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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 7 9
OLD STATIONERS’ ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS
Good evening, gentlemen, and thank you for your presence here tonight at our AGM. I hope we will not
detain you for too long as I know that finer events await.
Let me start with a brief historical introduction. Whenever I visit Stationers' Hall I never cease to marvel
at the beauty of this building and be inspired by a sense of the history that seeps through this Hall. To
think that this great building was burnt down in the Great Fire of London and rebuilt in 1673 at a cost
of just £3,000. The wood panelling alone came to the princely sum of £300. The School, of course, came
much later - first at Bolt Court in 1858 at a cost of £8,000 and then its relocation in 1893 to Mayfield
Road, Homsey, at a cost of £14,000.
The Stationers' Old Boy's Association, later to become the Old Stationers' Association, was founded in
1895 and I was proud and honoured to have been installed last March as its 90th President. I have had
a marvellous year and have enjoyed participating in so many events and meeting so many of you. Though
the School has been closed for more than 30 years - and most of us left many years before that closure
- clearly, as our School Song says, we are proud to be Stationers and with hearts thus united no distance
can sever.
A number of you have travelled some way today to be present at our Annual Dinner, and I thank you for
that. And for the many who live too far away, or are too infirm to travel, we keep them close to us through
our wonderful magazine, and I pay particular tribute to editor Geraint Pritchard who has the arduous
task of bringing it all together. I think that you will all agree that the latest 78th edition is just superb and
a brilliant read.
I didn't appreciate, until becoming Vice-President and then President, just how much work goes on
behind the scenes to ensure the success of the wide variety of activities that our Association is involved
in. In particular, I have been greatly impressed by the dedication and diligence of our Committee, who
give so much of their time and effort to ensure that everything is running smoothly, and I would like to
place on record my grateful thanks to them for the support they have given me in my presidential year
of office. I would also like to thank and praise the significant contribution made by fellow Old Stationers
who head up the various clubs and societies that make our Association so active and enjoyable. I
particularly single out Alan Green, for his impressive organisation of the Luncheon Club; Peter Bonner,
for the running of our very successful Golf Society; Vince Wallace and Ian Meyrick, for ensuring that
our soccer traditions continue to thrive in the Stationers colours; Stuart Behn, for overseeing the exclusive
and convivial Apostles' Club; Mike Pinfield, for his works with the School Lodge; and David Hudson,
who organises the Bridge Society. I think a little round of applause would be merited for all those unpaid
volunteers who represent us so well.
Last December, at our Christmas Luncheon at the Hall, I asked for your help in finding storage for some
important pupil record cards, dating back over many years, which Philip Trendall had managed to retrieve
from the School before it was demolished. They contain details of every pupil's academic and sporting
achievements and look like this (holding up sample). You will be pleased to hear that this problem has
been resolved thanks to the Company finding us a suitable storage room in this building, which will
accommodate all of our valuable archives, and my thanks to Archivist David Turner for overseeing this
successful relocation.
Now, just a brief word about the proposed new' Academy that I know the Master will make reference to
in his address tonight, and which will probably incorporate the name Stationers when it finally opens. It
is an existing school in the London Borough of Greenwich called Crown Woods, which was completely
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