Jack Birley
Earlier this month we received the sad news of the passing of our friend and Past President, His Honour John Morgan ( 22 September 1934 – 8 November 2020). We are grateful to John’s life long friend and fellow Athenaeum member, Richard McCullagh, for providing the below obituary. John was born in September 1934 (in … Read more
Here and There in the Library is a journey through the magical and eclectic collection housed within The Athenaeum. The below article was originally published in August 1984. The collection of pamphlets in the Library has previous been remarked upon as containing much information on diverse topics. Of particular interest to Proprietors is the pamphlet … Read more
The next extracts from the historic suggestion book date back to 1945. A selection can be found below for Proprietors interest. ‘I would suggest that steps be ten to help the Institution open later in the evening – until 7:30pm at least. The recent extension of closing time from 6pm to 7pm is most welcome … Read more
Here and There in the Library is a journey through the magical and eclectic collection housed within The Athenaeum. The below extract was originally published in November 1980 by Past President HH Richard Hamilton, and was the first volume of ‘Here&There In The Library’. Volume 1 – ‘COFFEE BREAK’ I was looking for something completely … Read more
Thank you to Dr Janet Hollinshead who discovered a historic suggestion book dating back to when we moved to Church Alley from our original building on Church Street. We are currently mining the book for nuggets, and here are some entries which we thought may be of interest to our Proprietors. 8 January 1931 – … Read more
Ahead of Remembrance Day this Wednesday, Proprietor John Gorman has provided a thought provoking piece, ‘I Remember The Somme’. I Remember … I Remember … I Remember The Somme I Remember that day … that 1st July 1916 I Remember waking at dawn sleepy and bleary-eyed, My stomach rising in my throat … Read more
Every Monday we profile one of our Members. This week we are joined by Share holder 240, Peter Bounds. Who are you? I am Peter Bounds, married to Geraldine, father of Andrew (Andy as he is better known hereabouts) and Richard, and grandfather of six. I retired on 31 December 1999, after 37 years in … Read more
Friend of the Athenaeum. Dr Mark Towsey, along with colleagues from the University of Liverpool will be taking part in a Seminar on ‘The History Of Libraries’ on Tuesday 3 November. Full details on how to register your attendance via zoom can be found below! UNIVERSITY OF LONDON SEMINAR ON THE HISTORY OF LIBRARIES The … Read more
Every Monday we profile one of our Members. This week we are joined by Proprietor 112, Past President, Michael Shankland. Who are you? A true Scouser; one of 16 cousins who infested the streets of Anfield like the Golden Horde of Ghengis Khan. We were the first generation of our family to win scholarships to … Read more
On Wednesday last September 16th I chaired a production planning meeting for the 2020 Sir David Maddison Opera Prize, in company with Colonel Martin Amlôt, John Blain, Tanya Robins, and Jack Birley. The main topic for discussion was to agree a sound and practical audience management plan for the event, to ensure that HM Government … Read more