THE CLUB AND ITS WORK.
13
considerable stress and difficulty. In 1901, Mr. Howard took office
and the Club still has the benefit of his services.
As Auditors, Mr. Walter Crouch, F.Z.S., and Mr. John D. Cooper
have for many years given the Club the benefit of their experience.
The principal Secretaryship has been held continuously by Mr. W.
Cole from the beginning. In 1882, Mr. B. G. Cole was appointed
Assistant Hon. Secretary, and has held the office, also from year to
year, to the present time. On the 9th December 1905, a Complimentary
Dinner was given to Mr. William Cole, his brothers, Messrs. B. G. and
H. A. Cole, and his sisters, Miss Cole and Miss Jane E. Cole, at the
Royal Forest Hotel, Chingford, by 168 ladies and gentlemen, most of
them members of the Club. At this Dinner, Mr. William Cole was
presented with a Purse of one hundred and ten guineas and a formal
Address of Thanks for his public work in the cause of natural science, as
Secretary of the Club and Editor of its publications for over a quarter of
a century, and in other ways.
The first Librarian was the late Mr. W. J. Argent. To him suc-
ceeded Mr. Alfred Lockyer, who laid the foundation of the library and
worked most earnestly and skilfully in settling the plan of the library
and in establishing the present exchange system with other societies,
beside greatly assisting the Secretary in editing the earlier publications
of the Club. In 1886, Mr. P. F. Copland took the office, being joined
a year later by Dr. E. A. Snell and Mr. A. P. Wire. In 1888, Mr.
Wire became sole Librarian, and at once paid great attention to cata-
loguing the books and pamphlets, the present manuscript list of books
being mainly his work. On removal of the library to Chelmsford in
1893, Mr. Wire was joined by the late Mr. Edmund Durrant. In
1894, Mr. E. A. Simons assisted Mr. Durrant, and on his and Mr.
Wire's resignation, in 1895, Mr. W. C. Waller joined in the work.
On Mr. Durrant's death in 1899, Mr. Lockyer became a coadjutor
with Mr. Waller, both resigning in 1901. Mr. Waller's services in
cataloguing the Barclay manuscripts at the Forest Museum will
be remembered by all taking an interest in our collections. The post
of Librarian was unfortunately vacant for some time, but is now filled
most efficiently by Mr. Thomas W. Reader, F.G.S.
As Hon. Counsel, the Club has had the benefit of the high pro-
fessional skill of the late Mr. Charles Browne, M.A., and now of Mr.
W. C. Dare, B.A.
In the office of Hon. Solicitor, the Club found a valued helper in
the late Mr. Howard Vaughan, as now in Mr. Henry I. Coburn.
These gentlemen gave their professional services most generously in
the negotiations which led to the Agreement with the Corporation of
West Ham, and have greatly assisted the Council in other ways.
(III.)—WHAT IT WISHES TO DO.
It will be clear from the foregoing narrative of work already
accomplished that the Essex Field Club will continue to find, in the
future, abundant scope for its energies, if only in carrying on its
every-day routine work, already well in hand—namely, the holding
of Ordinary (Scientific) and Field Meetings, the organising and
perfecting of its two Museums, the arranging and cataloguing of
its Library, and the printing of its various Publications. There are,
however, other objects, of more exceptional kind, which the Club
ought to pursue as opportunity offers.
The Council of the Club desires, therefore, to make the follow-