Archive News
Listed below is the News Archive for the present year.
To access News and Events Information for previous years please select one of the following links:
2024 AGM of The 1745 Association
The AGM of the 1745 Association will be held at 8pm, in the Falls of Lora Hotel, Connell Ferry, PA37 1PB, as part of the 2024 Annual Gathering. You will find the agenda here.
Item 5 of the agenda concerns the election or re-election of Trustees. The meeting can also take offers of help from those who may wish to help on a ex- officio basis.
Should you be prepared to be considered for helping in the management of our Association we should be pleased to hear from you. We particularly need a regular minutes Secretary and also a Secretary for other written works. Our editor of the Jacobite does a brilliant job in the production of that journal but it is a big job and an assistant editor would be very useful. We hold Council meeting three times a year by Zoom so travel is not required.
Modest computer skill are useful for all potential helpers, especially in the field of word processing. Other qualities that are useful are enthusiasm for the Association and an ability to be pro-active, having the ability and desire to see what needs to be done without waiting for instructions from others.
Should you feel able to help, please let us know on stevelord888@gmail.com
Please note you must be a member of the Association.
Valedictory Report of the Chair of The 1745 Association
In his final annual report to the members of The 1745 Association, Michael Nevin, Association Chair between May 15th 2016 and September 15th 2023, reflects on the Association's activities over that period, and remembers past friends and colleagues. His report concludes with some thoughts on the Jacobite spirit and looks forward with confidence to the future of the Association under a new Chair. To view this please click here.
2020 - Book Recommendations
Further to queries from members regarding a book list pertaining to Jacobite learning and general reading, which was available on the old website, the Council reached out to members for their recommendations of their Top 3 "Jacobite" related books.
Following an encouraging response, we have now compiled a list of the Top 12 "Jacobite" related books as voted for by the membership.
You can access the list through this link. Thanks you to all who contributed and happy reading.
Press Release by The 1745 Association
RELEASE DATE MONDAY JANUARY 13TH 2020
The 1745 Association Reiterates its Opposition to Dualling the A9 at Killiecrankie
As the Enquiry into the dualling of the A9 commences at Pitlochry today, the 1745 Association reiterates its concerns about the threat it poses to the Killiecrankie battlefield.
“We are respectfully asking the Reporter to consider all feasible options for the A9, not just those put forward by Transport for Scotland, in order to avoid irreparable and irreversible damage to one of Scotland’s most important battlefield sites,” said Association Chairman Michael Nevin. “As a professional economist, I seriously question whether a rigorous cost-benefit analysis would support the dualling of the A9 at Killiecrankie at all. Do we really want to encourage more cars, travelling ever-increasing speeds, on our our arterial roads? Surely the priority of an environmentally responsible transport policy should be to encourage greater use of rail and bus services, combined with regulating road traffic to travel at steady and sustainable speeds and so minimise the damaging effect that vehicle emissions are having on global warming.”
Mr Nevin suggests that the optimal strategy for the A9 would involve maintaining the existing single carriageway at the Pass of Killiecrankie, combined with selective dualling on stretches before and after enabling motorists to overtake slower moving vehicles safely.
“At Killiecrankie, a far more cost-effective option would involve maintaining the existing single carriageway, adding a lay-by and enhancing battlefield interpretation to encourage passing travellers by bus, coach and car to pause and reflect on an important moment in Scottish history,” said Mr Nevin.
The 1745 Association formally wrote to the Director of Major Transport Infrastructure Projects (MTRIPS) of Transport Scotland on January 20th 2018 setting out its objections to their proposals. “We reiterate our objections today as the Enquiry commences. TfL’s cosmetic changes to their original proposals do nothing to allay our concerns,” stated Mr Nevin. “We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Scottish Battlefields Trust, the local community group Soldiers of Killiecrankie, our friends in The Fifteen (the Northumbrian Jacobite Society) and many others who share our fundamental concerns about these proposals. I am confident that the Reporter will give full and detailed consideration to all options, and we wish him well in his important Enquiry.”
The Battle of Glen Shiel - 300 Years On!
You may be aware that our Chairman, Mike Nevin, gave a talk entitled "The Battle of Glen Shiel - 300 Years On!" at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery on Monday, June 10th, the 300th anniversary of the battle, drawing on Peter Tillemans' great painting of the battle to explain what happened there.
The talk was covered by the journalist Jody Harrison, who wrote a piece on the battle for the Herald on Sunday. The article published on June 16th can be read via https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17709329.the-forgotten-battle-of-scotland/
As this article was not written by the Association any inaccuracies are out of our control.
Notice of the 2023 Annual General Meeting of The 1745 Association
All Members of The 1745 Association SCIO are invited to attend the Association's 2023 Annual General Meeting, which will be held in the Crown & Mitre Hotel, English St, Carlisle CA3 8HZ, between 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM on Friday, September 15th 2023, to consider the following agenda:
1. Roll call of those present and apologies.
2. Minutes of the 2022 AGM (attached)
3. Matters arising
4. Officers' Reports:
a. Chair
b. Treasurer - submission of Annual Report and Accounts (attached)
c. Membership Secretary
d. Editor of 'The Jacobite'
e. Webmaster
f. Events' Co-ordinator
g. Association Merchandise
h. Monuments and memorial
5. Elections of Chair and Trustees, and Nominations of Patron and Honorary Vice-Chairs
6. 2024 Annual Gathering
7. Any Other Business
8. Date and Time of the 2023 AGM
9. Meeting Close
2022 Annual Report & Accounts Minutes of 2022 AGM
I will chair the AGM until Agenda Item 5, when the newly elected Chair will take over and chair the remainder of the meeting.
Michael Nevin
Chair, The 1745 Association SCIO
Annual Culloden Commemoration, April 14th - 15th 2023
The Annual Culloden Commemoration will be held at the Culloden Battlefield on the morning of Saturday, April 15th, 2023. On the eve of the commemoration, Friday April 14th, The 1745 Association, in collaboration with the National Trust for Scotland, has organised the following events which are open to all:
Friday April 14th, 1:00 PM, Culloden Visitor Centre. Our friends at the National Trust for Scotland have now organised a Live Stream of the Annual Culloden Lecture at the Culloden Visitor Centre at 1.00 PM on Friday, April 14th 2023 (three weeks today). The presentation is entitled 'Kahneman, Tversky and Prince Charlie: Cognitive Biases that led to Culloden'. It is described as follows:
Culloden - the last battle fought on British soil and perhaps the darkest day in Scottish history. Yet, like many catastrophes, it was not the consequence of a single decision, but rather of a cumulative chain of events which turned potential triumph into disaster. In the 2023 National Trust for Scotland / 1745 Association Annual Culloden Lecture, the Association's current Chair, Michael Nevin, draws on the pioneering research of Nobel Laureates Herbert Simon, Maurice Allais, Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler and others to analyse seven strategic decisions that led to the tragic events of April 16th 1746. The seven decisions were as follows:
-
Summer 1745: the decision to launch an expedition to Scotland.
-
August 1745: the decision to continue the campaign after the loss of the "Elisabeth".
-
October 30th 1745: the decision to advance into England.
-
December 5th 1745: the decision to retreat from Derby.
-
December 19th 1745: the decision to leave a garrison at Carlisle.
-
February 1746: the decision to retreat from Central Scotland north into the Highlands.
-
April 15th /16th 1746: the Night March on Nairn and the decision to stand at Culloden.
Why were these decisions taken? What alternatives might have been considered, and could they have led to a different outcome? And how can we counter the cognitive biases that influenced the Jacobite leadership in 1745/46?
The presentation will be chaired by the Association President, the Very Rev’d Dr Emsley Nimmo, and will last approximately 40 minutes followed by the opportunity for Questions and Answers.
With online streaming, anyone interested who is not able to get to Culloden in person can sit back and enjoy the talk in their most comfortable chair with a cup of tea or glass of wine as desired! Tickets can be obtained at
Friday, April 14th, 5:00 PM: St Michael's & All Angels' Church, 28 Abban Street, Inverness, IV3 8HH. Later in the afternoon, the President of The 1745 Association, the Very Rev'd Dr Alexander Emsley Nimmo, Rector of St Margaret of Scotland in Aberdeen, will conduct a Requiem Service for the repose of the soul of Dr Christopher Duffy, Chair of The 1745 Association between 2014 and 2016. The service is open to all who wish to pay their respects to Christopher's memory.
Friday, April 14th, 6:30 PM: Evening meal. Following the service, all those who so wish are welcome to join us for an evening meal at an Inverness restaurant, location to be decided once numbers are known. Anyone who wishes to come should let the Association's Vice-Chair and Membership Secretary, Mr Stephen Lord, know by email at: Stevelord888@gmail.com
Event of Jacobite Interest - Muncaster Castle
Please note— The 1745 Association has no further information than that which follows here:
From Peter Frost-Pennington
Jacobite Jeopardy - Saturday, 4th March @ 15:00
Muncaster Castle is hosting a talk on the Jacobite uprisings on Saturday 4th March at 3pm.
England was not particularly positive towards the Jacobite incursions of 1715 and 1745, but how much hostility was there towards the Jacobite armies?
In October 1745 Henry Lowther, 3rd Viscount Lonsdale, as Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland, was responsible for organising the defence of Carlisle, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. His papers, held today in Muncaster Castle and the Whitehaven Record Office, reveal a fascinating picture of the often panicked response to reports of the Jacobite army marching south.
Three leading Jacobite experts, Dr Jonathan Oates, Jeri Cormack and Professor Robert Frost will discuss the Muncaster papers — some of which will be on display — and the wider north-western reaction to the Jacobite threat.
Tickets are available on www.muncaster.co.uk and include entry to Muncaster for the day.
St George's Gardens London Commemoration - Tuesday, 25th April 2023
We intend to hold a short commemoration in St George’s Gardens to remember the several men of the Manchester Regiment and other Jacobites who are buried there after being executed on Kennington Common in 1746.
This event has been severely compromised in the past few years because of the Covid pandemic of course but we are hoping that a number of you, together with people from other organisations might attend this year.
In order to make it more attractive we intend to widen the scope of the event and take in a number of other sites of Jacobite interest. This will either involve you in some walking or in a couple of cases taking a bus as an alternative. The bus will not be any quicker in all probability but it may save your legs if that is required.
In order to access a couple of the places we will visit we have decided to hold the event on a weekday which will be Tuesday 25 April 2023. The event will be led by Steve Lord, ably assisted by Lester Hillman. Roddy Livingstone will play a piobaireachd in the gardens.
The itinerary and timings are not set in stone but we shall gather at
-
11.00 St Pancras Old Church, Pancras Rd London NW1 1UL .https://stpancrasoldchurch.posp.co.uk/ The nearest underground station is Kings Cross which is about a ten minute walk from the church. This the place where Col. Francis Towneley of the Manchester Regiment is buried.
-
11.20 leave for St George’s Gardens, Wakefield St WC1H 8HZ, which is a twenty minute walk from the church. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George%27s_Gardens. We hope to arrive in the gardens at 11.40. As an alternative to walking there is a bus stop at Chenies Place. The no. 46 towards Paddington will take you to Acton St where you should alight. It is about a three minute walk from the church to Chenies Place, a nine minute bus ride and then another three minutes’ walk from Acton St to St George’s Gardens.
-
12.10 Make a very short walk from the gardens to the Foundling museum, Brunswick Square WC1N 1PH, to view Hogath’s painting, “The March of the Guards to Finchley”. https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/ This will take only a few minutes and we should be able to continue at
-
12.25 Walk to Russell Square WC1B 5EH where we will visit the Caffe Tropea where we will take lunch. https://caffetropea.co.uk/. at about 12.35
-
13.15 We take another walk, this time of ten minutes or so and arrive at St George's church, Bloomsbury https://www.stgeorgesbloomsbury.org.uk/ at
-
13.25 St George’s is the church for which St George’s Gardens is a remote burial ground. It has an interesting steeple with Hanoverian and Jacobite connections. It is not officially open on Tuesdays but the exterior of the church is well worth seeing. I have met Noel, the caretaker and will contact him to see if he will be there at the time of our arrival and will let us in!
-
13.40 We leave St George’s and set off walking again. This time, after 17 minutes and 0.7 of a mile we will arrive at the great church of St Mary le Strand.https://stmarylestrand.com/. Designed by James Gibbs, it was one of the churches built in a scheme to build 50 churches for London during the reign of Queen Anne. It is also the place which at one time was credited with being the church in which Prince Charles Edward converted to Anglicanism during a visit to London in 1750.
-
There are bus alternatives to walking. The 59,68,91,168 and 188 from Southampton Row, Stop Y to Adwych, Kingsway, Stop F will do it although there is a five minute walk to and from the bus. The bus journey itself takes about five minutes as well.
-
1415 Take a short walk to Essex St, just off the Strand where we will view a plaque erected to commemorate the visit of Prince Charles in 1750 where he stayed in the house of Lady Anne Primrose.
-
1435 We will culminate our day with a visit to The King’s Chapel of the Savoy, Savoy Hill, WC2R 0DA. https://www.royalchapelsavoy.org/
This beautiful church is the burial place of Dr Archibald Cameron who, in 1753, was the last man to be executed for participating in the Jacobite cause. The 1745 Association, along with others erected a plaque to the memory of Dr Archie in 1993.
This event will be at no charge to members. Should you wish to bring friends who are not members, a donation to the Association would be appreciated. I also point out that we shall visit at least three and hopefully four churches during the day. The churches need money to keep their doors open and so donations here would also, no doubt, be appreciated.
NTS / 1745 Association Annual Culloden Memorial Lecture
Tickets are now available for this year’s National Trust for Scotland / 1745 Association Annual Culloden Memorial Lecture in the Culloden Visitor Centre at 1:00 PM on Friday April 14th. They are on sale at a price of £7 on Eventbrite at:
Places are limited, so early booking is recommended to avoid disappointment.
The details are as follows:
Title: Kahneman, Tversky and Prince Charlie. Cognitive Biases that caused Culloden. Sub-title: How cognitive biases affected seven decisions that led to Culloden - and how we can avoid making the same mistakes today.
Description: Culloden - the last battle fought on British soil and perhaps the darkest day in Scottish history. Yet, like many catastrophes, it was not the consequence of a single decision, but rather of a cumulative chain of events which turned potential triumph into disaster. In the 2023 National Trust for Scotland / 1745 Association Annual Culloden Lecture, the Association's current Chair, Michael Nevin, draws on the pioneering research of Nobel Laureates Herbert Simon, Maurice Allais, Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler and others to analyse seven strategic decisions that led to the tragic events of April 16th 1746. The seven decisions were as follows:
1. Summer 1745: the decision to launch an expedition to Scotland.
2. August 1745: the decision to continue the campaign after the loss of the "Elisabeth".
3. October 30th 1745: the decision to advance into England.
4. December 5th 1745: the decision to retreat from Derby.
5. December 19th 1745: the decision to leave a garrison at Carlisle.
6. February 1746: the decision to retreat from Central Scotland north into the Highlands.
7. April 15th /16th 1746: the Night March on Nairn and the decision to stand at Culloden.
Why were these decisions taken? What alternatives might have been considered, and could they have led to a different outcome? And how can we counter the cognitive biases that influenced the Jacobite leadership in 1745/46
2022 AGM - Chairman's Report
Following the 2022 AGM of The 1745 Association, which was held on Wednesday 5th October 2022, remotely via Zoom, you can listen to the Chairman's report on our Audio/Video page, where you will also find the previous years reports.