Speaker programme, May - Sept 2026
May 18 Fraser Harrison
Duleep Singh - last Maharajah, first immigrant
As a child, Duleep Singh was deprived of his throne and the Koh-I-Noor diamond by the East India Company in 1849. He spent most of his adult life in England, becoming the first Sikh immigrant and a favourite of Queen Victoria. For many years he lived in Elveden Hall near Thetford. Nowadays, 128 years after his death, he has become a symbol of pride for the British Sikh community
June 22 AGM
followed by our Summer Social
July 20 Liz Tarrant
A History of Fast Writing
In this talk Liz looks at early pictorial writing and the evolution of Cuneiform, then at Tiro's adaptation of the Roman alphabet for reporting in the Senate, moving on through various brief writing systems, including those used by Samuel Pepys and Charles Dickens, to a brief summary of Isaac Pitman's life and his invention of what eventually became Pitman's Shorthand
Sept 21 William Freeman
Please raise your glasses; confessions of a wedding day professional
Right now, a wedding celebrant in England cannot legally marry a couple so why do these people exist and what benefit are they?
The phrase ‘wedding toastmaster’ raises the spectre of a rather pompous and elderly individual, in a red tailcoat, strutting about making a few announcements. Who decided that the tailcoat should be red and how did such people come into being? Apart from making loud announcements what on earth, do they do?
All will be revealed by William Freeman in this fast paced and interactive lecture about his life as a ‘wedding day celebrant and toastmaster’
Do make a diary note to avoid missing any of these talks
The talk will start at 2:30, to be followed by Q&A and refreshments.
Doors open at 2.15
How to get there...
To get there from Clapham Junction station walk West up St John's Hill (towards Wandsworth).
Nearby buses, (37 / 39 / 87 / 156 / 170 / 337 / 639 / 670) - Plough Rd stop.
| Turn into Strath Terrace & take bridge over railway lines. Take 1st left into Danvers Avenue & when you reach Monarch Square, the hall is on the right. |  |