Rules

^ent &rrf)aeologtcal £>oiitty RULES (in force on the 1st January, 1957). Name. 1. The Society shall be called the " Kent Archseological Society." Object. 2. The object of the Society shall be to promote the study of archaeology in all its branches, especially within the county of Kent. Membership. 3. (a). The Society shall consist of ordinary, life and honorary members. (6). Ordinary and honorary members may be individuals, societies or institutions. Life members must be individuals. Election of Members. 4. Candidates for ordinary or life membership shall be proposed and seconded by members of the Society and balloted for, if required, at any meeting of the Council of the Society, or at a General Meeting, one black ball in five to exclude. Entrance Fee and Subscription. 6 (a). An ordinary or life member shall pay an entrance fee of ten shillings, due on election, but no entrance fee shall be payable by a member who, for at least two years immediately preceding the date of his election, has been a member of an affiliated local society. (6). An ordinary member shall also pay an annual subscription of one pound, due on election, and afterwards due in advance on 1st January in each calendar year. (c). In lieu of an annual subscription a life member elected on or after the 1st January, 1952, or an ordinary member becoming a life member under paragraph (d) of this Rule, shall pay by reference to his or her age a composition equal to the cost of an Immediate Life Annuity of one pound, calculated in accordance with the Table of Immediate Annuities in force for the time being under the Government Annuities Act, 1929. (d). An ordinary member, being an individual and not being in arrear with his annual subscription, may become a life member at any time on payment of a composition determined in the manner set out in paragraph (c) of this Rule. (e). An ordinary member who, before the day of the Annual General Meeting of the Society in the year 1951, has covenanted to continue his xii KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY membership of the Society for a period of not less than seven years at the annual subscription of ten shillings hitherto paid by him, may, so long as such covenant remains operative, continue to pay an annual subscription of ten shillings instead of one pound. Honorary Members. 6 (a). The Council may elect as an honorary member any person who has signally promoted the interests of the Society or is likely to do so. (6). An honorary member shall not be required to pay an entrance fee or any subscription, and shall not exercise the privilege of a member of voting at meetings, but shall enjoy all other privileges of membership. Notification of Election of Member. 7. The Hon. General Secretary shall notify every new member of his election and of the amount of the entrance fee and subscription due from him, and shall also send him a copy of these Rules. Cancellation of Election of Member. 8. A new member shall pay his entrance fee and first subscription within three months from the date of the notification to him of his election. Failing such payment his election shall be null and void unless the Council, for good cause shown shall in their discretion otherwise decide. Unpaid Subscriptions. 9 (a). The Hon. Treasurer shall cause application to be made to members for annual subscriptions not paid by 31st March in each calendar year. (6). The privileges of membership may be withheld from any member whose annual subscription is more than three months in arrear. Removal of Names of Members in Arrear. 10 (a). The Council may remove from the list of members the name of any member whose subscription is one year in arrear and shall so remove the name of a member whose subscription is two years in arrear. (6). Names so removed may be reinstated by the Council on good cause being shown and on payment of all arrears. Members in Arrear and "Archceologia Cantiana ". 11. No member shall be entitled to receive Archceologia Cantiana or any other publication of the Society for any year until his subscription for that year has been paid. Payments. 12 (a). The entrance fee and first subscription shall be paid to the Hon. General Secretary. (b). All other subscriptions, donations and payments shall be paid to the Society's Bankers, the Hon. Treasurer or the Collector. Affiliation of Local Societies. 13. Any local association, society, club or institution (hereinafter called a local society) having not less than twenty members and carrying on in the county of Kent work the main objects of which are similar to the object of this Society shall be affiliated to this Society if and as soon xiii RULES as the Council of this Society and the governing body of the local society shall have passed resolutions in favour of such affiliation. Subscriptions, Duties, and Privileges of Affiliated Society. 14 (a). An affiliated local society shall pay to this Society an annual subscription of one guinea, due on 1st January, and shall furnish to this Society one copy of each of its current publications, and shall receive in return one copy of the current issue of Archceologia Cantiana, or other publication of the Society, but not including publications of the Records Branch or other separate branch of the Society. (6). An affiliated local society, but not the individual members thereof, shall by virtue of affiliation become a member of this Society, and may vote at meetings through one of its members duly nominated for that purpose. Proceedings and Papers of Affiliated Society. 16. The Hon. Editor of this Society may at his discretion include in Archceologia Cantiana a brief summary of such proceedings of any affiliated local society as appear to be of general interest, and also papers written by its members dealing with archaeological research or discoveries made by such local society, which society in such case shall be entitled to buy for its members at cost price as many off-prints of such papers as shall be specified to the Hon. Editor before publication. Privileges of Members of Affiliated Societies. 16. The Council may allow members of any affiliated local society to attend meetings (other than Annual or Special General Meetings) of this Society, but not to vote thereat, and to share other privileges of membership of this Society on such terms and to such extent as it may from time to time determine. Withdrawal from Affiliation. 17. A local society may withdraw from affiliation and this Society may determine the affiliation of a local society by notice given to that effect in any year, to expire on 31st December in that year. Annual General Meeting. 18 (a). The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held at Maidstone in the month of April, or at such other place or date as the Council may determine. (6). At this Meeting the Council shall present its Annual Report and the Accounts for the past year, ended 31st December ; and the Auditors for the current year, and six members of the Council, or more if occasion requires, shall be elected. (c). An agenda paper, which shall specify the names of the retiring members of the Council, distinguishing between members eligible and offering themselves for re-election and members not so eligible or not so offering themselves, shall be sent with the Report and Accounts to all members not less than fourteen days before the Annual General Meeting. Excursion and other General Meetings. 19 (a). Other General Meetings of the Society, including Excursion Meetings for the purpose of visiting places of archseological interest, shall be held from time to time as the Council may determine. xliii KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY (6). Excursion meetings shall normally be so arranged that places in East Kent are visited at one such meeting and places in West Kent at another such meeting in the same year. Special General Meetings. 20 (a). A Special General Meeting shall be summoned by the Hon. General Secretary at such place within the county as the Council or the President may determine, on the requisition in writing of the President, or of seven members. (b). Such requisition shall specify the business to be brought before such meeting and only the business so specified shall be there dealt with. Special Meetings. 21. Special meetings for the reading of papers, the exhibition of antiquities and other purposes may be held at such times and places within the county of Kent as the Council may determine. Voting at Meetings. 22 (a). Except as provided in Rules 4 and 40, the resolutions of the majority present and voting at meetings of the Society or of the Council shall be binding. (b). The Chairman of any meeting shall have a casting vote independently of his vote as a member. Council. 23. All the affairs of the Society not reserved for a General Meeting shall be conducted and managed by the Council. Composition of Council. 24. The Council shall consist of the President, the Honorary General Secretary, the Honorary Treasurer, the Honorary Editor, the Honorary Librarian and the Honorary Excursion Secretaries, all of whom shall be nominated by the Council and annually elected at the Annual General Meeting, also of twenty-four members elected from among the members of the Society, together with the Vice-Presidents of the Society. Retirement of Members of Council. 25 (a). One-fourth of the twenty-four elected members of the Council shall retire annually in rotation at the date of the Annual General Meeting, but, subject to Rule 25 (6), shall be eligible for re-election without nomination. (6). A retiring member of the Council who has attended less than onefourth of the meetings of the Council held during his last period of office shall not be eligible for re-election unless the Council or the Annual General Meeting shall resolve in any individual case that there was a reasonable cause for non-attendance. Elections to Council. 26. Elections to the Council shall normally take place at the Annual General Meeting, but any intermediate vacancy on death or retirement among the elected members shall be filled either at a General Meeting xliv RULES (other than an Excursion Meeting) or at a Council Meeting, whichever shall first happen, and any member so filling an intermediate vacancy shall hold office for the remainder of the term of his predecessor. Nominations for Council. 27 (a). Any member of the Society may nominate a new member of the Council by giving notice in writing to the Hon. General Secretary at least one calendar month before the date of the Annual General Meeting, and the name proposed shall be placed on the agenda of such meeting. (6). If on any occasion the number of vacancies on the Council exceeds the number of effective nominations so received by the Hon. General Secretary, together with the number of retiring members of the Council who are eligible and offer themselves for re-election, the chairman of the Annual General Meeting may accept further nominations received at or a t any time before such meeting. Council Meetings. 28 (a). The Council shall meet quarterly during the year, normally in March, June, September and December, and more often if deemed expedient. (b). The March meeting shall ordinarily be held at Maidstone, the June meeting at such place as may be fixed by the President, the September meeting at Rochester, and the December meeting at Canterbury. (c). If deemed advisable by the General Secretary in consultation with the President, the quarterly meetings may be held at other times or places, or a quarterly meeting may be omitted. (d). Five members present shall form a quorum. General Secretary. 29. The Hon. General Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the Society, to be communicated to members at the General Meetings. Treasurer. 30 (a). The Hon. Treasurer shall keep an account of all receipts and payments of the Society, and after 31st December in each year he shall prepare the Accounts, including a Balance Sheet for the past year. (6). After the said Accounts have been approved by the Auditors, the Hon. Treasurer shall lay them before the next meeting of the Council, accompanied by a statement of all subscriptions and other sums due to the Society and in arrear, and of all moneys due from the Society. (c). The Council may at any time if it thinks it desirable, employ and pay a professional accountant to assist the Hon. Treasurer in making up such Accounts. Local Secretaries. 31. The Council may appoint any member of the Society to be Honorary Local Secretary for any particular town or district in Kent, and may at any time cancel such appointment. Curator and Collector. 32. The Council may appoint a Curator of the Society and a Collector, and may determine the remuneration to be paid to them, respectively. xiv KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Branches. 33. The Council may authorize the formation of separate branches of the Society for particular purposes within the scope of the object of the Society. Vice-Presidents. 34. The Society in General Meeting or the Council may elect as a Vice-President of the Society any person of distinction associated with the county of Kent, on his becoming a member of the Society, or afterwards, and any person who has rendered distinguished service to the Society, on his becoming a member or afterwards. Trustees. 35. The funds, securities and property of the Society shall be held by National Provincial Bank, Ltd., as Custodian Trustee, and the said Bank shall act in accordance with the resolutions of the Council whereof copies certified by the Chairman and Secretary shall be furnished to the said Bank as soon as possible thereafter. The remuneration of the Custodian Trustee shall be determined by the Council in agreement with the said Bank. Investment of Life Compositions. 36 (a). All Life Compositions shall be invested in Trustee Securities in the names of the Trustees of the Society. (b). Only the interest of such investments shall be used for the ordinary purposes of the Society. Cheques. 37. Except in payment of accounts not exceeding ten pounds, for which the signature of the Honorary Treasurer shall suffice, all cheques shall be signed either by the President or by the Honorary General Secretary and also by the Honorary Treasurer. Payments to Members. 38. The Society shall not pay any dividend or bonus or make any gift or division in money unto or between any of its members. Controversial Topics. 39. The Society shall avoid all topics of religious or political controversy. Alteration of Rules. 40 (a). No alteration in these Rules shall be made except at the Annual General Meeting and then only by a majority of two-thirds of the members present and voting. (6). No proposed alteration, other than one initiated by the Council, shall be considered unless notice thereof shall have been given in writing to the Hon. General Secretary on or before the 31st December preceding the Annual General Meeting. (c). Any proposed alteration shall be set out in the notice convening the Annual General Meeting or in a notice sent therewith. xlvi RULES THE ORIGINAL RULES* OF THE SOCIETY, AS PRINTED IN THE FIRST VOLUME OF AJRCHJEOLOGIA CANTIANA : 1. The Society shall consist of Ordinary Members and Honorary Members. 2. The affairs of the Society shall be conducted by a Council, consisting of the President of the Society, the Vice-Presidents, the Honorary Secretary, and twenty-four Members elected out of the general body of the Subscribers ; one-fourth of the latter shall go out annually by rotation, but shall nevertheless be re-eligible. Five Members of the Council to constitute a quorum. 3. The Council shall meet to transact the business of the Society on the second Thursday in the months of March, June, September, and December, and at any other time that the Secretary may deem it expedient to call them together. The June Meeting shall always be held in London: those of March, September, and December, at Canterbury and Maidstone alternately. 4. At every Meeting of the Society or Council, the President, or, in his absence, the Chairman, shall have a casting vote, independently of his vote as a Member. 5. A General Meeting of the Society shall be held annually, in July, August, or September, at some place rendered interestmg by its antiquities or historical associations, in the eastern and western divisions of the county alternately : the day and place thereof to be appointed by the Council. At the said General Meeting, antiquities shall be exhibited, and papers read on subjects of archseological interest. The accounts of the Society, having been previously allowed by the Auditors, shall be presented; the Council, through the Secretary, shall make a Report on the state of the Society ; and the Auditors and the six new Members of the Council for the ensuing year shall be elected. 6. The Annual General Meeting shall have power to make such alterations in the Rules as the majority of Members present may approve ; provided, that notice of any contemplated alterations be given, in writing, to the Secretary, before the 1st June in the then current year, to be laid by him before the Council at their next Meeting ; provided, also, that the said contemplated alterations be specifically set out in the notices surnmoning the Meeting, at least one month before the day appointed for it. 7. A Special General Meeting may be summoned, on the written requisition of seven Members, or of the President, or two Vice-Presidents, which must specify the subject intended to be brought forward at such Meeting ; and such subject alone can then be considered. * The Editor thinks that it may be of interest to Members to have the original Rules of 1858 re-printed in this volume, together with those now in force. xlvii KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 8. Candidates for admission must be proposed by one Member of the Society, and seconded by another, and be balloted for, if required, at any Meeting of the Council, or at a General Meeting, one black ball in five to exclude. 9. Each Ordinary Member shall pay an Annual Subscription of 10s., to be due on the 19th of September in each year ; or £5 may at any time be paid, in lieu of future subscriptions, as a composition for life. All subscriptions to be paid in advance. 10. All Subscriptions and Donations are to be paid to the Bankers of the Society, or to one of the Secretaries. 11. All Life Compositions shall be vested in Government Securities, in the names of four Trustees, to be elected by the Council. The interest only of such funds to be used for the ordinary purposes of the Society. 12. No cheque shall be drawn, except by order of the Council, and every cheque shall be signed by two Members of the Council, and the Secretary. 13. The President and Secretary, on any vacancy, shall be elected by a General Meeting of the Subscribers. 14. Members of either House of Parliament, who are landed proprietors of the county or residents therein, shall, on becoming Members of the Society, be placed on the list of Vice-Presidents, and with them such other persons as the Society may elect to that office. 15. The Council shallhave power to elect, without ballot, on the nomination of two Members, any lady who may be desirous of becoming a Member of the Society. 16. The Council shall have power to appoint as Honorary Member, any person Hkely to promote the interests of the Society. Such Honorary Member not to pay any subscription, and not to have the right of voting at any Meetings of the Society ; but to have all the other privileges of Members. 17. The Council shall have power to appoint any Member, Honorary Local Secretary, for the town or district wherein he may reside, in order to facilitate the collection of accurate inforrnation as to objects and discoveries of local interest, and for the receipt of subscriptions. 18. Meetings for the purpose of reading papers, the exhibition of antiquities, or the discussion of subjects connected therewith, shall be held at such times and places as the Council may appoint. 19. The Society shall avoid all subjects of religious or political controversy. 20. The Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the Society, to be communicated to the Members at the General Meetings. xlviii