BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

undoubtedly highly esteemed in their communities, although they were
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not designated by honorific or professional titles.
Businessmen, for
instance, were likely to have played a significant role, but were
rarely identified by title.35
The figures tend to suggest what local registers affirm: the
importance of obtaining the support of notables as a means of
attracting membership and enhancing the quality of social
functions.
The dramatic increase in aristocratic influence demonstrated in the
1899 officer count suggests the League had, in large measure, achieved
social and political legitimacy.
It had, in effect, become an
acceptable forum for the participation of the most highly esteemed
members of the community.
The prominence of notables in both the 1888
and 1899 figures appears to support Cannadine's contention that as the
aristocracy was forced to concede economic and political power in the
course of the nineteenth century, their importance as figureheads
increased
dramatically.36
Determining the social class designation of rank and file
members of Habitations is also somewhat conjectural.
The sources
available are limited, consisting essentially of two incorporated club
35 Their presence as members in the Melbury (Dorset) and
Garstang (Lancashire) Habitations indicates a more general
participation at the local level. See pages 220 and 224-25 of this
chapter. In the case of Garstang Habitation, the Honorary Secretary,
William Bennett, was a butcher and cattle dealer. The 1899 Roll of
Habitations, p. 102. Kelly's Directory of Lancashire, B.L.
P.P.2505.yby., p. 452.
36 Cannadine, Lords and Landlords, pp. 54-56.