end of the current lockdown, it is now possible for us to hold a September
meeting. However, with the 4 square metre rule, we need to hold it in larger premises and
the meeting will be held on Tuesday, 21 September at 5.30pm at the Imperial Hotel where
the Covid conditions can be met and members may wish to have a meal after the meeting.
The Annual General meeting will held, followed by a General meeting at which former
Duval High School teacher and Principal, Alice Cairns will give a talk of her Recollections
of Duval High School.

Covid 19: Should there be any change in Covid 19 regulations that would affect the meeting
on 21st September it may be necessary to postpone the meeting, but at this stage that seems
unlikely. Dumaresq Chambers will reopen on Monday, 20th September and volunteers and
visitors will be back in business. We look forward to our masked community coming back
to the centre where we have exhibitions on the theme of West Armidale.

The August and September newsletters can be downloaded by clicking on the links below:

The next meeting of the Society will be held at 5.30pm on Tuesday, 20th July.
The speaker will be Rose Lovelock, Director of the Armidale Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place, where the meeting will be held. The title of the talk will be -‘Getting to know the Armidale Aboriginal Keeping Place and its Director.’

The Keeping Place is at 96-104 Kentucky Street and is beautifully set up as a Museum, Art
Gallery and display centre and where we can comply with the 4 square metres per person
rule. Masks will need to be worn.

I apologise for not uploading the June newsletter and meeting information -see below links for the June and July newsletters:

A reminder also that membership renewals are now due:

The monthly meeting on Tuesday, 20th April will be held at 5.30pm at Dumaresq
Chambers. This will be the first meeting for over a year that we have been able to
hold in our own premises.

Jim Swales will talk on his extensive collection of fundraising badges which provides a unique history of organisations which have supported a variety of causes over the years: Wartime and Fund-Raising Badges of Australia.

Badges are now rarely sold and we have lost another tangible aspect of history.

The April newsletter is now available:

The next meeting of the Society will be held on Tuesday, 16th March 2021 at 5.30pm.
It will be held at the Dangarsleigh Hall, just over 8kms along the Dangarsleigh
Road. The speaker will be Sue Tanner, who has researched and prepared a talk on
‘A Mystery Bushranger’ the New England, which will be a fascinating insight into
the bushranging days and one of the wily men involved.

The March newsletter is now been available. Click on he link below to download:

A Happy New Year and may it be an improvement on the last! As we need to be Covid19 compliant, we are unable to have our meetings at Dumaresq Chambers.

The February meeting will be held the New England Art Museum (NERAM) at 5.30pm on Tuesday, 16th February with Margaret Bain’s talk, Hinton and Friends: The Beginning of Life-long Friendships. This talk is based on the recently found diaries written by Howard Hinton which provide a fascinating insight into life around the turn of the 19th century.

The February newsletter is now available:with a report of October’s AGM, and the November excursion, and other news and snippets of history.

Unfortunately we’re still not able to meet due to COVID-19 restrictions, but our research rooms are open with safety procedures in place. And here’s the September newsletter, to keep you up-to-date with news and snippets.