BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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showed initiative and tenacity, leaving no stone unturned in its quest
to assist the rise of the Conservative party to political dominance.
While the League exercised influence throughout the county, its
greatest role appeared to be in rural communities where agricultural
and small business interests predominated.
Primrose officers were
overwhelmingly drawn from the noble, professional, and commercial ranks
of the community.
The general membership, however, was more diverse,
encompassing, not only individuals from the aristocracy, military,
religious, and professional sectors of society, but also industrial,
agricultural, and domestic workers.
Ill
The most striking feature exhibited by the records of
Habitation formation during the years under study is the almost
exponential
increase in membership occurring between 1885 and 1886.
While some ninety-three associations were formed in 1884, approximately
five percent of the total, the next two years saw a dramatic rise,
accounting for fully sixty-five percent of the total membership as
measured by the 1899 list of associations. 4
The subsequent nine years
were a time of moderate, but continuous expansion which was virtually
complete by 1895.
Despite the heightened international tensions of the
late 1890's and the dramatic events surrounding the Boer war, the last
4
The statistics obtained from the 1888 Roll suggest the
Habitations formed in 1884 constituted 5.3 percent of the total. The
1899 listing which does not include the associations which disappeared
between 1888 and 1899, gives a slightly higher figure of 6.1 percent.