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2024 PROGRAMME
2024, January 3rd
John Sell Cotman’s tours of Yorkshire
Véronique Gerard Powell
A member of the Picturesque movement, which transformed the painting of landscapes between the late 18th and early 19th centuries, John Sell Cotman (1782 -1842) is best known for the technical boldness of his watercolour Greta Bridge (The British Museum), painted during his 1805 tour of Yorkshire. The purpose of this talk will be to study his extraordinary technique through some of his not so well-known other works, among them a view of Richmond that he painted during his two tours of Yorkshire - in 1803 and 1805.
2024, February 7th
Lady Isobel Chaytor from Croft-on-Tees: pioneer aviatrix
Georgie Sale
Isobel Chaytor was the daughter of a Darlington baker. Born in 1890, she married the son who was third in line to the Chaytor family title and fortune. When both elder sons subsequently died, Isobel became Lady Chaytor and her life became a whorl of parties, fashion and glamour between Witton Castle, California and London. Then, aged 42, she met a much younger man, who had held a pilot’s licence for just four months. Together, they decided to fly in an open-topped Gypsy Moth to Australia. Amazingly, with only AA road maps to guide them, they succeeded! Sadly, she was to spend her latter years in a hotel annexe on Madeira, with nobody except the hotel manager attending her funeral in 1968. She rests there in an unmarked grave.
2024, March 6th
John Carr: (1723- 1807) Architect of the Georgian North
Dr Peter Collinge FRHistS – Visiting Research Fellow, Keele University
John Carr was the most important Georgian architect in the north of England. Born in 1723, Carr's business was based in York. He was the designer and builder of an astonishing array of structures, including racecourse grandstands, stables, bridges, assembly rooms, asylums, country houses and prisons. The talk will explore some of Carr's most important commissions, alongside his health and his politics.
2024, April 3rd
Henge Monuments of Yorkshire in the light of recent research
Dr Alex Gibson
With the Thornborough Henges now being taken into public ownership, and with recent research and excavation in Wharfedale, this talk will be a journey from Scotland to Wessex and will look at new dating evidence, recent excavations, the reinterpretation of antiquarian records and to what extent the Yorkshire henges fit the emerging national trends.
2024, April 18th
Trip: Ripon Museums
Society Trip
Ripon Police and Prison Museum and the Workhouse Museum.
2024, May 1st
Incorrigible rogues with muddy paws: how animals changed the Victorian home
Professor Julie-Marie Strange – Durham University
While many Victorians agreed that pet cats, dogs, squirrels, rabbits and mice were part of the family, the boundaries of acceptable animal behaviour were constantly being renegotiated. Generally, animals had little regard for human rules and regulations: what did they care for respectability? This talk dives into pet keeping in the Victorian period to chart the chaos, joy and frustrations of inviting animals to share the home.
2024, June 5th
Women as capital lenders in 19th century Yorkshire: Evidence from the Registers of Deeds
Dr Joan Heggie - Visiting Research Fellow, King's College London
Dr Heggie’s research has used the Yorkshire Deeds Registers to examine women’s roles within mortgage transactions across all three Ridings for the period 1885-1889. Mortgages for the towns of Middlesbrough, Scarborough, Halifax and Hull have been examined in depth and this presentation will demonstrate how this resource helps to identify the broad range of participants and the similarities or differences of individual investment strategies.
2024, July 18th
Trip: Newby Hall House and Gardens
Society Trip
A visit to the historic Newby Hall house and its award-winning gardens.
2024, September 4th
Thomas White (c. 1736-1811): Redesigning the northern British landscape
Louise Wickham – author of Gardens in History and Thomas White
Thomas White was a noted landscape designer who worked on at least 77 sites across northern Britain, often at the same time as John Carr. This lecture will look at his 40-year career, starting with his apprenticeship for Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and his decision to become an independent designer in 1765. It will focus on sites that are in North Yorkshire and County Durham, such as Sedbury Hall, Raby Castle and Mulgrave Castle. These will serve as illustrations as to how he ran his business and the types of landscapes he created.
2024, October 2nd
The History and Development of Swinton Park
Felicity Cunliffe-Lister
Swinton Park near Masham, owned by the Cunliffe-Lister family, has a long history. Started in 1685, rebuilt by John Carr in the 1760s and, more recently, occupied for 20 years by an Educational Trust, the Castle was bought back by the family in 2000. Surrounded by 200 acres of parkland and five lakes, it has been successfully developed into a luxury 42-bed hotel. Felicity Cunliffe-Lister will take us through its history and the more recent developments.
2024, November 6th
The Royal Horticultural Society at Harlow Carr
Paul Cook – Harlow Carr Curator
Paul moved to Harlow Carr as Curator in 2013. He will begin his talk by introducing the RHS and its role as an educational charity and then look at how Harlow Carr developed under the Northern Horticultural Society before it merged with the RHS in 2001. He will also explain the development plans and future direction for the gardens and the wider aims of the RHS.