FROM THE EDITOR - Welcome to the new edition of Burgon Notes. My role as the new editor comes under my Council role as Communications Officer for the Society. At its meeting in London on 23rd January, the Council felt that the editing of the Burgon Notes would fall well under my umbrella, and I agreed to take it on. Sincere thanks, on your behalf, to our Chairman, Dr William Gibson, for his editing of the paper to this point. In the course of 2010, the Society’s Tenth Anniversary Year, we hope to have three issues of Burgon Notes to keep you informed about the various activities and matters of interest relating to the Society. Please feel free to email me any items of interest you’d like included in the Notes. Email me at magnificat@live.co.ukIn the course of this year, I’m hoping to interview various prominent people about their involvement with the Society and AD generally. I’m hoping for one interview per edition of Burgon Notes. May 2010 be a wonderful year for you and yours and may your membership of the Society be rewarding in many respects. Kenneth CrawfordCommunications Officer & Editor

FROM THE CHAIRMAN -

The Society has appointed the Rt Revd Graeme Knowles, Dean of St Paul's

Cathedral, London, and Professor Graham Zellick, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, as patrons, joining the Bishop of London and the Master of Charterhouse. Bishop Knowles became Dean of St Paul's in 2007, having previously been the Bishop of Sodor & Man, Precentor of Portsmouth Cathedral, 1981-87, Archdeacon of Portsmouth 1993-99, and Dean of Carlisle 1999-2003. He is also an Honorary Chaplain in the Royal Naval Reserve. Professor Zellick is a long-standing Fellow

of the Burgon Society, having been admitted at the first Congregation of

the Society in 2001. He has an article published in the most recent volume of the Transactions of The Burgon Society on the subject of

Lambeth Academical Dress and the University of London. Recently

he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of London and until recently was Chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.We welcome both new patrons to the Society. William Gibson, Chairman

SOME ACADEMICAL DRESS IN JAPAN - In May 2002 the then Vice-Chancellor of Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Chairman of the University Council travelled to Japan. Whilst there, they were

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BURGON NOTES - ISSUE No. 11 - WINTER, 2010

awarded honorary doctorates by Soka University. The citations, which were reproduced in Kenyatta University’s newsletter, said, “We hereby confer upon you the degree of Doctor, Honoris Causa”, without specifying any particular doctoral degree. In later university literature both used the post-nominal “Hon. LLD (Soka)”, so maybe that appeared on the diplomas.

As seen in the photograph above (reproduced from the KU newsletter), for the occasion the two recipients wore gowns and square caps, but no hoods. The gowns look similar to the former London Convocation gown for a PhD in the Faculty of Science, but without the button and cord on the sleeves. The yellow edging on the front facing is possibly a little wider.

In their 1970 book Academical Dress and Insignia of the World, Smith and Sheard listed Japan with countries omitted from their book because their “institutions of learning prescribe neither academic dress nor insignia for either their officers or their

graduates”. Soka University is a private university that was established in 1969. A Google search for Soka University, Japan, came up with an image site with dozens of photographs, several of which include academical dress. There are better views of the gowns in the accompanying photo, and also what is obviously official dress for university officers. Clearly Japan is no longer a country devoid of academical dress.Leonard E. Newton

FROM THE ARCHIVIST - AcquisitionsThe Society continues to be the beneficiary of donations of academical dress from a variety of sources. Some come from members; others are quite unsolicited; all add to the store of resources under the care of the Society. Highlights of recent acquisitions include the robes of a LLD awarded by The American University, Washington DC, to Sir Harold Bellman in 1939. The lining of the hood (right) is, appropriately, of red and blue with a white chevron. Curiously, the robes are made by Ede & Ravenscroft.

Fr Anthony Reader-Moore donated a Hull BA made in the Warham Shape and Canon Michael Diamond donated hoods for the London College of Divinity ALCD and St John’s College Nottingham LTh distinctions. An unsolicited donation of a set of London DLit robes (c1970) was received from the family of Professor Joseph Lauwerys.

Also, I have catalogued some of the robes donated to the Society by the estate of Dr

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George Shaw. In addition to his Oxford MA, the shell of which is now the

customary green, there is also his prototype for the distinction of the Fellowship of the Institute of Biology (which, with the Federation of Bio-sciences, formed the Society of Biology in 2009). The hood is the

Burgon shape, of red Florence brocade, lined chlorophyll green, bound with ¼” gold. This design was not adopted—the hood as awarded by the Institute has a red shell but not in brocade—nonetheless Dr Shaw used this hood. Other hoods and robes from his collection remain to be catalogued.

Adding to our collection of Scottish Universities’ academical dress are a Glasgow BD (right) and a St Andrews BSc. The St Andrews hood was donated by Mrs Leslie Liethhead, who very kindly donated her late husband’s MD robes in 2008 (see Burgon Notes, November 2008).

Some obsolete hoods have also been catalogued, including the Diploma awarded by the Institute of Personnel Management (now subsumed into the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) and the Teaching Qualification in Further Education (TQFEd), awarded by Jordanhill

College, Glasgow (now part of Strathclyde University).

The Webmaster and I are working to update the Website’s list of items in the collection and to provide high-quality photographs wherever possible.

Items from the Archive will be on display at both the Study Day in April and at the Congregation in October. If there are particular interests, please contact the Society and we will attempt to accommodate you.

With the move to Central London, the Archive is more accessible than previously. The Council has agreed that items in the Society’s Archive may be used by prior arrangement for legitimate purposes such as research, study, photography, etc. Applications should be made through the Registrar in the first instance. We hope, also, to have high quality photographs available online.

Colin FlemingArchivist

STUDY DAY IN LONDON -

The annual Society Study Day will take place at Deloitte offices in New Street Square, London, on 24th April. For details, please refer to the separate leaflet included in this mailing.

Whilst the Study Day is a key occasion for asking questions, additionally it’s a great opportunity to get together and share our common interest, hear something new about aspects of AD and consider possible topics for research for the Fellowship for those interested. As the Director of Studies, Dr Bruce Christianson, says, everyone in the Society would look good in “shot pink”, so do think seriously about beginning

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researching a topic for your Fellowship in the Society. It’s not as daunting as it might appear and there are plenty of Fellows available to assist with the content and writing up. Don’t hesitate to explore the possibility of your Fellowship!

VISIT TO CAMBRIDGE - 20 February 2010There are currently 4 places left for attendance of the Degree Ceremony. If you would like to come, please let the Registrar know as soon as possible. Your place will be confirmed if successful but cannot be guaranteed.Important information for attendees:We will meet at 1050 outside Senate House (next to King's College). Should you be delayed. please contact the Registrar on the day on 07901 993996. If you arrive by car, we recommend you use one of the five Park & Ride facilities (see http://www.parkandride.net/cambridge/cambridge_frameset.shtml for details). The venue is about 30 min walk from Cam-bridge Railway Station (you can also take a taxi), and about 10 min walk from the Coach Station. The programme will be as follows:1100-1200 Behind-the-scenes tour of Senate House by Timothy Milner FBSc.1215 Lunch in The Eagle (not in cluded)c.1345-1445 Degree Congregation in Sen-

ate House OR exhibition of Cambridge AD (according to your registered choice). Please note: For reasons beyond our control, we have had to change the venue for the presentation of Cambridge AD. However, we have arranged a replace-ment event which we hope will be equally as acceptable. You

are free to visit any of the resi-dent robemakers on an individ-ual basis. You may wear Academic Dress for the De-gree Ceremony only if you hold a Cambridge degree.

c.1500 CloseAlex Kerr has very kindly produced a map of Cambridge showing locations of memorial brasses which you may peruse at will. There will be Choral Evensong at King's at 1730 (you should start queuing at 1700), followed by an organ recital by Stephen Cleobury at 1845.

CONGREGATION, OCTOBER 2010 - A day-long programme is in the planning process for the Tenth Anniversary celebrations for the Society on Saturday, 9th October, 2010. In addition to the investing of our new patrons and the conferring of the Society’s Fellowship on candidates by submission or honoris causa, we’re hoping to have some presentations on AD from guests. In addition to our speakers, Society members from Britain and the United States will be with us. This is a major opportunity to support your Society. The Society is only as good as its membership, and a real show of strength will make this a wonderful day for the Tenth Anniversary. If you know of anyone who might be a potential member, do encourage membership so that our attendance is at a maximum. If you are a member who hasn’t been part of the Society’s activities in recent times, do give attendance at this day your consideration.

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www.burgon.org.uk

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