On the 20th March 1885, Thomas Shore, the secretary of the Hartley Institute, the precursor to Southampton University, called a meeting in his room at the Institute to discuss the formation of a society to study the natural history and antiquities of Hampshire. Present at this meeting were William Whittaker of the Geological Survey, the Rev T Woodhouse of Ropley, the Rev W Eyre of Swarraton and Ernest Westlake of Fordingbridge.

The meeting decided that Shore and Westlake should act as secretaries of the newly proposed Club, The Hampshire Field Club, with the initial duties of inviting interested people to become members and of arranging four meetings during the summer months.

In subsequent meetings, and as new members were recruited, the rules of the new Club were developed and adopted and so by the end of 1885 the Club was established with over a hundred members.

Thomas Shore

Minutes of the first meeting