SHNH Rules

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(a) The Society shall consist of Members, Associate Members (who shall be aged thirty years or less) and Honorary Members.

(b) All persons who are interested in the history and bibliography of any branch of natural history are eligible to apply for Membership of the Society.

(c) Dual Membership is available for two individuals living at the same address. Only one copy of the Society's publications due to Members will be dispatched although both Members are entitled to vote.

(d) All benefits received by Members of the Society are deemed to be individual to them and are not transferable.

(e) Institutions are not eligible for Membership.

(a) The management of the Society shall be conducted by a Council consisting of the officers and nine Councillors, all of whom are members of the Society.

(b) Each Councillor shall be elected for a term of three years, and shall not be eligible for re-election for one year.

(c) Six members of Council shall constitute a quorum.

(d) The Council shall meet at least three times in every year.

(e) The Council shall have the power to appoint Committees, the members of which may be either Members of the Council or other Members of the Society, provided that the Chairman of all such Committees shall be a Member of the Council.

(f) The Council shall have power to co-opt individuals to carry out specified duties on behalf of the Society. Co-opted Members do not have the right to vote at Council meeting.

(a) The Officers of the Society shall consist of a President, a Treasurer, a Secretary, a Meetings Secretary and an Editor.

(b) For any reason which shall appear sufficient to two-thirds of the Members of Council present, the Council shall have power to suspend an Officer of the Society in the exercise of the office or to remove the Officer and declare such office vacant.

(c) In the event of any vacancy occurring among the Officers or Councillors, the Council may appoint a Member to fill the vacancy until the next Annual General Meeting.

(a) The duty of the President shall be to preside at meetings of the Society and of the Council.

(b) In the event of an equality of votes at meetings of the Society or of the Council, the President shall have a double, or casting vote.

(c) The President shall serve no more than three consecutive years.

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(a) A Vice-President to serve for one year only shall be nominated by the President from among the members of the Council. The name of the member so nominated shall be declared at the Annual General meeting.

(b) In the absence of the President, the Vice-President shall preside at meetings of the Council, and shall for the time being have all the authority, power and privilege of the President.

(c) In the absence of both the President and Vice-President, the meeting shall appoint one of its number to preside.

(a) The Treasurer shall be responsible to the Council for all matters relating to the financial affairs of the Society.

(b) All cheques drawn on the Society's Bank in payment of the Society's obligations shall be signed by the Treasurer and by one other Officer appointed by the Council; in the absence of the Treasurer another Member shall be appointed by the Council to sign on the Treasurer's behalf.

(c) At a convenient date toward the time of the Annual General Meeting the Treasurer shall prepare a statement of the Society's financial affairs for submission to the Society's auditor to whom the Treasurer shall furnish all facilities necessary for the auditing of the accounts.

(d) The Treasurer shall each year sign the accounts and submit them, when audited, to the Council, and to the Annual General Meeting, to which the Treasurer shall at the same time submit a report for the year in question.

(e) The Council shall nominate each year a competent person to audit the Treasurer's accounts and shall have authority to pay the auditor.

(a) The Secretary shall be responsible for the organisation of Council Meetings and General Meetings of the Society.

(b) The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping minutes recording the business transacted at Council Meetings and at General Meetings of the Society, and such minutes shall be signed, after adoption, by the Chairman of the appropriate meeting next following.

(c) The Secretary shall be responsible for the proper conduct of all correspondence that is not specifically assigned to other Officers or Councillors.

(d) The Secretary shall be responsible for ensuring the deposit of all the relevant archives of the Society with the appropriate Department or Section of The Natural History Museum in accordance with the agreement between the Society and the Museum.

(a) The Council for the time being shall prepare a list of names of such Members as it shall recommend to fill the offices of President, Treasurer, Secretary, Meetings Secretary and Editor for the year following and also the names of such Members as it shall recommend as Councillors.

(b) The list prepared by the Council shall be sent to every member of the Society not less than twenty-one days prior to the day fixed for the Annual General Meeting.

(c) The list prepared by the Council shall be submitted for approval at the Annual General Meeting unless seven or more days prior to that Meeting at least three Members of the Society shall have signified in writing their desire to nominate some other Member to serve as an Officer or as a Councillor. In that event a ballot shall be held at the Annual General Meeting in such manner and under such conditions as the President may determine.

(a) Every candidate for admission into the Society shall have his or her name submitted to a meeting of the Council which, unless any objection be raised and sustained by the majority of Members present, shall declare the candidate elected.

(b) Each candidate for election shall be required to sign a formal agreement to observe the Rules of the Society.

(a) Persons who have performed signal services to the Society may be elected as Honorary Members and shall not be required to pay an annual subscription.

(b) Election of Honorary Members shall be at a General Meeting of the Society, on the nomination of the Council. The names of all such persons nominated for election as Honorary Members shall be published on the notice calling the Meeting.

(c) The number of Honorary Members shall not at any time exceed ten.

(a) Persons eminent in the fields of the history and/or bibliography of natural history may be awarded the Founders' Medal.

(b) Award of the Founders' Medal shall be at a General Meeting of the Society, on the nomination of the Council. The name of the person nominated for the award shall be published on the notice calling the Meeting.

(a) Individuals, teams, project groups and/or organisations and institutions demonstrating significant achievement in the previous year in the field of the history and/or bibliography of natural history may be awarded the John Thackray Medal.

(b) Significant achievement may be recognised by the completion of a major piece of work or research (e.g. the cataloguing of an archive collection); the making available of collections and/or information in new and novel ways; a publication; an exhibition, etc.

(c) The Council will call for nominations at an appropriate time by issuing a nomination form that will indicate a closing date.

(d) All the nominations will be reviewed by a Committee of the Council of the Society. The decision of Council as to the recipient of the award is final.

(e) The award of the John Thackray Medal will take place at a General Meeting of the Society. The name of the recipient of the award shall be published on the notice calling the Meeting.

(f) The award will be made annually.

(a) The annual subscription and privileges of Members and Associate Members shall be as  determined by the Council and such subscriptions become payable immediately on election and thereafter on 1st February each year.

(b) Any Member or Associate Member who shall be in arrears with a subscription for two calendar years shall automatically be removed from the Society but the Council shall have power to reinstate such members on payment of arrears.

(a) The main publication of the Society shall be a journal, containing papers relating to the objects of the Society.

(b) Copies of the journal shall be sent free to each Honorary Member and to each other Member who shall have paid all contributions due from him or her to the Society.

(c) The Society may also publish from time to time additional publications on appropriate subjects. These are not sent automatically to Members in good standing or Honorary Members.

The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held within the first five months of each year at such place and at such time as the Council shall determine. Notice of the Annual General Meeting shall be sent to all Members of the Society not less than twenty-one days before the date of such a Meeting, together with Council's report and the accounts for the preceding financial year.

(a) The Council may at any time, on not less than fourteen days notice to Members, call a Special General Meeting. It shall be bound to do so within twenty-one days of the receipt of letters of request from each of five members, specifying the business for which such Special General Meeting is to be convened.

(b) Fifteen Members shall form a quorum for a Special General Meeting.

(c) At a Special General Meeting the resolutions of two thirds of the Members present and entitled to vote shall be binding. Voting shall be on a show of hands. The Chairman shall have a casting vote in addition to his vote as a Member of the Society or of the Council.

(d) Dissolution of the Society shall be effected only by the resolution of a Special General Meeting. Any such resolution shall provide for the disposal of the Society's assets.

(a) A copy of the Rules shall be sent to every member.

(b) No rule shall be altered or repealed, nor shall additions be made to the Rules, except by the resolution of two thirds of the Members present and entitled to vote at a Special General Meeting. Details of any proposed alteration shall be sent to all Members at least ten days before the date of the meeting.

(a) The funds of the Society shall be kept in such bank accounts as the Council shall direct, and/or be invested in such manner as it sees fit.

(b) In no circumstances shall any of the assets of the Society at any time be given or paid to any Member except by way of re-imbursement of expenses, or as proper remuneration for services rendered to the Society.

The name of the Society and its publications shall not be used by any Member for any purpose of individual trade or profit.

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