Although we have a global membership we meet regularly September-May each year at locations in Oxfordshire. Please contact the Secretary for details and see our latest events calendar.
You're more than welcome to drop in for a lively, friendly discussion and presentations from people with a shared passion for naval activities...

Download our BNRA Newsletter with details of meetings and events here:

For all BNRA events - please contact the Secretary John Wain on 07790928825

BNRA meetings are held in Oxfordshire as per our BNRA calendar usually on the 3rd Sunday of the month from 10am -1pm.  

We have traditionally held our BNRA meetings from September to April at the Bear at Woodstock for the last 20 years.  However, very large price increases at the Bear and also parking charges at Woodstock have resulted in the BNRA seeking an alternative venue that offers better value to members. We are also in the process of arranging a new role to organise the meetings after John Wain's excellent 21 years in this role.

The BNRA Committee apologise for any inconvenience as we resolve these issues

Latest Meetings - Now held at the Assembly Rooms at Woodstock Town Hall from 10am:

EGM & RETIREMENT                                                                                           Dear Members.

Whilst very sad, after 21 years of founding and working with John Foreman in running the BNRA, both John Wain Sceretary and I, Vaughan Michell Chairman, are retiring from the BNRA with immediate effect, to spend more time with our families and to pursue other interests.   The EGM is an opportunity for members to agree replacements or interim committee members for the Chairman and Secretary roles and related functions, so we can efficiently hand over and allow members to discuss any issues or agenda items raised.   For that reason John Wain will provide an update on membership and I will distribute the latest issue of the Journal and also provide an update at the meeting.  I have also asked John Foreman to provide an update on our accounts to enable your plans to be taken forward.   We recognise this is a great opportunity for the BNRA and its members to move in other directions and make changes that will be easier with this arrangement.     Whilst we don't want to detract from the planned presentations and the work of John Foreman and the sub-committee, there will be other points that may need to be discussed, but we wish to keep this as brief as possible.   The suggested agenda is:   a) reports from Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer b) retirement announcements as above c) questions from members/agenda items from members re above d) continuation with John Foreman/meeting presentations.                       Vaughan Michell  and John Wain ...

Please contact John Foreman to arrange attendance at Treasurer@britannia-naval-research-association.com

Dear Members,

This Sunday the 15^th of October we are meeting at the Town Hall Woodstock in their Assembly Rooms. The building is just outside our old meeting place so easy to find. The meeting will start at 10.00 AM with an EGM. Information about this has already gone out.

Agenda for EGM:

a) reports from Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer

b) retirement announcements of Chairman and Secretary

c) questions from members/agenda items from members re above

d) continuation with John Foreman/meeting presentations

Time permitting, we should have two presentations:

Brendan O’Farrell with ‘Samuda Brothers, Shipbuilders, 1844-1891.’

  Anyone with an interest in the history of ship building on the Thames will be familiar with Samuda Brothers, 1844-1891. Fifth in terms of longevity and possibly second only to Thames Ironworks in terms of output. This paper reveals some facts about Joseph d’Aguilar Samuda MP and some aspects of the company’s history, from the beginnings as marine and railway engineers and the tragic events associated with their entry into shipbuilding. The thirteen RN ships they launched will be reviewed.

  On retirement after 30 years as a general practitioner in Oxfordshire, Dr Brendan O’Farrell furthered his nautical interests by sailing his 31ft cruiser and taking a four-year online diploma course in Maritime History from Hull University. His interest in London shipbuilding began when he researched the unpublished autobiography of William George Hammock, Marine Engineering Works Manager to J&W Dudgeon of Poplar and Millwall. ^[i]He presented a paper on Dudgeon’s to the Sixth Symposium on London Shipbuilding in 2015 and on the life and times of W.G. Hammock at the Seventh Symposium, 2018. He is a member of the Society for Nautical Research and the Britannia Naval Research Association.

Paul Brown with ‘Elizabeth’s Navy Seventy years of the Post-War Royal Navy.’

Dr Paul Brown is a BNRA member and former academic. His recent book, Abandon Ship – The Real Story of the Sinkings in the Falklands War, was awarded the Anderson Medal, the annual prize for maritime research, by The Society for Nautical Research. His latest book is Elizabeth’s Navy, and this talk will feature highlights from it.

Copies of the latest Journal will be available for members.

The meetings typically include one presentation on a sailing navy subject and one on a steel navy subject.  From time to time we present a 'naval action described' or NAD that includes physical models and maps to illustrate a specific naval battle or action.  We also occasionally hold meetings where members bring items such as paintings, artefacts, models etc to provide a 15 minute background relating to an interesting point about the object to stimulate discussion.  In the December meeting we traditionally hold our 'mince pies and sea poetry' session where members bring and read poetry and prose (third party or even their own) to express their passion for naval and maritime history.  The event includes festive snacks and often the accompanyment of music and naval ballads from our Jews harp expert and BNRA musician.  Please see our calendar of events, but please note ; specific presentations should be checked with the BNRA Secretary before attendance.

The BNRA Oxford Naval Symposium is held in May/June each year at St Anne's College, Oxford University.  It was originally held at Rhodes House.  The symposium focuses on a different naval theme each year and includes up to ten 30 minute presentations from amateur and professional naval historians, serving officers, naval architects, curators and other individuals with a passion for naval history.  The event is held in the Mary Ogilvie lecture theatre at the college on a Saturday, with options for lunch, refreshments and an evening meal.  Normally the Friday prior to the event includes a visit to a site of naval interest related to the event.  Past themes have included 100 years of naval aviation 'Fly Navy' in conjunction with the Royal Navy, lights, camera, naval action (the navy on visual media), the Fighting Cochranes - a naval dynasty and many others since 2002.  We range from steel navy subjects such as Dreadnoughts through the ages to in 2012, The Naval War of 1812 and Naval Intelligence in September 2013, to Damned Un English Naval Warfare in 2015, The Triumph of the Circumnavigators in 2018 and Shipwreck in 2019.  We held our  face to face 20th anniversary symposium on 21st May 2022. The detais for our next symposium ONS23 on 13th May are below:

Please see the symposium webpage and the details below and contact the BNRA secretary for booking enquiries on 07790928825.

Please contact our Secretary John Wain for details and booking

The Alan Villiers Lecture is now a key annual theme of the Oxford Naval Symposium and includes a specific maritime focused  lecture related to his legacy.