BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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Council.
Both organizations were affiliated with existing Habitations,
although they retained some measure of independence.
The concept of a
children's program had first been conceived by the Grand Council in
1885, but had been discarded when the Ealing Dames protested the
induction of youths.
As for the Cycling Corps, it was sufficiently
advanced by 1900 to offer assistance to a number of Habitations during
the period surrounding the General Election.68
Other institutional
features of the 1890's were the
introduction of regional conferences.
In 1896-97 Primrose year,
Nottingham and Rochdale sponsored gatherings.
Similar meetings were
held two years later in Bristol and Rochdale, in 1899 in Leicester, and
in Exeter in 1901.
Provincial Secretaries' Conferences were also
sponsored in 1899 and 1900.
Central Office committees underwent some
transformation between 1889 and 1901 as in the case of the amalgamation
of the Joint Literature and Consultative Committees (1890) and the
introduction in 1899 of a Joint Committee to promote SGC and Grand
Council relations.69 However, there was little substantive change. By
1901 the committees were little altered from those existing in 1888,
namely, a General Purposes, Finance, Agency, Entertainment, Gazette, as
well as joint bodies promoting harmonious relations with the LGC and
SGC.
68
Ibid., 1 May 1894, p. 5; 1 November 1898, p. 11. Minutes
of the Grand Council of the Primrose League, 24 June 1885; 9 September
1885. The Morning Post, 8 May 1901.
69
The Primrose League Gazette, 1 June 1897, p. 5; 1 May 1899,
pp. 6-7; 1 December 1899, p. 7. Primrose League Special Minute Book,
1886-1900, 23 November 1899. Minutes of the Grand Council of the
Primrose League, 13 December 1900; 19 December 1901. LGC Executive
Committee Minutes, 16 May 1890.