72
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
be taken from Chelmsford to London. It would be a very great pity if an attempt
were made to do this ; it would be the first step towards making Essex a mere
appanage of the great metropolis. What could be better than to have a museum
built in the county town by the Field Club, where a room or rooms could be
provided for the county records ? Now that County Councils were the order of
the day he believed that a county record office would be a very suitable portion
of the county museum. Into this all Essex historical and genealogical manuscripts
should be gathered, and they should be under proper control and open for in-
spection under the conditions obtaining in the British Museum and the Rolls Office.
Mr. Fitch read an extract from the 'Antiquary' for January fast, stating that under
the New District Councils Bill, County Councils would probably have to provide
county museums and libraries. He suggested that this probability should spur
them on to amalgamate with Chelmsford and form a county museum, and so
secure the support of the County Council in the event of the duty being cast upon
the county authority of providing a museum, so likely to happen as soon as we
had a newly-elected parliament.
Mr. Fitch next dealt with the subject of Technical Instruction in Essex and
the part that the Club had taken in it. He said he much regretted that the well-
thought-out scheme which was so heartily approved at the last Annual Meeting
was not adopted by the County Council Committee. In its place they appointed
a Committee consisting of six members of the Technical Instruction Committee
and six members nominated by the Club, who were known as the Organising Joint
Committee. This authority had done much in arranging for and providing
higher education in various parts of the county. Mr. Fitch gave the details of
the classes and lectures that had been held in forty-seven centres under the
auspices of this Joint Committee, with Mr. William Cole as Secretary. A con-
siderable amount of scientific apparatus had been purchased (costing upwards of
£400), for the selection of which technical knowledge was indispensable, and
the county had profited much by the gratuitous advice rendered by members of
this Club. The experience of this Committee had shown that there was a
distinct desire in many localities for this teaching to be continued and further
developed, and from the reports of the lecturers really valuable results that
must contribute much to the intellectual and social improvement of the inhabit-
ants of this great county had already been obtained. He then demonstrated how
seldom it was that Joint Committees were satisfactory, and various causes had
made it evident that such was the case here ; in future, six members of the
Club would be added to the Technical Instruction Committee, and there was
every probability that the good work already begun would continue to grow, as
was most desirable, and the Club would be recognised through its representatives.
Proceeding, Mr. Fitch said that if anything could be done to raise the status
of Essex he believed it would be by the finding of coal in the county. He
was not a geologist, but from what he had gathered he believed that there
was every prospect of finding coal in their own county. If their Club had not
been burdened by other schemes, he would have proposed that the Club
continue the boring at Wickham Bishops, on land belonging to the county,
another 200 feet, because if coal was there it would be found at a depth of about
1,000 feet below sea level. They had good reason to believe a seam extended
across the county, and Wickham was well within the limits of the seam. He
believed the work could be done for some £200 or £300—it would not exceed
£500—and if, with the permission of the County Council, they undertook the
work and were successful, the success of the Essex Field Club would be assured
for all time. Ere long he might bring the matter again before the Club. Its
importance to the future wealth and progress of the county, should coal be discovered
in seams of workable thickness, could scarcely be over-estimated. Experimental
or trial borings, under good scientific advice, should certainly be made in Essex,
considering the results that have lately been arrived at near Dover. If coal existed
under Essex, it was not at a depth prohibitive of its being successfully worked. In
conclusion, Mr. Fitch thanked the members for their support during the four
years he had been President, and bore testimony to the qualifications of Dr.
Laver for the office. [Applause.]