| Description | In the early days of the Religious Society of Friends, there was little distinction between the Preparative Meetings and the Monthly Meetings, as is illustrated by the earliest minute books for Baddesley, Fulford Heath and Wigginshill Meetings where the terms are used interchangeably. As the Society refined and strengthened its hierarchical structure, groups of Preparative Meetings came under the responsibility of Monthly Meetings, each one appointing its representatives to attend the Monthly Meeting. For details of which Preparative Meeting came under which Monthly Meeting, see SF/2.
A Preparative Meeting tended to be a larger meeting consisting of a business meeting as well as meetings for worship and was authorised by minute of the Monthly Meeting. The role of the business meeting was to make decisions and deal with the administration of the meeting, as well as carry out a number of agreed duties and responsibilities on behalf of the Monthly Meeting. Since 2007, Preparative Meetings have become known as Local Meetings but retain the same administrative function alongside the meeting for worship. They are required to have a Clerk and a Treasurer, but in addition may also include an Assistant Clerk, a Collector, a Librarian, a Nominations Committee, a Premises Committee, a Children's Committee, a Committee for Domestic and Hospitality Arrangements, Door Keepers, and Correspondents. The minutes of the business meeting are compiled by the Clerk whose role is to prepare a minute which reflects the sense of the meeting to which all those present agree.
In addition to the Preparative/Local Meeting, other types of meeting which appear in the records exist, with fewer administrative functions. An Allowed or Recognised Meeting, authorised by minute of the Monthly Meeting, holds at least one public meeting for worship a month but has little administrative responsibility. A Notified Meeting does not meet the criteria of a Recognised Meeting, having no administrative responsibility, but the Monthly Meeting still notifies the Clerk of the Yearly Meeting of its existence. This provides some flexibility to meetings as they develop and increase their membership or as membership of a meeting declines, since the officers of the meetings carry out their duties in a voluntary capacity. Records of allowed or notified meetings do not tend to survive unless they became Preparative Meetings, as can be seen in, for example, the records of Northfield Local Meeting (see SF/3/18).
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Men's Preparative Meeting acted in a disciplinary capacity, reminding Friends of appropriate behaviour, reprimanding them when necessary and deciding at what point disciplinary cases would be taken to the Monthly Meeting to be considered for disownment. It cared for the meeting house and burial ground and administered the bequests it received from deceased members. It took collections for charitable purposes, as well as for expenses of the monthly and Quarterly Meetings, national stock' (Yearly Meeting expenses) and the various Quakers schools, and the accounts were audited annually. Although charity was administered by the Monthly Meeting, the Preparative Meeting was best placed to identify those it felt were in most need of aid, or organise collections for those who had suffered from a specific incident, were in prison or overseas. It gathered information to be passed on to the Monthly Meeting regarding sufferings and tithes, including the names of those who had refused to pay tithes and other charges and the penalty and loss of goods inflicted on them. It played a role in marriage preparations, as the husband to-be would announce his intention of marriage at both the Men's and Women's Preparative Meetings, and those meetings often made the preliminary investigations. The business of the Women's Preparative Meeting was very different to that of the Men's Meeting. Its purpose was mainly to deal with anything of a pastoral nature, such as relief of the poor, helping the elderly and sick, arranging marriages, caring for the education of orphans, finding positions for Quaker maids, or ensuring that younger women Friends behaved and dressed in accordance with Quaker principles. In Birmingham and Warwickshire, men and women held separate Preparative Meetings up until late 19th/early 20th century.
From the mid-19th century onwards, the Preparative Meetings became increasingly involved with supporting particular causes and campaigns on behalf of the Monthly Meeting, either by carrying out work at a local level in areas such as the temperance and adult education movements, bands of hope, mothers' groups and so on, by raising money for them, or by sending letters and petitions to members of local and national government, and organising awareness raising conferences and meetings providing opportunities for discussion. They also raised issues which they were concerned about to the Monthly Meeting so that corporate action could be taken. In the 20th and 21st centuries, this work widened, reflecting many of the social issues of the period (see SF for a list of these). References to many of these campaigns can be found in the Preparative Meeting minutes.
The Local/Preparative Meetings in this sub-collection cover those meetings which were or are within the boundaries of the Central England Area Meeting, and the predecessor Monthly Meetings of Warwickshire North, Warwickshire Middle and Warwickshire South. To identify which area/Monthly Meeting a Preparative Meeting comes under, please see the lists provided in each Monthly Meeting entry.
Meetings from these areas for which records are deposited include Baddesley Ensor, Barnt Green, Bournville, Bull Street Birmingham, Cotteridge, Coventry, Dudley, Edgbaston, Farm Street, Fulford Heath, Gooch Street, Hall Green, Hartshill, Kings Heath, Longbridge, Northfield, Redditch, Selly Oak, Shipston-on Stour, Stirchley, Stourbridge, Sutton Coldfield, Kingstanding, Tamworth, Walsall, Warwick, and Wigginshill. Please note, complete series of records have not always been deposited for each meeting and it is unknown whether they have survived. Any enquiries about these should be directed to the depositor. For those meetings which had Friends Institutes and Adult Schools, where records have been deposited, these are included with the Preparative Meeting records.
Meetings also existed at Atherstone, Lapworth, Harbury, Southam, Berkswell, Kenilworth, Balsall Street, Meriden, Stratford-upon-Avon, Henley, Bedworth, Long Compton, Brailes, Radway, Ettington, Wishaw, Armscote, Alcester, Pailton, Wednesbury, Coleshill, Nether Whitacre, Shuttington, Chipping Camden, Stow-on-the-Wold, Nuneaton, Rugby, Lichfield, Wolverhampton and Penn. Records for these meetings have either not survived, or are held elsewhere. Where this information is known, it is provided under the related material field at collection level (see SF for details). However, references to many of these meetings can be found throughout the Quarterly (SF/1) and Monthly Meeting records (SF/2).
A number of family names associated with individual meetings are listed under each meeting house entry where they have been identified, but these lists are not exhaustive. |