Members' Noticeboard

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A brief summary of the Brontë Society’s 130th Annual General Meeting

held on Saturday 4 October, 2025 @ 3.00pm

St James Church, Thornton and online

Helen Meller, as Vice Chair, opened the meeting and welcomed both those members in attendance at St James including my fellow trustee Shahidha Bari, who has served as a trustee for the last four years, Clare O’Callaghan, Editor of Brontë Studies and other invited guests, including Chris Beaumont from our auditors Clive Owen. Also in attendance were members of the senior leadership team as well as a number of supporting museum staff.

Apologies were noted from the President Dame Judy Dench, Stephen May our Relationship Manager with Arts Council England, Isobel Stirk, Laura Potts, Elaine Simpson, Catherine Rayner, Akiko Higuchi, Patricia Goodwin, and Erin Adams, as well as trustees Lauren Watson and Ciara Gallgher.

Membership currently stands at 1682 and the meeting was quorate with 100 members having registered to attend and 272 members have participated by voting. This equates to a turnout of 16.7% which is in line with last year’s turnout of 17.5%.

In regards to the voting for the returning trustee candidates it can be confirmed that both candidates received more votes in favour than against. So, congratulations go to Lucy Powrie and Andy Midgley on their reappointment for a further term as trustees on the Brontë Society Board.

Thanks were extended to outgoing trustees, Shahidha Bari for her hard work and commitment serving as a trustee for the last four years, and also to Julian Sladdin for his commitment to the Board since 2021. Julian has unfortunately had to step down as a trustee very recently.

Following her re-election, Lucy Powrie took the Chair of the meeting and announced the result of the general resolution to accept the minutes of the previous meeting – there were 248 votes cast in favour of accepting the minutes with 24 abstentions. Therefore, the Minutes of the 2024 AGM minutes were formally accepted.

Andrew Midgley, as Chair of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee, presented and spoke to the Society’s annual accounts, ending 31 March, 2025, and was also answered a number of AOB questions that had been raised.

In regards to voting for the general resolution to re-appoint Clive Owen LLP as the Society’s auditors, it was advised that 248 people had voted in favour with 21 abstentions and 3 against. So, the general resolution to reappointment Clive Owen LLP was passed.

There were several items of ‘any other business’ submitted and the discussion, of these items, will be formally recorded in the full version of the minutes.

Following the conclusion of the informal Q&A session the meeting closed at 4pm

As a valued member of Brontë Societyyou are entitled to a 30% discount on all full price Routledge and CRC Press books.

To access your exclusive discount, simply visit this page of our website, scroll to the bottom, and click on the button to be taken directly to the Routledge website. Your unique, one-time use discount code will be automatically carried through to checkout.

Each time you would like to make a purchase, just return to the page and click the button again to generate a new code.

Member Request: Memories of Daisy McElhannan

We are searching for Brontë Society members who may have fond memories of Daisy McElhannan, who sadly passed away aged 98 in 2014. Daisy's niece, Rosann, is currently researching her family history, and remembers recieving letters from her Great Aunt Daisy about her outings with the Brontë Society.

If you have any memories, stories, or photographs you'd be able to share please get in touch with Rosann McElhannan Holt by email at [email protected]. Or if you'd prefer, please get in touch with Hayley Pink, Marketing and Development Officer, at [email protected] who will pass on your memories to Rosann.

The Brontë Society's New Marketing and Development Officer

The Brontë Society is very pleased to introduce members to Hayley Pink, who is now overseeing Brontë Society membership and the Members’ Area of our website as our Marketing and Development Officer. Hayley is excited to be a part of the Brontë Society, and is looking forward to getting to know the members!

Members' shop discount

As we have a new shop website, the special members' discount code has changed. It's now:

Member10

Enter this at the online checkout for 10% off your purchase!