LONDON WESTMINSTER & MIDDLESEX FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY
CONSTITUTION
1 TITLE
The name of the organisation shall be the London Westminster & Middlesex Family History Society.
2 OBJECTS
The objects of the Society shall be:
a) To encourage the study of family history and bring together those interested in family history, genealogy and heraldry primarily in the City of London, the City of Westminster and the London Boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow and Islington, together with parts of Ealing and Hillingdon.
b) To help co-ordinate research in and transcription of local records and make them freely accessible.
c) To carry out such activities as are relevant to a family history society.
d) To produce a quarterly journal.
3 MEMBERS
The annual subscription shall cover all members of one family residing at one address. The subscription will cover four issues of the Society’s quarterly journal and allow one vote in any election or ballot conducted by the Society.
4 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
a) The Executive Committee shall consist of a Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer and at least two other members. The Membership Secretary shall be a formal member of the Committee.
b) The Executive Committee shall administer the affairs of the Society and shall meet at least four times a year and shall determine the rules and procedures to govern its own meetings. A quorum of the Executive Committee shall consist of three of its members.
c) The Secretary of the Executive Committee shall circulate a list of candidates proposed for election to the Executive Committee with the agenda for the Annual General meeting. The names of the proposed candidates must be submitted to the Secretary so as to arrive not less than fourteen days before the Annual General Meeting. If there are more candidates than vacancies on the Executive Committee the Chairman shall appoint two scrutineers to hold a ballot and shall announce the result at the end of the meeting. If there are fewer candidates than vacancies further nominations may be accepted at the meeting, at the discretion of the Chairman.
d) Minutes of the proceedings of the Executive Committee shall be taken by the Secretary and entered in a Minute book. They shall be confirmed at the next relevant meeting and sign by the Chairman as correct.
e) All elected members of the Executive Committee shall retire each year, but shall be eligible for re-election.
f) If any elected member of the Executive Committee be unable to complete his or her full term of office, the said Committee may co-opt any other eligible person to serve until the next Annual General Meeting.
g) The Executive Committee may appoint annually sub-committees, either ad hoc or permanently, which under the authority and with the approval of the Executive Committee shall be empowered to deal with specific questions. The Executive Committee may nominate such persons as they consider appropriate, including persons not members of the Executive Committee. All recommendations of sub-committees must be submitted to the next following meeting of the Executive Committee.
h) The Executive Committee shall lay down the form and manner in which candidates shall apply for membership of the Society.
i) The Executive Committee shall be empowered to elect Honorary Members of the Society.
j) The executive Committee shall be empowered to elect a Patron, President and Vice-President to be confirmed by the next Annual General Meeting.
5 SUBSCRIPTIONS
a) The Executive Committee shall from time to time determine the annual subscription which shall be subject to confirmation at the Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting called under section 8.
b) Any member who is two months in arrears with his/her subscription shall be deemed to have lapsed. No reminder will be sent. A re-joining fee, to be determined by the Executive Committee, shall be imposed on any member allowing their membership to lapse.
6 FINANCE
a) The Executive Committee shall be responsible for the administration of the Society’s funds. The Executive Committee shall have the power to invest funds in Trustee Securities or to place them on deposit or loan with financial institutions approved at the Annual General Meeting or to hold funds in a current account in a clearing bank or to invest funds in a freehold or leasehold property. The Executive Committee shall not however raise loans or mortgages chargeable on the funds or properties of the Society without express approval of the Annual General Meeting.
b) Two members of the Executive Committee, one being the Treasurer or his appointed deputy, shall sign all cheques and other documents governing the finances of the Society.
c) The Treasurer shall keep a regular account of all receipts and payments in a manner approved by the Executive Committee and shall present to each meeting of the Executive Committee an interim statement showing the current state of the Society’s finances.
d) The income and property of the Society wheresoever derived shall be applied solely to the promotion of the objects of the Society as set forth in the Constitution and no part thereof shall be transferred to any person without the approval of the Executive Committee.
e) No payment shall be made from the Society’s funds to any individual member of the Society except as repayment of out-of-pocket expenses incurred on the Society’s business and with the approval of the Executive Committee.
f) The Society’s financial year shall end on the 30th September. The audited accounts shall be submitted to the Executive Committee at least fourteen days before the Annual General Meeting.
g) Honorary Auditors shall be appointed annually by the Annual General Meeting.
h) Individual members of the Executive Committee must declare any personal financial interest in any matter under discussion and shall not vote on the matter in question.
i) The Society’s authorised signatories at the bank or other legitimate organisation holding the Society’s funds may manage the monies using whatever means appropriate whether by manual or electronic means, by telephone banking, online banking or other appropriate method. Authorised signatories and appropriate banking procedures shall be determined by the Executive Committee.
7 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
An Annual General Meeting shall be held at such time and place as shall be decided by the Executive Committee. The business of the Annual General Meeting shall be:
a) To receive the reports of the activities of the past year from the Chairman.
b) To receive and approve the audited accounts of the Society.
c) To elect officers and other members of the Executive Committee of the Society.
d) To transact any other business.
8 EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING
The Executive Committee shall be empowered to call an Extraordinary General Meeting. They shall also be bound to do so within twenty-eight days on receiving notice in writing specifying the business and signed by not less than fifty of the paid-up membership for the time being of the Society. The business to be transacted must appear on the agenda and no other business discussed.
9 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
The constitution can be altered or amended only at an Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society and then only if the proposed alteration or amendment receives two-thirds of the votes of members of the Society at the meeting.
10 EXPULSION OF MEMBERS
If the conduct of a member shall be judged such as gravely to damage the welfare of the Society as a whole, then a full meeting of the Executive Committee may expel the member concerned. The member shall have the right to appeal against this decision at the Annual
General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting at which he or she shall have the right to speak but not to vote. The motion for expulsion must be carried by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Society present at the relevant meeting.
11 DISSOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY
A motion for the dissolution of the Society may be submitted to the Executive Committee three months before the Annual General Meeting or in accordance with the rules governing an Extraordinary General Meeting. The motion shall be passed if it receives two-thirds of the votes cast by the members of the Society present at the relevant meeting. If and when such a motion shall be passed, so much of the assets of the Society shall be realised as may be necessary to discharge all liabilities of the Society. Any remaining assets shall be transferred or given as the meeting directs. The meeting shall decide to whom to present the archives, records library and similar material owned by the Society at the time of dissolution.
Updated April 2022