news
News about SMRG Inc.
Updated: Jan 2015
Talks & Events
Click here for the full current calendar of coming events and past events.
Other News
Recent Publications by SMRG Inc. Members
Bereavements
Fri 11th March, 2014, long-time member and supporter, Malcolm Broun, passed away. Malcolm was also as a long time supporter of the study of Scottish history and those who worked in the area of Scottish studies and the Scots Gaelic language. He will be sadly missed.
Thu 11th December, 2014, long-time member and President for many years, Dr Stella St.Clair-Kendall died in RPAH Emergency ward, after a long illness. Her funeral service was held at St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Newtown. Her eulogy by Jon Marshall may be read here, and her eulogy by Luke Kendall may be read here.
NSW History week 2009
SMRG will be participating in the NSW History Week 2009 hosted by the NSW History Council, by presenting two talks, on Thursday 10th September.
Please note that no bookings are needed to attend, just turn up. (The information provided on the History Week detailed calendar of events on p15 and here is incorrect on this point.)
Dr Pamela O'Neill will speak first on:
Early medieval scandal: the crimes in the Irish penitentials
Dr Pamela O'Neill will explores the penitential texts of the early medieval Irish church. These texts appear to have been written primarily as handbooks for confessors to assist in assigning penance. By examining the penitentials in the light of archaeological and other historical and legal information, we get a glimpse of the scandalous acts the early Irish church thought required penance. We can see what sorts of scandals and crimes the church anticipated might occur and form a view about how prevalent they might have been. There are numerous references to crimes such as murder and theft, but far more revealing is the forthright and detailed categorisation of sexual acts. By looking at the sorts of penance that were imposed on various groups in society, such as priests, monks, married couples and so on, we can see how the church sought to cure these offenders of their wayward habits and prevent future scandal.
A short break with tea and coffee will follow, then Margaret Sampson will speak about law and the Old Bailey:
"She had always a good character til this time" or, judging 'character' at the Old Bailey (1674-1800).
Before modern forensics and policing, deciding cases at the Old Bailey was largely a matter of deciding of the accused: "What Character does he bear":
Q: "Do you think he would be guilty of the Fact he is charged with?"
A: "I can't think he would be guilty of such a Crime?" (note *).
Defendants usually pleaded not guilty but offered little in the way of defence to the criminal charge. Instead they told stories designed to establish their good character to the court. These stories suggest that "character" was not the unique, private, individualised self of modernity but something socially constructed, according to well known blueprints. The court records can be used, if only obliquely, to get inside the minds of otherwise inarticulate early moderns.
NOTE – * William Bury , alias Henry Parminter, sexual offences : bigamy, 3rd June, 1742. The Proceedings of the Old Bailey Ref: t17420603-18. at Old Bailey Online
SMRG AGM 2009
The 2009-2010 Committee elected at the AGM of 8th April 2009 is:
