Meetings Programme

Venue: St Mary's Bathwick Church Hall 07:30 PM

Speaker: Peter Davenport

Venue: St Mary's Bathwick Church Hall 07:30 PM

Speaker: Drew Westerman

Synopsis: A Potted History of the Bath City Waterworks: As seen through the Bath City Waterworks records held at the Bath Record Office. From 2018-2020 the Bath Record Office, with funding from the Wellcome Trust, catalogued historic records relating to the Bath City Waterworks, dating from 1772-1974. Nearly 3700 items were sorted, identified and listed, with the resulting catalogue of waterworks records being made available publicly for the first time. This talk will provide a potted history of the Waterworks as revealed by the records, or as much of one as time allows, with examples of the many varied and fascinating documents that can be found therein.

Venue: St Mary's Bathwick Church Hall 07:30 PM

Speaker: Richard Williams

Synopsis: Following on from Oldfield Park and continuing the study of Bath's industrial suburbs in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The westerly expansion of Bath north of the river saw the development of Lower Weston, Locksbrook and Newbridge. This talk looks at the development of this suburb, some of the industries that supported its growth, and the occupations of the people who lived in the new housing.

Venue: St Mary's Bathwick Church Hall 07:30 PM

Speaker: Paul Hyland

Synopsis: Claver Morris is probably best known for the house that he built (for £807) in the Liberty at Wells, in 1702. By then, he was already one of the most eminent physicians in Somerset, travelling throughout the county to treat the families of the gentry in their homes and on their trips to Bath. We can learn about his patients (rich and poor) and Claver’s medical practices from the meticulous daily accounts and diaries that he kept over a period of forty years. These manuscripts (containing half a million words, and a cast of thousands) reveal a man of many talents: hugely knowledgeable and immensely enterprising, sociable and loving towards family and friends. They also reveal much about his troubles and intrigues, and his engagement with the political and religious turmoils that beset the West Country and the nation at the turn of the eighteenth century. Queries about the contents of the diaries (e.g., of names and places) will be welcome.

Venue: St Mary's Bathwick Church Hall 07:30 PM

Speaker: Dr Giles Mercer

Synopsis: Dr Giles Mercer is a former history teacher and headmaster of Stonyhurst College and Prior Park College. He is a Cambridge history graduate, gaining a doctorate in Italian history at Oxford. He is the author of books and articles on the Italian Renaissance and on church history. In 2002 he was awarded a papal knighthood for services to Catholic education and ecumenism. He and his wife live in Bath and he is a parishioner of St Alphege Church. His interest in Alphege developed in the millennial anniversary of the saint’s death in 2012. He regards Alphege as Bath’s greatest son.

Venue: Recorded Talk with Bruce Land in Australia

Speaker: Bruce Land

Synopsis: Bruce lives in Australia and this meeting will be held at St Mary's Church Hall, Bath, a recording of his talk will be shown at the meeting.

Recording of Meeting: View or Download Recording

Venue: The Old Rectory, Newton Park 6:00pm

Speaker: Nick Mould

Synopsis: Meet at the car park, The Old Rectory at the top of the hill on entering the village. Now the Duchy office - see the map link below.

Venue: Main Gate of the Holburne Museum 06:00 PM

Speaker: Kirsten Elliot