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Email Sign-UpJanuary 28 Brunch at the Ansley Club with Patrick Allit
Event Recap
Nearly 80 members and guests enjoyed a beautiful buffet luncheon on Sunday, January 28, 2018 at the Ansley Golf Club which was followed by an entertaining and interesting talk by Dr. Patrick Allitt. Dr. Allitt was born, raised, educated in England and received his advanced degrees from U. of California Berkeley and Harvard University. He is a professor of history at Emory University and the author of several books and a lecturer of seven Great Courses presentations. Last summer Dr. Allitt went to England and spent several weeks researching interesting places to tour that are often overlooked by tour guides to England. The material he presented will soon be found in a new Great Course presentation, so ESU members and guests were treated to a preview of Dr. Allitt's "The Great Tours: Britain."
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Once again the Branch Members gathered at the beautifully decorated home of Elizabeth and Jim Munson for our annual Christmas Party. The last weekend before Christmas guaranteed heavy traffic, but our Members braved the delays and showed up ready to have a good time. The buffet was nicely catered by the Jerry Dilts group augmented by Elizabeth's rich and tasty desserts.
After listening to the presentation from Clent Coker (pictured left with Carolyn Mitchell, Program Chairman) on the history of North Georgia's Barnsley Gardens, it became obvious that we knew very little about the history of the property. Four generations of his family lived near the Gardens granting him the opportunity to accumulate many artifacts and stories of the ups and downs of Barnsley. It was out of love that Godfrey Barnsley bought some land and built the house for his beloved wife Julia to take advantage of the fresh air in the Georgia Mountains as she suffered from poor health. Mr. Barnsley was originally from Darbyshire, England and was a respected entrepreneur although he never actually became an American citizen. He did very well in business and was able to acquire 8,000 acres of land that became the house and gardens.
Our speaker for this month's meeting (pictured left), Michael McDavid, a retired adjunct professor at the former Georgia Perimeter College, brought us an in depth presentation on one of his favorite royal couples, King George V and Queen Mary. His talk started with the early lives of both monarchs who are both of German ancestry. Interestingly, Queen Mary was actually engaged to George's brother Edward who sadly died just weeks after their engagement. Queen Victoria, who was a match maker extraordinaire, went to work arranging for Mary to marry Prince George. Fortunately, it worked and their marriage was a successful one. They both had a strong sense of duty. The couple had five children: David (who would become the Prince of Wales), a daughter Mary, Albert (known as Bertie), George, Henry and John.
