PRESENTATION TO MR. WILLIAM COLE. 119
of the formal Address of Thanks, and to meet the various
incidental expenses.
The Dinner was held at the Royal Forest Hotel, Chingford,
Essex, on the 9th December 1905, and was an unqualified
success. It was attended by nearly one hundred subscribers
and their friends (each subscriber having the right to
bring a guest), including the special Guests of the Evening-
Messrs. William Cole, F.L.S., B. G. Cole, and H.
A. Cole, Miss Cole, and Miss Jane Cole. The subscribers
and guests were formally received on their arrival by
Prof. and Mrs. Meldola, Mrs. Howard, and Mr. Miller Christy.
The chair at the dinner was occupied by Prof. R. Meldola,
F.R.S. (first President of the Essex Field Club), and among those
present were Mr. T. F. V. Buxton, J.P. (High Sheriff of Essex),
Mr. David Howard, J.P., D.L., F.I.C, F.C.S., Mr. Miller
Christy, F.L.S. (President of the Essex Field Club), Professor
G. S. Boulger, F.L.S., F.G.S., Mr. P. Gellatly, D.L., J.P.
(Verderer of Epping Forest), Mr. J. E. Harting, F.Z.S., Mr. T.
Vincent Holmes, F.G.S., Mr. E. T. Newton, F.R.S., F.G.S.,
Mr. W. Mark Webb, F.L.S. (Hon. Sec. of the Selborne Society),
Mr. John Spiller, F.C.S., Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S., Mr.
Horace B. Woodward, F.R.S., Dr. J. H. B. Burrage, M.A.
(H.M. Inspector of Secondary Schools and Technical Institutes),
Miss Mary H. Cole, Mr. Bryan Corcoran, Mr. John Avery, Mr.
F. W. Elliott, Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Finzi, Miss K. M. Hall,
F.L.S., the Rev. W. C. Howell, M.A., Mr. W. Ping, F.C.S.,
Mr. G. E. Pritchett, F.S.A., Mr. Frank W. Reader, Mr. Thomas
W. Reader, F.G.S., Mr. J. R. Roberts, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
Royle, Miss Royle, Mr. Matthew Rose, Mr. J. C. Shenstone,
Mr. G.E. Vaughan, Mr. Joseph Wilson, and Mr. J. M. Wood.
Several others who were expected telegraphed at the last moment
expressing regret at their inability to be present. These
included Mr. A. E. Briscoe, Mr. J. Byford, jun. (late Mayor
of West Ham), Mr. H. I. Coburn (Hon. Solicitor to the Club),
and Mr. I. Chalkley Gould.
When the time arrived for speeches,
The Chairman said: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have met together on this
occasion in circumstances of peculiar interest. It is a notable thing in the
history of any Society to be enabled to celebrate its half-jubilee. The Essex
Field Club has completed twenty-five years of active work, but the interest of
this gathering centres chiefly in the fact that what the Club has been