112
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
THE REPORT OF THE COUNCIL,
Presented to The Annual Meeting on April ist, 1933.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your Council begs to present its customary Report on the progress
of the Club's activities during the past year.
Indoor and field-meetings have been held in various parts of the
County and have been well attended. The thanks of the Club are due to
Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Ruggles-Brise, of Finchingfield, Mr. W. S. Gilles, of
Bocking, and Canon and Mrs. Owen, of Bradwell-juxta-Mare, for hospita-
lity shown on field-excursions, and to the Misses Greaves and Prince,
Mr. A. Hills, Mr. J. Salmon, Mr. L. S. Harley and other of our members
who acted as conductors on various occasions.
An outstanding event of the year is the generous donation by Mr. and
Mrs. Scourfield of One Hundred Pounds, and also one by Miss G. Lister of
£25, for the purpose of establishing a Special Fund to enable the Club
to undertake work in connection with "the prehistory and natural history
"of Essex, or any special publications connected with the Club and its
"Museums." The Club owes a deep debt of gratitude to the donors for
this magnificent token of their interest in it and its work: your Council
hopes that other members may be inspired by this example to contribute
to the Special Fund. A committee has been formed to administer this
fund to the best advantage, as opportunities for special research arise, and
it is proposed, as a commencement, to undertake further excavations during
the coming summer at the prehistoric camp in Epping Forest, known as
Ambresbury Banks, with a view to determining its date more exactly;
permission to carry out this research has been applied for, and has been
granted by the Epping Forest Committee of the City Corporation.
The Club's Museum at Chingford has been closed to the public through-
out practically the whole year, during extensive reconstruction of Queen
Elizabeth's Lodge. The restoration of the building is now, however, com-
pleted and the Museum is again thrown open for public inspection. It
is satisfactory that very little damage to the Club's property has resulted
from the confusion inherent to rebuilding operations, but a considerable
amount of re-arrangement has been rendered necessary. Mrs. Vera
Smith has been compelled to resign her assistant curatorship at the Forest
Museum on her removal to Worcestershire and the Council have appointed
Mr. Joseph Ross to the position.
In response to an application from the Borough of Walthamstow
authorities, your Council granted a loan for a period of a year of certain
specimens belonging to the Forest Museum, which now form part of a
special temporary exhibition in the Walthamstow Museum. Some
of our members recently visited this museum by invitation of the curator
and inspected the exhibits there.
Two parts of the Essex Naturalist have been published during the
year and the twenty-third volume is now completed.
The work of the Stratford Museum has progressed steadily. In addi-
tion to the numerous educational visits of parties of schoolchildren accom-
panied by their teachers, special visits to the Museum have been paid
by the Botanical Section of the London Natural History Society and
by the Woolwich Antiquarian Society.