As Chair of the E.F.Benson Society can I first welcome you to the website of the society - whether you are interested in Fred, his family, his novels or his biographical and autobiographical works - I hope we can, in some small way, feed your interest. 2010 This year is a very special year, as it marks our Silver Jubilee and we have two major events organised to recognise this fact. It is no mean achievement for a small literary society to have survived for this period of time, and shows the dedication and commitment we have recieved from our members. I very much hope our members will support the events the Committee have organised. The Society is delighted to be able to support the Friends of St Mary's, Rye in their appeal for funds to help restore the famous Benson West Window. The masonry is in very bad repair and is rapidly deteriorating plus the leaded windows are buckling in many places. The work and costs are formidable and as Benson people we are here to help, as are our sister society, the Friends of Tilling. They gave monies from their raffle last September. If you would like to help, then send a cheque, payable to the Society, and marked West Window Appeal: we will pass the money on and it will be noted as coming from friends of Fred Benson. This year we have published Arthur Benson's memoir of his mother, Mary Benson, which has not been published before and we are grateful to Magdalene College Cambrdige for permission to do so. It is a very revealing read and is listed on the Society's publications page. Background to the Jubilee, the previous 25 years. The Society was founded in 1985 by a group of Benson enthusiasts who in some way mirror the diverse appeal of EFB (or Fred as the family called him) which has endured down to the present day. Many of our founding members were fans of the Tilling Novels which are still Benson's most enduringly popular creations but there was a strong input from members for whom the school stories David Blaize, David of King's, and The Babe B.A. or tales of the supernatural were the prime interest. But I think for all of us there was an enduring need to know a little more about the author. Fred was famous quite early in his own lifetime as the author of the society novel 'Dodo' [1893] and indeed he was known as Dodo Benson to many of that generation - it is not easy to see what was so shocking or exciting about Dodo reading it today, however, the sheer quantity of EFB's writing ensures that there is something for everyone amongst his written works. Looking back over the short but eventful history of the society I now wonder where we all got the energy from for all those events and visits - in the early years we met at 'Tea Time' at Clapham where in their delightful Garden Room we used to have our talks and take our refreshments (refreshments have always been very important to the E F Benson Society). In the early years we made pilgrimages to both Wellington College [where EFB was born] and Marlborough [where he went to school] we had a grand dinner at Bath where our first President Mervyn Stockwood, former Bishop of Southwark, presided in an unforgetable manner - and a grander garden party at Lamb House by the invitation of our Vice-President Sir Brian Batsford both, sadly, no longer with us. There have, of course been other garden parties notably at the former home of our Secretary in Tollington Park and in the delightful garden of Prunella Scales where, she and her husband, Timothy West, kindly admited the rag-tag of the Society. The Society has also promoted more formal and solemn occasions - to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Bensons death in 1940, we arranged a Memorial service in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Rye - where EFB regularly worshiped. It was a splendid occasion attended by His Worship the Mayor of Rye and his Mayoress though I must now confess that I had some worries about the Benson Window (as Sarah (Diva) Leftwich has such a powerful voice) - We were also honoured that the late Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie allowed the Society to hold a Reception at Lambeth Palace [another of EFB's old homes] and even more so that Mrs Runcie permitted us the use of her beautiful piano. At both of these events we were delighted to welcome members of the Tilling Society with whom we collaborated over the anniversary celebrations. Members of the late Tilling Society were also present when our Vice-President Lord St.John of Fawsley unveiled an English Heritage Blue Plaque on Benson's London home No. 25 Brompton Square (there followed a delicious Afternoon Tea at the Basil Street Hotel). Keith Cavers The illustration is of our Vice President, Lord St John of Fawsley, unveiling the Blue Plaque at 25, Brompton Square, London, SW1