Gatherings

Society members and guests are able to attend gatherings held annually both in the UK and North America. Where possible these take place at venues which have specific relevance to Henty or his writings. In 2006 the UK gathering was held at Worcester where members were able to see a comprehensive Henty collection. This had been assembled by a distinguished founder of the Society, the Reverend Basil Brown, and presented to the University of Worcester in 2005.  The 2005 gathering was held at the Royal Naval Dockyard at Portsmouth. Delegates visited the Naval Library where the Librarians displayed  publications of Henty’s period and afterwards a visit made to HMS Warrior. Henty was a skilled yachtsman and knew the Solent well. He also served as a Captain in the Purveyors Department of the British Army at Portsea.

In 2004 Members of the Society visited Oxford and at the Bodleian Library were shown examples of the rarest of Henty titles. Previously in 2002 the centenary of Henty’s death had been commemorated at Weymouth, most appropriately, as he had died there aboard his ocean going yacht ‘Egret’ on 16th November 1902. The twelve surviving members from the founding year of the Society contributed short articles to a commemorative booklet, and limited edition souvenirs were available to members attending. To celebrate the publication of G A Henty (1832-1902) A Bibliographical Study the culmination of many years work by one of those founding members, Peter Newbolt, a gathering was held in Cambridge where Henty had been an undergraduate at Gonville and Caius College. The Henty Arms at Ferring in West Sussex, the locality of Henty’s father’s family, was a further venue for a gathering.

In 1983 a successful series of North American gatherings was begun centred at Varna, Ontario in Canada. In 2000 and 2005 the North American gatherings were held at Springvale, Maine, in 2001 at Charleston in South Carolina and in 2006 at Lethbridge, Canada. The UK Gathering in 2007 was held in May at Cambridge. This coincided with the 30th anniversary of the Society and the 175th anniversary of Henty's birth. While at Gonville & Caius College Henty rowed in the College boat and the single and double sculls (1852 to 1854), so members retraced the route of the boat races down the River Cam in a riverboat. This was followed by illustrated talks and a celebratory dinner. In 2008 the UK Gathering will take place on Monday 16th June at Duxford, Europe's premier aviation museum, following the military bookfair.

Information regarding gatherings is available only to members.