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History of the Society
Humble Beginnings
Formed in 1955, Guildford Astronomical Society was originally the Guildford Branch of the Junior Astronomical Society, (JAS) as recorded in the surviving record book, which is preserved for posterity and reference as a record of our beginnings. Inside the front cover of the book, in fading ink, the first entry says, "Nov,1955. 7 Vicarage Gate - Guildford. Mr Noon inaugurates Guildford J.A.S.".
In these early days the meeting were held in the homes of the various founder members. One of these early members, Mrs Dorothy Clapson, has been of great assistance in the recording of the Society's history. In December 1955, Mr Leslie Ball, the famous pioneer lunar cartographer, astronomer, astronomical artist and resident of Guildford gave a talk to the Guildford JAS, on the subject of the Moon. This must have been a success, for the next meeting was held at Warwick bench in February 1956, was again given by Leslie on the same subject and indeed it transpires that this was a 2-part talk. Other speakers to the society appear in the inside the front cover of the early record book and are as follows:
- June 1956 Tangley Cottage, Wonersh - Mr Thorne talks on a Caxton Hall visit and telescopic observation.
- October 1956 Warwick Bench, Guildford - Mr Cowburn talks on aspects of astronomy.
- December 1956 7 Vicarage Gate, Guildford (CANCELLED)
- February 1957 Derry Dale,Clandon - Mr Noon talks on forthcoming events in the night sky.
- April 1957 Tangley Cottage, Wonersh - Mr Patrick Moore gives an illustrated talk on the planets.
At the bottom of the inside front cover is the following comment, "2 trips to Mr Noons observatory at Oxshott also took place 1956-57".
In 1957, the first minutes from a meeting of the Guildford JAS were recorded in the same book.
"A general meeting of the Junior Astronomical Society, Guildford Branch was held on Tuesday May 7th 1957 at Mr and Mrs Maloy's house, W. Clandon. Seven members were present. There was a great deal of business on the agenda - the appointment of officers for the succeeding year and problems involved in the administration, charities and future policy of the Society. Mrs Maloy resigned form her office as co-Secretary due to pressure of other activities. Mrs Gregson the former co-Secretary was re-elected. Miss K Harding was elected Treasurer. It was decided that members pay an annual subscription due in May of 5 shillings to cover postage, possible expenses incurred in inviting visiting speakers and to form a residual fund for any other expenses that might crop up. Members also discussed the suggestion made by Patrick Moore when he visited the Guildford group on April at Wonersh, that the group could expand and invite the interested school age children to join meetings. This was thought to be impractical on a large scale, mainly owing to the habitual time and place of meetings which are held in the late evening at private houses. However it was hoped to stimulate interest in the young by probably arranging a big daytime meeting with a guest speaker, later in the autumn, possibly in collaboration with the Guide and Scout organisations. Finally members discussed the possibility of tackling rather more study and developing set topics arranged amongst themselves. It was hoped that this would lead to more frequent meetings at about 6 week intervals, and thus reduce the difficulties involved in endeavouring to ask an outside speaker to every meeting. After delicious coffee and cakes had been provided by Mrs Maloy it was agreed that the next meeting should take place on Tuesday June 18th and that the evenings topic should be the Moon.
M.Gregson"
...and so the first minutes ever recorded of Guildford Branch of the Junior Astronomical Society were written.
The first meeting in a venue of another type was held at the Red Cross House in Jenner Road. This venue was used on several occasions when an 'open meeting' was held for members and their friends. In addition to the Red Cross House, another venue was introduced for the May 6th 1969 meeting, this being the Lantern Cafe in Quarry Street. The reason given as being 'due to a shortage of accomodation'.
The following meeting on October 7th was held at Fairlands Community Centre. It was announced at the meeting on January 14th 1970, that the meetings for the nest three months be held at the Lantern Restaurant, at a charge of 5 shillings per head for refreshments. In the event, the next 7 meetings were held there, the last being on Tuesday October 1970. From there the meetings moved to the Corona Cafe in the High Street.
At the AGM on June 3rd 1975 it was decided to move the monthly meetings to the Brew House, at the back of the Library in North Street, this being due to the fact that the Society had outgrown the Corona Cafe. From 1971 onwards the monthly reports seem to have stopped and only reports of the AGM's appear in the second book. The move was made to the Guildford Institute in 1980 due to the rising costs of hiring the Brew House, where we still hold our regular meetings.
The 80's
Regular monthly observing sessions were only very occasional up to the 1980's. In the early 80's Rory Fenner assumed the mantle of Master of Ceremonies for these events and the gradully developed into the monthly sessions we still run to this day. During National Astronomy Week in 1985 to celebrate the return of Halley's Comet, evening observing sessions for the public were held at Pewley Downs for a week to view the comet. Over 1,000 people arrived over the period. Brian States and David Dyer also opened their observatory to the public using the 12" telescope and all who came, (some 100), saw it.
There have always been trips of astronomical nature arranged at least once in most years, such as Jodrell Bank, Royal Observatory Grenwich and the Herschel Museum in Slough, but the Society trip of 1986 was by far the most ambitious.
The President, Phillip Beastall arranged a coach trip for a few days to the observatories of Paris and Meudon in France. The trip went ahead with few problems, the worst being the necessity of persuading people from outside the Society to make up the numbers required to fill the coach.
In 1987, the President, Brian States negotiated the purchase of an historic 20.5" telescope for £700. This instrument was at the time, one of the largest in amateur hands in the south of England. It is now known as the John Smith Telescope
Twinned with Houston Astronomical Society
Brian States with Larry Wadle from Houston had been instrumental bringing to fruition the idea of twinning both Societies. Larry had been attending GAS meetings whilst working in Guildford on secondment. 1987 saw the formal signing of the Twinning charter between GAS and the Houston Astronomical Society which was signed by him and the President of Houston Astronomical Society, Lee Cain on 5th June, 1987.
Initially, the idea was to co-operate on joint projects of scientific value, such as the observation of variable stars. The 90 degree difference in the longitude of our 2 Societies allows a longer period of observing a given object. As we lose an object in the morning sky - Houston being 6 hours behind us can carry on with the observation. There is also an exchange of magazines and written letters between members of the 2 Societies. We also publish a monthly article ('Pond Talk'), in the Houston Magazine, 'GUIDESTAR', thus keeping them up to date with what is happening over here.
Past Officers
The following list details the Officers and Committee members since the beginning of the Society.
| 1960-69 | 1970-79 | 1980-89 | 1990-99 | 2000- |
| 1955 to 1956 | No Officers | ||
| 1956 to 1957 | No Officers | ||
| 1957 to 1958 | Secretary - Mrs Maloy Treasurer - Miss K Harding |
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| 1958 to 1967 | Secretary - Mr Kenneth Cowburn Treasurer - Mr John Maloy |
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| 1967 to 1968 | Chairman - Mr Brian Leighton Secretary - Mr Kenneth Cowburn Treasurer - Mr John Maloy |
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| 1968 to 1969 | Chairman - Mr Brian Leighton Secretary - Mr K Gilham Treasurer - Mr John Maloy |
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| 1969 to 1970 | Chairman - Mr Brian Leighton Secretary - Mrs Dorothy Clapson Treasurer - Mr John Maloy |
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| 1970 to 1971 | President - Mr Charles Field Secretary - Mrs Dorothy Clapson Treasurer - Mr John Maloy/Mr Willian Scantlesbury |
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| 1971 to 1972 | President - Mr Charles Field Secretary - Mrs Dorothy Clapson Treasurer - Mr Willian Scantlesbury Committee - Mr Arthur Croker, Mr G Pascual |
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| 1972 to 1973 | President - Mr Charles Field Secretary - Mrs Dorothy Clapson Treasurer - Mr Willian Scantlesbury Committee - Mr Michael McOnegal, Mr Edward Masters, Mrs Livock, Miss Sheila Morris |
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| 1973 to 1974 | President - Mr Charles Field Secretary - Mrs Dorothy Clapson Assistant Secretary - Mrs Jean Mickle Treasurer - Mr Edward Masters Committee - Mr Anthony Hudson, Mr Anthony Mickle |
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| 1974 to 1975 | President - Mr John Smith Secretary - Mrs Dorothy Clapson Assistant Secretary - Mrs Jean Mickle Treasurer - Mr Edward Masters/Mrs Shiela Morris Committee - Mr R McKay, Mrs John Smith |
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| 1975 to 1976 | President - Mr John Smith Secretary - Mrs Dorothy Clapson Assistant Secretary - Mrs Jean Mickle Treasurer - Mrs Shiela Morris Committee - Mr John Vines, Mr Brian Shorter |
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| 1976 to 1977 | President - Mr Anthony Mickle Secretary - Mrs Dorothy Clapson Treasurer - Mrs Shiela Morris Committee - Mr Lawrence Anslow, Mr John Burger |
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| 1977 to 1978 | President - Mr Anthony Mickle Secretary - Mrs Joan Prosser Treasurer - Mrs Shiela Morris Press - Mr Christopher Hopper Committee - Mr Arthur Good, Mr Rory Fenner |
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| 1978 to 1979 | President - Mr Dennis Bradshaw Secretary - Mrs Joan Prosser Treasurer - Mrs Shiela Morris Press - Mr Rory Fenner Committee - Mr Brian Shorter, Mr Christopher Hopper |
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| 1979 to 1980 | President - Mr Dennis Bradshaw Secretary - Mrs Joan Prosser Treasurer - Mrs Shiela Morris Committee - Mr Peter Knee, Mr Christopher Hopper |
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| 1980 to 1981 | President - Mr Peter Knee Secretary - Mrs Joan Prosser Treasurer - Mrs Shiela Morris Committee - Mr Ron Wood, Mr Brian Shorter, Mr John Smith, Mr Dennis Bradshaw, Mr Zachary Moores |
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| 1981 to 1982 | President - Mr Peter Knee Secretary - Mrs Joan Prosser Treasurer - Mrs Shiela Morris Committee - Mr Ron Wood, Mr Brian Shorter, Mr John Smith, Mrs Olive Bannatyne, Mr Zachary Moores |
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| 1982 to 1983 | President - Mr Peter Knee Secretary - Mrs Joan Prosser Treasurer - Mrs Shiela Morris Librarian - Mr Brian Shorter Newsletter Editor - Mr Brian States Committee - Mr Ron Wood, Mr B Ryan, Mr Anthony Mickle, Mrs Olive Bannatyne, Mr Matthew Stevens |
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| 1983 to 1984 | President - Mr Ian Howard-Duff Secretary - Mrs Joan Prosser Treasurer - Mr David Sparham Librarian - Mr Brian Shorter Magazine Editor/Houston Coordinator - Mr Brian States Deputy Editor - David Dyer Committee - Mr Ron Wood, Mr John Smith, Mrs Olive Bannatynne |
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| 1984 to 1985 | President - Mr Ian Howard-Duff Vice-President - Peter Knee Secretary - Mrs Joan Prosser Treasurer - Mr David Sparham Librarian - Mr Brian Shorter Magazine Editor/Houston Coordinator - Mr Brian States Deputy Editor - Mr David Dyer Committee - Mr Olive Bannatynne, Mr John Smith, Mr Simon Bradshaw, Miss Joy Bunyan |
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| 1985 to 1986 | President - Mr Phillip Beastall Vice-President - Mrs Joan Prosser Secretary - Ian Howard-Duff Treasurer - Mr David Sparham Librarian - Mr Brian Shorter Magazine Committee - Miss Joy Bunyan, Mr Simon Bradshaw, Mr Phillip Griffiths Houston Coordinator - Mr Brian States Observational Coordinator - Mr Rory Fenner Committee - Mr Ron Wood, Mr Peter Knee |
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| 1986 to 1987 | President - Mr Phillip Beastall Vice-President - Mrs Joan Prosser Secretary - Ian Howard-Duff Treasurer - Mr David Sparham Librarian - Mr Brian Shorter Magazine Editor - Miss Joy Bunyan Assistant Editor - Mr Peter Dean Houston Coordinator - Mr Brian States Observational Coordinator - Mr Rory Fenner |
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| 1987 to 1988 | President - Mr Brian States/Mr Phillip Beastal Vice-President - Mr Phillip Beastall Secretary - Mr Peter Dean Treasurer - Mr David Sparham Librarian - Mr Brian Shorter Magazine Editor - Miss Joy Bunyan Assistant Editor - Mr Peter Dean Houston Coordinator - Mr Brian States Observational Coordinator - Mr Rory Fenner Press Officer - Mr Phillip Beastall Committee - Mrs Joan Prosser, Mr Peter Knee, Mr Simon Marchant, Mr Ian Howard-Duff, Mr John Smith |
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| 1988 to 1989 | President - Mr Phillip Beastal Vice-President - Vacant Secretary - Mr Peter Dean Treasurer - Mr David Sparham Librarian - Mr Brian Shorter Magazine Editor - Miss Joy Bunyan Assistant Editor - Mr Peter Dean Houston Coordinator - Mr Brian States Observational Coordinator - Mr Rory Fenner Press Officer - Mr Alan Langmaid Observatory Director - Mr Phillip Beastall Committee - Mr Dave Dyer, Mr Richard Mould, Mr Steve Batterson, Mr Simon Marchant |
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| 1989 to 1990 | President - Mr Robert Sutherland Vice-President - Mr Peter Dean Secretary - Miss Joy Bunyan Treasurer - Mr David Sparham. |
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| 1990 to 1991 | President - Mr Robert Sutherland Vice-President - Mr Peter Robertson Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham |
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| 1991 to 1992 | President - Mr Brian Gordon-States Vice-President - Mr David Dyer Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham. |
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| 1992 to 1993 | President - Mr Peter Dean Vice-President - Mr Michael Standage Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham |
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| 1993 to 1994 | President - Mr Michael Standage Vice-President - Mr Peter Dean Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham |
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| 1994 to 1995 | President - Mr Robin Cordell Vice-President - Mr Michael Standage Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham |
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| 1995 to 1996 | President - Mr Robin Cordell Vice-President - Mr Martin Jackson Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham |
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| 1996 to 1997 | President - Mr Martin Jackson Vice-President - Mr Robin Cordell Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham |
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| 1997 to 1998 | President - Mr Martin Jackson Vice-President - Mr Adrian Orr Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham |
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| 1998 to 1999 | President - Mr Adrian Orr Vice-President - Mr Peter Ward Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham |
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| 1999 to 2000 | President - Mr Peter Ward Vice-President - Mr Gavin Stacey Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham |
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2000
to
2001
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President - Mr Peter Ward Vice-President - Mr Gavin Stacey Secretary - Mr Alan Langmaid Treasurer - Mr David Sparham Observatory Director - Mr Brian Shorter Assitant Observatory Director - Mr Adrian Selby Observational Co-ordinator - Mr Gavin Stacey Press & Publicity Officer - Mr Jon Laver Newsletter Editor - Mr Alan Martin Librarian - Mr Laurence Hall Member - Mr Jonathan Silverlight Member - Mr Grant Privett Member - Mr Robert Horton Member - Mr John Banks |
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| 2001 to 2002 | President - Mr Gavin Stacey Vice-President - Mr Martin Jackson Secretary - Mr John Bushell Treasurer - Mr John Banks Observatory Director - Mr Brian Shorter Assitant Observatory Director - Mr Adrian Selby Observational Co-ordinator - Mr Gavin Stacey Press & Publicity Officer - Mr James Wilhelm Newsletter Editor - Mr Alan Martin Librarian - Mr Laurence Hall |
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| 2002 to 2003 | President - Gavin Stacey Vice-President - Martin Jackson Secretary - John Bushell Treasurer - Ted Dodman Observatory Director - Brian Shorter Assitant Observatory Director - Adrian Selby Observational Co-ordinator - Gavin Stacey Website - James Wilhelm Newsletter Editor - Alan Martin Librarian - David Reynolds Committee 1 - Chris Hopper Committee 2 - Bob Peake Committee 3 - Anthony Pascual |
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| 2003 to 2004 |
President - Gavin Stacey Vice-President - Martin Jackson Secretary - John Bushell Treasurer - Ted Dodman Observatory Director - Brian Shorter Assitant Observatory Director - Adrian Selby Observational Co-ordinator - Gavin Stacey Website - James Wilhelm
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| 2006 to 2007 |
President - Gavin Stacey Vice-President - Neil Ross Secretary - John Axtell Treasurer - Ted Dodman Observatory Director - Chris Hopper Observatory Assitant Director - John Evans Observational Co-ordinator - John Axtell Observational Co-ordinator Assistant - Tony Questa Librarian - Matthew Mallinson Website - James Wilhelm Newsletter Editor - Neil Ross Junior Rep - Ben Chimes Auditors - Sheilagh Godwin and John Bushell Committee members - Tony Marsh, Peter Woolliams, Bob Peake, Richard Alder |
Below is a list of meetings from previous years.
2003-2004 session
| 4 Sep 2003 | "The Odyssey of Galaxies" | Tony Marsh |
| 2 Oct 2003 | "Chasing a comet: ESA's Rosetta Mission" | Dr Andrew Coates |
| 6 Nov 2003 | "Einstein - was he 100% right?" | Prof. Malcolm MacCallum |
| 4 Dec 2003 | "From the Solar System to the Edge of the Observable Universe" | Dr Robin Catchpole |
| 8 Jan 2004 | "The 2003 Annular Eclipse" | Jerry Workman |
| 5 Feb 2004 | "The Swift search for gamma-ray bursts" | Liz Puchnarewicz |
| 4 Mar 2004 | "Solar B: Connecting the photosphere to the corona." | Sarah Matthews |
| 1 Apr 2004 | "From our nearest star to the edge of the universe - a personal view of the SOHO and XMM space missions" | Dr Alice Breeveld |
| 6 May 2004 | "The Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn (preview of Saturn plus Jupiter results)" | Dr Andrew Coates |
| 3 Jun 2004 | "Telescopes - Back to Basics" | Gavin Stacey |
| 1 Jul 2004 | Annual General Meeting | Members |
| August | NO MEETING | NO MEETING |
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