The Members' Evening was held at Settlebeck on Wednesday 1st February. This year the members giving the talks were Kevin Lancaster and Roger Underwood.
  Kevin's subject was "Inventories and Bonds". Soon after a person died an inventory was taken, of the possessions and debts that they had, to be used in conjunction with their will. This task was normally undertaken by four neighbours.  For this area the earliest surviving record was from the first half of the sixteenth century. From then the number increased until the Commonwealth during which there was a steep decline. After that the number sharply rose and peaked around 1700. During the eighteenth century the practice declined and finally ended in the nineteenth century. Most of the inventories for this area are to be found in Preston and we are lucky that the society has transcripts of so many, the latter fact largely due to Kevin's efforts. In his lecture he compared some from a period in the seventeenth century with another sample taken a hundred years later. The comparison showed the effects of inflation and increasing wealth in the area. Particularly interesting was the much wider range of furniture in the houses. Also the terms used to describe some of the farm animals had changed with the later ones being the same as our contemporary ones. Finally Kevin stressed the importance of the
information provided by bonds, sureties required when loans were involved.
  Roger Underwood's subject was "From Bristol to Sedbergh and back again, a journey of fifty years." This talk linked the fortunes of the Uptons of Ingmire Hall with the Smyth's of Ashton Court near Bristol. The latter were a much more important and wealthier family with the head being a baronet and Ashton Court being the centre of a very large estate. The family were leading figures in Bristol society. Florence, the sister of the baronet, became the second wife of John Upton of Ingmire Hall. His first wife had been the daughter of the Bishop of Bristol. Their son Thomas died in 1843 of pneumonia, caught from exposure on Kendal Fell, but not before he had produced two sons, Thomas and Greville. Back in Bristol Florence's brother Hugh had died and been succeeded as baronet by another brother, John. The latter was a confirmed bachelor and this meant the title would pass to Thomas. However, he was indulged by his grandmother and he died in Bristol due to his excesses, leaving Greville as the heir.
  At this stage a man suddenly appeared on the scene claiming to be the son of Hugh from a marriage contracted in Ireland. John accepted his claim to be the heir to the baronetcy and then conveniently died the next day. Naturally a court case, which was the talk of Bristol, was held to decide who had the right to succeed as baronet. The claimant was found to be an impostor and Greville became the baronet.  Florence eventually died in 1852 having seen her grandson inherit the title. Another Florence, the daughter of Thomas born in 1837, later acquired Ingmire Hall as Mrs Upton-Cottrell-Dormer.  Ashton Hall was eventually overwhelmed by death duties in the early nineteenth century and was bought by Bristol City Council.
  The speakers were thanked by the chairman who remarked that the evenings such as this showed how lucky the society was in being able to draw on the skills of so many talented members.

  This will be the fourth Music Festival at St. Andrew's and will be the usual mix of concerts and recitals aimed at all music lovers.
  There will be a strong choral element with concerts by the Pro Nobis Singers, the Cumbria Baroque Choir, the Edinburgh Camerata Singers, Sedbergh Summer Singers and contributions from the Phoenix Choir of Casterton School, Sedbergh School Chapel Choir, St. Andrew's Choir and Sedbergh School Junior School.
  Instrumentally there will be performances of String Quartets, Violin Sonatas, Piano Trios, Wind and Brass Ensembles.
  Vocally there will be two song recitals.
  The Town Band will be giving the opening concert and the Pepperpot Club will be performing at a morning Coffee Concert.
  The Sedbergh Summer Singers have given three major works in past Festivals: Messiah, Creation and the St. John Passion. This year they will be giving two concerts: Fauré's Requiem and Britten's St. Nicolas.
  Rehearsals for the Summer Singers will be in St. Andrew's Church and will commence on Monday March 13th. at 6.45 p.m. All singers are very welcome.
  If you would like to support the Festival by becoming a Patron, please contact George Handley (21411)                                                                   DC