158 
Report to the General Meeting, 
breeders of Shire-horses. In Mr. Wakefield the Council have lost 
a prominent and energetic Member, and his painfully sudden death 
on the 8th ult. from heart-disease, whilst in the hunting-field, was a 
great shock to his colleagues and fellow- workers. Only two days be- 
fore his death he had been present at the monthly meeting of the 
Council, and had taken, as was his wont, a leading part in the pro- 
ceedings. Mr. Wakefield was elected a Member of Council at the 
General Meeting held on May 22, 1871, and was appointed a Vice- 
President on November 3, 1886, in the room of the late Sir Edward 
Kerrison, Bart. He was first elected a Steward of Live-stock for 
the Hull Meeting of 1873, and retired as Senior Steward after the 
Birmingham Meeting of 1876. He was again nominated as Steward 
of Stock for the Norwich Meeting of 1886, and it thus fell to his lot 
to be Senior Steward at the historic Windsor Meeting in the present 
year. 
5. A vacancy in the list of Trustees occurred in May through the 
resignation of the Earl of Lichfield, in consequence of his inability 
to resume any active part in the Society's work. This vacancy has 
been filled by the election as Trustee of the Duke of Bedford, and 
that caused through the death of Mr. William Wells by the elec- 
tion of Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bart., M.P. 
6. Sir John H. Thorold, Bart., and Mr. Walter Cilbey have 
been elected Vice-Presidents of the Society in succession to the 
Duke of Bedford and Sir Matthew Ridley ; and the vacancy in the 
list of Vice-Presidents caused by the death of Mr. Wakefield has 
been filled by the election of the Rt. Hon. Henry Chaplin, M.P. 
7. To replace the three Members of the Council who were in- 
eligible for re-election through not having attended the meetings 
the number of times required under Bye-law 23, Mr. Samuel Row- 
landson, Mr. Garrett Taylor, and Mr. Christopher W. Wilson, were 
elected at the Anniversary General Meeting held on May 22. The 
vacancies in the Council caused by the election of Sir John Thorold 
and Mr. Gilbey as Vice-Presidents, and by the death of the Hon. 
Edward Coke, have been filled by the election of H.R.H. Prince 
Christian of Sehleswig-Holstein, K.G., the Marquis of Tayistock, 
and Mr. Dan. Pidgeon. 
8. In accordance with the new arrangements described in the 
last Report of the Council, the presentation of a complete balance- 
sheet of the Society's accounts will in future be made annually to 
December 31. The Society's Auditors have, however, examined and 
passed the Statement of Receipts and Ex penditure to June 30 last, 
and they have also provisionally audited the accounts for the Windsor 
Meeting. The Society undertook this year certain works of road' 
making, extra water-supply, levelling, and restoration of the ground 
after the Show, which are usually borne by the Local Committee ; 
and as some of these works are not yet completely settled for, it has 
been found impracticable to finally close the accounts of the Meet- 
ing until the end of the year. The nearest estimate possible of the 
