BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

period of several years and found it easier to begin anew, rather than
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be subject to back Tributes.
Administrative adjustments in Habitation
boundaries, a process begun in 1890, resulted in the subdivision of
large associations into several
smaller denominations, thereby
magnifying Habitation growth rates in a period characterized by
increasing atrophy. 48
Complaints of "defunct" associations began to surface as early
as 1886.49
By 1889 the League was experiencing a significant slow-down
with the result that periodic reports of inertia reached the attention
of the Central Office.
membership of the LGC.
Similar patterns were exhibited in the
The trend was significant enough by 1890 for
the Ladies'
annual report to note that while increases continued, they
"have not yet, however, reached the figure . . . they should have
attained." 50
48
The Primrose League Gazette, 24 May 1890, p. 1; 18 April
1891, pp. 4, 7; 5 May 1892, p. 8; 1 June 1894, p. 7; 1 May 1896, p. 3.
The most notable instance of a reconstituted Habitation was the
Glengeary Kingstown Habitation (1497) which was reconstituted in 1887,
assuming the name Kingstown (The Victoria) Habitation (1991). Another
likely contender was the Charlton Kings Habitation (1145), which by the
time of the 1899 Habitation Roll had assumed a new number (2417) and an
appropriately later formation date (from 1886 to 1892). It was also
probable that the Burnley Habitation (1294) was renamed Burnley and
District Habitation (2488), amalgamating four inert associations in the
borough. Minutes of the Grand Council of the Primrose League, 17 March
1887; 16 July 1887. The 1888 Roll of Habitations, pp. 212, 81, 133.
The 1899 Roll of Habitations, pp. 64, 105.
Examples of subdivided Habitations include the Longford Castle
in Wiltshire, King Arthur's Round Table in Cornwall, and New Forest in
Hampshire. They split into eight, two, and six Habitations,
respectively. The 1888 Roll of Habitations, pp. 38, 71, 90. The 1899
Roll of Habitations, pp. 25, 77, 237-38.
49 Minutes of the Grand Council of the Primrose League, 15
October 1886.
50
"Primrose League Report of the Executive Committee of the
Ladies' Grand Council," in the LGC Executive Committee Minutes, May,