BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

211
VII
One of the most important features of League membership is its
social class composition.
Records are available which list members of
some local Habitations and clubs of the Primrose League.
These can in
turn be examined to determine the class or occupation of individuals on
the registers, thereby providing a greater understanding of the
economic status of rank and file participants.
The evidence available
is sufficient to allow for informed speculation, however use of these
records at times necessitates somewhat arbitrary decisions concerning
titles, job descriptions, and even residential addresses.
The task of determining the social
stratification of members
holding positions as officers at either the Habitation or Divisional
Level
is made somewhat easier by the preponderance of titles:
aristocratic, military, religious, professional, and honorific.
I have
divided the various headings into two basic categories "Aristocratic"
and "Professional."
Each includes a number of subclassifications.
Of the 3,824 officers named in the 1888 Roll, 27.9 percent can
be identified by title.32
Under the "Aristocratic" heading were placed
32 Individuals with multiple titles are identified under each
designation on each occasion that they appear as officers, except where
they held more than one position within a Division. Under this method
of calculation, the proportion of officers holding positions of
distinction is slightly inflated. This duplication of title holders
occurs almost exclusively in the professional categories and among
those individuals placed under the Aristocratic heading ranked equal to
or below that of Baronet. This procedure is consistent with the method
of tabulation of officers described in Chapter Four, footnote fifteen.