Guests this evening will be taken back in time at the 3rd Annual Library dinner as the Institutions old minute books are dusted off and passages read giving an insight of life at the Athenaeum some 200+ years ago. This Black Tie event commences at 7:00-7:30pm and is fully subscribed.
Tomorrow evening – Friday February 28th there is a chance for New Proprietors to sign the historic share register at the New Members Informal Dining. First orders will be taken from 7pm, last orders will be taken at 8pm.
Our varied Presidential Calendar continues on March 6th When Simon Osborne gives a talk on ‘The Hardmans of Rodney Street’, the evening will commence at 7:00-7:30pm. Details of the talk are below;
‘E. Chambré Hardman was born in 1898 in Dublin, Ireland. He took his first photographs aged nine and went on to win many photographic competitions in his youth. From the age of eighteen, he spent four years as a regular officer in the 8th Gurkha Rifles in India where he found time for photography. In 1926 Chambré Hardman appointed seventeen year-old Margaret Mills as his assistant. In August 1932 Hardman married Margaret, he aged 33 and she 23, and they rented a flat at 59 Hope Street, Liverpool. Together they worked long hours at the studio building the business. In 1948 they moved to larger premises at 59 Rodney Street. This became their new studio and also their home for the rest of their lives. E.Chambre Hardman died in April 1988 leaving behind his reputation as Liverpools foremost photographer.
The house and studio, at 59 Rodney Street, was taken over by the E. Chambré Hardman Trust in order to conserve his work. That responsibility was later transferred to the National Trust and we welcome Simon Osborne from the National Trust who will talk about E Chambré Hardman and his work.’