## **REPORT OF THE NRS COUNCIL – JULY 2023** 

## **The Position of Patron** 

Following the death of our Patron, HRH the late Duke of Edinburgh, members endorsed Council’s wish to maintain the Society’s continuous connection with the Royal Family. Our President has remained in contact with the Royal Household. Since the death of the Queen, we understand roles are being reallocated and we await further developments. 

## **In Memoriam** 

Council members were saddened to hear of the sudden death of Mr Robin Brodhurst, previously a member of Council and Honorary Secretary for 12 years until 2018. Professor Roger Knight presented a eulogy on behalf of the Society at Robin’s Memorial Service. The Society is happy to report that it has recovered Robin’s research in preparation for the remaining two volumes of the AngloAmerican co-operation series he had been working on with Michael Simpson. 

## **Meeting Arrangements** 

The NRS Council is again delighted to be able to welcome members to a physical meeting. Following the success of our hybrid event in 2022 and due to the increasing, welcome geographical spread of our membership the 2023 AGM will repeat last year’s format. We are very grateful to Dr Vriginia Preston who will host us at King’s College London. We are aware there were some technical issues last year, which we hope to have resolved and we welcome any feedback or suggestions for improvement members may have. 

## **Society Overview** 

The Society has had another successful year in very difficult economic circumstances. The decision in 2022 to amend subscription rates with effect from renewals in 2023 appears timely although the full effect will not be felt until next year. Accordingly, achieving financial break-even in 2023 is unlikely to be possible due to widespread, significant and unavoidable cost increases. Membership numbers remain stable at about 800. The Website continues to expand, with both the Online Magazine and the Members’ Blog proving very popular. Members are always encouraged to contribute. 

## **Highlights in the Year** 

This year’s Volume (No 170), Professor John Beeler’s third instalment of the Milne Papers: _The Royal Navy and the American Civil War, 1862-1864,_ should have been distributed by the time of the meeting. 

Full members continue to have unlimited online access to PDF versions of all regular NRS Volumes published to date. We are still hoping to digitize the two Occasional Publications. A major project to improve the searchability of our volume indexes received external funding from the Philip Nicholas Charitable Trust, for which we are very grateful. This challenging task is being led by Nicholas Blake who is available to brief and advise suitably qualified volunteers. About 150 volume indexes remain to be reviewed. 



The pipeline of future Volumes remains very healthy. The 2024 slot has been allocated to Dr Jeremy Stocker’s _Planning the Post War Fleet, 1944-1950,_ which will be the first NRS Volume to deal with a post-WWII topic. Several prospective authors are in discussion with the General Editor about a range of projects. They include: established authors looking to publish further volumes in series that have already started; new projects being suggested by authors already wellknown to us; and authors we will be dealing with for the first time to whom appropriate guidance will continue to be offered. 

## **Future Publishing Arrangements** 

The Society’s agreement with Taylor & Francis (T&F), our publisher since 2016, formally expired in May. Council has appointed Boydell & Brewer (B&B) as our future publisher. T&F will publish the 2023 Volume and B&B will publish the 2024 and subsequent Volumes. Ongoing discussions  with B&B concern issues such as distribution arrangements, book binding, metadata to facilitate volume identification, and the availability of Print on Demand and e-books. Members should note that in order to receive a hard copy volume, they MUST provide a valid e-mail address and destination phone number. 

We feel the business model operated by B&B will be more appropriate to the needs of the Society and more flexible. We expect the cost of the annual volume with B&B to be consistent with that incurred through T&F. However, we are aware print and distribution costs are likely to continue to increase. 

## **Changes to Council Membership** 

Appointments to Council are for four years so there is some rotation of membership at each AGM. The following proposals are commended to members for their approval. 

This year, Nick Black stands down as Senior Vice-President and will rejoin Council. Nick has played a key role in developing the relationship with B&B and overseeing the changes to member subscriptions. He will be replaced by Dr Virginia Preston as Senior and Dr Philippa Hellawell as Vice-President. When she returns from maternity leave, Philippa will also assume the role of Chair of the Finance Committee from Virginia. 

Professor Nicholas Rodger together with Dr Alan James and Captain Kevin Rowlands have reached the end of their current terms as Council members. However, Nicholas has volunteered to stay on as a member of Publications Committee, chaired by Richard Harding, and Kevin has agreed to start a new four-year term _ex officio_ as Head of the RN Strategic Studies Centre. 

Council colleagues wish to express their appreciation to all these individuals. The changes provide an opportunity to welcome Bruno Pappalardo from the National Archives at Kew, Benjamin Redding from the University of East Anglia and Matthew Heaslip from the University of Portsmouth. 

Council members and NRS Officers are always happy to deal with any queries any member may have. 



Navy Records Soelèty
Balance Sheet as at 31st Decembér 2022
Ac¢umulat8d fund
Balance at 3181 December 2W21
SurplusllDefiotl fry the year
112,843
{1,7211
97,953
14.890
Balance at 31st De￿nthr 2022
£ 111,122
£ 112,843
Represenfrd by..
Bank balanc&s
Balda￿ B￿k - CornmuThty account
- High Interest account
14,997
22.179
33
37,209
28.171
1LWJ
39.701
Coutts
Flxod A•••t Inv••tm•nts
- at value
71.421
75,634
£ 111.122
£ 112,843
Note• to th• accounts
for the y?*r end￿ 31•t D￿•rnb•r 2022
The princApal accounting Fol￿ ￿kh arg adopl•d in th• w•pw8ts'on ol tho SocieV8
accounts are as follows..
Basls of accountbn
The financial s18tements have been prepare&J on 8 going concom ba81$ ufKIw
the historKal cost cc￿vention and in pLcordarth *ith ApF4i¢atA¢ Accounb"ng
Standards.
The investmenis have b60n indudad in Ihg a¢¢wnts at market value
in accordart• with Thè Charrtw$ Act 2011.
The Sooevs rule$ require a¢counts to be prepared wtiicti gNe a t￿￿ and fair view of its
$tsle of affairs at 31st December 2022 and of ts receipts and payments for the year tr*n
èndgd. Thes& $t8t$ments are rffjuired to be examined by an independent examiner and
copiès mad• aVal￿bI& to rnèmbers.
Tho Society is rfj$px)n￿b￿ for keey"ThJ pro￿{ accounbng re¢ords which disdose
th ￿asona￿e a¢¢ura¢y lh& finarwl posrbm ofthe SoLaety and for saleguardirKJ its
assets.
Approved by the Counal on..
Prasidènt
Treasurer

N•vy Rxord$ So¢lffji
Ro¢¥lpts •nd Pynts Ae¢ount Ineludlng Unrèalls•d Galns and Lossès for tho
Yoar •nd•d 31st Doc•mbor 2022
2022
2021
Re
Sub$criptsons
Paypal subscriptions- full
Paypal subscriptions- student
Paypal subscription8- onlir
Stripe sub8cripts"on8
Glft ald
Sales
Donations
Postsge r￿1Ved
Dividènds and interest
ROYa￿e8
11,325
7.320
1.726
13,390
6,200
2,475
10.920
2,682
2,928
462
233
3.867
3,307
332
£ 39.530
42,832
General editorf$ ￿$1#
Upkeep ol membership reeords and •Jministralron lee
Printing, publishing, distribub'on aThJ editorial exFenseB
Online editor
The Burfington Pathfjrshlp
One off publi¢*on costs
Sundry expenws
3.980
13.179
5.892
3,660
10,164
5,892
S,400
3,244
3,107
3.187
£ 37,038
36,867
2.492
5.965
nl •d Ins
rth•
Gainlllo$s) on change In rnarketyaI￿ on imieslments
14.2131
8,925
£ 11.7211
14,&JO
lusl
defici

Indwndent Examlnerfs Report to the Tr￿t••$ olthè
Navy Records Soclety
I report on tre ￿e1)unts ol the s￿ fof the yèar endÈd 31st D￿rnber 2022. ￿lch are set out on Ihe
pages attached.
Re8p8ctlv• rogponslbllltleg of tru8t••s and •xamln•r
As the club's trustees you a￿ rssponsible ft>r preparat￿n of the *thunts". you wnsidei that
the audrt requiremènt of sécb.on 144 01 thè Charib"e$ Act 2011 Ilhe Act) does not apply. It IS rny
responsibility to state. on the basis of prixedU￿$ specifi&Y in the General Difections gNen by thè
Charity Commissicfflers ￿ether parbcJJlar matters have come to my attenbon.
Bas18 ol •xamIn•￿* •tat•m•nt
My examinats.on was Carr￿ OLtt in ac￿￿dance the General Directions given ty thè Charity
Commissioners. An examinath.on irtlLNJes a miew ofthe accountsng rèco¥ds kèpt by the charity and
a compariscn ol the a¢counts presented those re￿rds. It 0180 indL¥Je$ conwdefabon ol any
unusual Items ￿ dis¢lo$ures in lh& a¢ownts, and 8eeknng 8xplan8tK)n$ from Y￿ a8 tnjstees
eonceming any Such matters. The pr¢xedures undertaken do r￿1 provhle all Ihe eviden￿ that ¥w)uld
be required in an audL and c4Jnsequenly I do not eXW8ss an audit ¢)pIn1￿ on th& vithv by tr
accounts.
Indepondent •xamln•rf• unquillfied •tst•rn•Tht
In ￿nnectIon my •x¥mlnation, Th) maft•r has to my attenkn:
vthich gve8 rne ￿aSOnable cause lo beI￿ve that in any fflateri￿ ￿SpeCt the requIrem￿ts
. to kgep 8ix¢4inliry record$ in ac￿rIanc￿ wlh sec*"rm 130 oftrte Acl". and
. to pr$par¥ axwnts whth 8¢¢tyd th& 4￿ntir￿d rectyds and tts c¢fflply the
0¢¢ounlin9 r•quirem•nts ol th¢ kl
h8ve not been met. or
121
lo which in my opinion. attention Bh0￿d be drwwn in order to enatAe a woper
understsnding of Ihe accounts to te reathed.
Narne.. M Robinson FCA
Relevant professional qualffication or boty.. Chartered Accountsnt
Address.. 223 South Coast Road, Peacehaven, East Sussex, BN10 8LB
2g/v/LJ

Navy R•eords So¢l•ty
Stat•m•nt of Inv•stm•nts at 31st D袕mber 2022
Cost at ma￿et value Market value
31.12.2022 •t 31.12.2022 at 31.12.2021
4,860.176 M & G Charifund Inrx)me Unlts
6.491
71.421
75.634
6.491 £ 71.421
75,634
Market Value M&G
18
16
14
12
io
M&G
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Navy Record8 So¢loty
Balarxe Slwt4$ at 31st Da¢•M￿2022
BaLgnc8 at 31st Dec¢mbw2021
SurWLk8llDefititl fDrthe year
112,843
{1.721}
97,953
14,890
£ 111.122
£ 112.843
Balk baLgnces
B8rdasB Bank
14,997
22.179
. H*Jh Interest acu*mt
- InLrme aGGount
28.171
100
39.701
37.209
Fixed In¥•5tm
- at vabjè
7tA21
75,634
£ 111.122
£ 112￿43
Notes to the accounts
forthe year*rt(*d 31st Dec•mbw 2022
The accounting rKths whth ale adopted in the preparation oflhe soc￿$
a¢>yJJnts a￿ as follows:
Ba$is of accou
The have prepared a gothg (tjncem basis under
th& htstoriLal costconv*rt¥)n and in wrfh Appjiowp AcuunlirvJ
Stanrfarth.
The Invgsts¥*nts have been ind&ed i• the acujunts at mathetvalu8
in ac¢ordanc8v￿lh The Chairk8s Art2011.
8tat•m•nt of Soc18
The Soc*tys tule5 requKe a¢(x)unts lo be prepared gwe ￿rtf21rvl8W ofts
Slate ofaffairs at 31st Decewthr 2022 and of recwpts and p8wwI15 forlhe yearthen
end8d. These slatements ar& reouffed to b& exanlned by an independeth exaTniner 8nd
COPT85 rr*de wthLabl6 lo rnembers.
Th8 Society is ￿sPDnS1tle alsolLV keepin9 properaccwftting ￿rdS wlwth dtsck)se
wilh reasonab18 accuracy Ihe fina￿￿81 pwbon Df lh8 Swty and forsafegu8rding Its
Presideftt
Trea5u¥er