BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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Associates obtained an even stronger representation in the Garstang
Habitation, located in Lancashire. A register spanning the years 1897­
1909 lists 173 male Associates and 120 females, respectively, 55.4 and
38.5 percent of the total membership.20 Although men appeared to
outnumber women as Associates within the Primrose League, the
prominence of female Wardens and canvassers suggests that women played
a key part in grass-roots functions, despite their smaller numbers.
Notwithstanding Ostrogorski's assessment of the role of the
LGC, its generous annual financial contributions to the Grand Council
and the SGC enabled it to exert some degree of influence, even
leverage, particularly in areas of joint concern.
The Grand Council
took care to provide a forum for cooperation through the establishment
of several joint committees, prompting conciliatory relations between
the two bodies.
Many of these committees appear to have become
bastions of female influence, attended with greater frequency and
numbers by their women representatives and thereby serving to place the
interests of the LGC at the forefront.21
The Grand Council also kept the LGC abreast of events as a
means of ensuring their effective participation. Representatives,
20 Nailsworth and Horsley Habitation Minutes, 12 August 1887.
Garstang Register, 1897-1909; Lancashire Record Office, DDFZ. A
xeroxed copy of the Garstang Register was obtained courtesy of Michael
Wills.
21 Women were represented on the Joint Literature and
Consultative Committees. The two bodies combined in 1890 to form the
Joint Committee. They were also represented on the Entertainment
Committee (1898), an amalgamation of the previous Dramatic Society and
Entertainment Committee. LGC Executive Committee Minutes, 16 May 1890;
24 June 1898; 8 July 1898.