Jan. 1. To Balance of Last Year's Account

£ s. d.

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13 6 4

,, Expenses at Winter Meetings, Clerical Help, and Sundries..

O 10 6

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16 5 O

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13 8 0

RULES.

(Revised January 28th, 1887.)

1. Preamble. This Society is instituted to examine, preserve, and illustrate ancient Monuments and Records, and to promote the study of History, Literature, Arts, Customs, and Traditions with particular reference to the antiquities of Lancashire and Cheshire.

2. Name, &c.-This Society shall be called the "LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY."

3. Election of Members.-Candidates for admission to the Society must be proposed by one member of the Society, and seconded by another. Applications for admission must be submitted in writing to the Council, who shall report to the next ordinary meeting the names of such candidates. At the next ordinary meeting thereafter following, the names of all the candidates so reported shall be put to the meeting for election as the first business following the reading and confirmation, or otherwise, of the minutes of the preceding meeting, and the election shall be determined by common assent or dissent, unless a ballot shall be called for in the case of any one or more of the candidates by any member then present. In case of ballot one black ball in five shall exclude. During the period of the year when the ordinary meetings are suspended, the Council shall have power to invite to general meetings any candidate whom they have resolved to recommend for election at the next ordinary meeting. Each new member shall have his election notified to him by the Honorary Secretary, and shall at the same time be furnished with a copy of the Rules, and be required to remit to the Treasurer, within two months after such notification, his entrance fee and subscription; and if the

same shall be thereafter unpaid for more than two months, his name may be struck off the list of members, unless he can justify the delay to the satisfaction of the Council. No new member shall participate in any of the advantages of the Society until he has paid his entrance fee and subscription. Each member shall be entitled to admission to all meetings of the Society, and to introduce a visitor, provided that the same person be not introduced to two ordinary or general meetings in the same year. Each member shall receive, free of charge, such ordinary publications of the Society as shall have been issued since the commencement of the year in which he shall have been elected, provided that he shall have paid all subscriptions then due from him. The Council shall have power to remove any name from the list of members on due cause being shown to them. Members wishing to resign at the termination of the year can do so by informing the Honorary Secretary, in writing, of their intention on or before the 30th day of November, in that year.

4. Honorary Members.-The Council shall have the power of recommending persons for election as honorary members.

5. Honorary Local Secretaries.-The Council shall have power to appoint any person Honorary Local Secretary, whether he be a member or not, for the town or district wherein he may reside, in order to facilitate the collection of accurate information as to objects and discoveries of local interest.

6. Subscriptions.—An annual subscription of ten shillings and sixpence shall be paid by each member. All such subscriptions shall be due in advance on the first day of January.

7. Entrance Fee.-Each person on election shall pay an entrance fee of one guinea in addition to his first year's subscription.

8. Life Membership.-A payment of seven guineas shall constitute the composition for life membership, including the entrance fee.

9. Government. The affairs of the Society shall be conducted by a Council, consisting of the President of the Society, two Vice-Presidents, in addition to the Past-Presidents, the Honorary Secretary, and Treasurer, and fifteen members elected out of the general body of the members. The Council shall retire annually, but the members of it shall be eligible for reelection. Any intermediate vacancy by death or retirement may

be filled up by the Council. Four members of the Council to constitute a quorum. The Council shall meet at least four times yearly. A meeting may at any time be convened by the Honorary Secretary by direction of the President, or on the requisition of four members of the Council. Two Auditors shall be appointed by the members at the ordinary meeting next preceding the final meeting of the Session.

10. Mode of Electing Officers other than the Auditors.-The Council shall in each year prepare a list of a sufficient number of members to fill the several offices becoming vacant at the close of the year. Any member desiring to nominate a member or members for election to any office in the Society, other than that of Auditor, shall send in the name or names of such persons, with their addresses, to the Honorary Secretary, in writing, not less than twenty-one days before the date of the annual meeting, such document being signed by himself as proposer and one other member as seconder. The Honorary Secretary shall send by post to every member whose address is known to him, not later than fourteen days before the meeting, an alphabetical list of all persons so nominated, including those nominated by the Council, with their addresses, and the names and addresses of their proposers and seconders, except those nominated by the Council, which shall be distinguished by an asterisk following their names. The election of officers shall take place at the annual meeting. In case of contest the election shall be by ballot.

11. Retiring President.-Each retiring President shall retain his seat on the Council, and become a Vice-President.

12. Duties of Officers.-The duty of the President shall be to preside at the meetings of the Society, and to maintain order. His decision in all questions of precedence amongst speakers, and on all disputes which may arise during the meeting, to be absolute. In the absence of the President or Vice-Presidents, it shall be competent for the members present to elect a chairman. The Treasurer shall take charge of all moneys belonging to the Society, pay all accounts passed by the Council, and submit his accounts and books, duly audited, to the annual meeting, the same having been submitted to the meeting of the Council immediately preceding such annual meeting. The duties of the

Honorary Secretary shall be to attend all meetings of the Council and Society, enter in detail, as far as practicable, the proceedings at each meeting, to conduct the correspondence, preserve all letters received, and convene all meetings by circular, if requisite. He shall also prepare and present to the Council a report of the year's work, and, after confirmation by the Council, shall read the same to the members at the annual meeting.

13. Annual Meeting.-The annual meeting of the Society shall be held in the last week of January.

14. Ordinary Meetings.—Ordinary meetings shall be held in Manchester, at 6-15 p.m., on the first Friday of each month from October to April for the reading of papers, the exhibition of objects of antiquity, and the discussion of subjects connected therewith.

15. General Meetings.-The Council may, from time to time, convene general meetings at different places rendered interesting by their antiquities, architecture, or historic associations. The work of these meetings shall include papers, addresses, exhibitions, excavations, and any other practicable means shall be adopted for the elucidation of the history and antiquities of the locality visited.

16. Exploration and Excavation.-The Council may, from time to time, make grants of money towards the cost of excavating and exploring, and for the general objects of the Society.

17. Publications.-Original papers and ancient documents communicated to the Society may be published in such manner as the Council shall from time to time determine. Back volumes of the Transactions and other publications of the Society remaining in stock may be purchased by any member of the Society at such prices as the Council shall determine.

18. Property. The property of the Society shall be vested in the names of three Trustees to be chosen by the Council.

19. Interpretation Clause.-In these Rules the masculine shall include the feminine gender.

20. Alteration of Rules.-These Rules shall not be altered except by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting at the annual or at a special meeting convened for that purpose. Fourteen days' notice of such intended alteration is to be given to every member of the Society.