BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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225 she was recruited successfully for the cermonial post of Dame President.59 p ar more active in Habitation affairs was W.J. Fitzherbert Brockholes, a prominent landowner in the region. The occuptional categories in which Garstang Habitation appeared noticeably deficient include the armed services and clerical sectors. No individuals were associated with the former, while only three (4.2 percent) were identified with the latter. Their status as single women and the absence of other family members suggests they served as domestic servants for local vicars. Professsionals accounted for 3.1 percent of the named members while services constituted a substantial 16.8 percent of those listed. Shopkeepers made up 11 percent of those listed as compared with 12 percent for skilled tradesmen. The number of Knights and Dames recorded on the Garstang register was 6.1 percent of the total, slightly more than the 5.9 percent listed for Melbury. Men were 58 percent of all individuals on the register. As for the women, 27 percent were married, 73 percent single. The preponderance of single women participating in the League appears also to have been exhibited on a national level, based on the large numbers of "Misses" appearing as officers in the 1888 and 1899 Rolls, although no figures have been provided in this chapter to demonstrate this claim. While their presence might suggest a propensity for youth, it seems more probable that women of all ages 59 Minutes of the Garstang Habitation, 7 March 1895.
were attracted by the unique opportunities offered for combining social 226 and political endeavors. For many it served as an avenue to apply previously untapped business and organizational skills in service of their party. VIII This chapter represents the first systematic study of its kind regarding the popular foundations of Conservative support. The dramatic growth of the Primrose League between 1885 and 1886 and its more limited expansion in the late 1890's appeared to coincide with and reflect larger developments within the Conservative party during this same period. Just as the latter organization made gains in extending the basis of its popular support in the 1880's while striving to maintain its electoral lead through the late 1890's, so too the Primrose League sought to prolong and to extend its influence, despite stagnating patterns of growth by the time of the Boer war. Based on the statistical material provided in this chapter, it appears that while the League established Habitations throughout the country, its greatest influence was in rural communities where agricultural and small business interests predominated. This development is not surprising. For while popular support for the Conservative party in the urban constituencies was, by and large, relegated to Conservative Working Men's Clubs and in the suburban communities predominantly the domain of local Conservative Associations, in the agricultural regions the Primrose League assumed primacy.
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BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMRO
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ABSTRACT BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND
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TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables Li
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LIST OF GRAPHS 1 Cumulative Distri
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PREFACE For a scholar embarking on
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Materials were also consulted at th
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INTRODUCTION The Primose League wa
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3 Conservative party leadership. Th
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5 government. It is, for him, a sys
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7 up in the early twentieth century
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9 Through an examination of a numbe
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11 . CHAPTER ONE Early Years, 1883
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country, albeit with the tacit supp
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15 districts to reflect the distrib
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17 marked most dramatically in the
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19 my allegiance to the Sovereign o
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21 leadership. 1 ? yhe Registrar wa
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23 at the meetings of .the Habitati
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25 Women in a sense had been active
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Although this was precisely the rol
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29 Ill As early as January, 1884 t
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The gains made in the recruitment o
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33 move intended to suggest the ass
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35 The Ruling Council enlarged its
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37 members charged with overseeing
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39 chairmanship of Gorst. 57 The P
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41 The political responsibilities o
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43 Conservative Cabinet. Balfour, A
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45 been taken, presumably at the in
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47 In many respects the formal adop
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49 existing institutions by means o
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Gains made in other spheres helped
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53 PRIMROSE LEAGUE LOCAL ORGANIZATI
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55 day decisions to its Executive C
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57 Between the years 1886 and 1888
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59 By contrast, District. Agents we
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61 As the organization expanded, ne
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63 meetings should be conducted at
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65 While the move to shift registra
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67 League. Consequently in Janyary,
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69 The idea of a great loose body o
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71 the League's formation. 44 A mor
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The controversy, which assumed its
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75 Habitations. 55 The dispute bet
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77 The direct-mail solicitation suc
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Lord Salisbury, as Grand Master, li
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81 Agency, a Primrose Gazette Commi
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83 CHAPTER THREE Politics, 1885-18
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85 minimizing the irreversible gain
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87 implementation until January, 18
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89 a source of popular support. In
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anquet held just prior to the 1885
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93 Political Secretary. A decision
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self-imposed restraints exercised d
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97 practiced by Habitations. 26 By
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99 The exact extent of League compl
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101 Lady Churchill recalled that at
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103 charge 1,222,000 pamphlets, lea
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105 He was perfectly prepared to dr
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107 Increasingly the party made inr
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109 in promoting a voluntary extrap
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Ill activities brought about by th
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113 "representative" conservative o
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Churchill's prospects further dimin
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117 Despite the lapse of time since
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119 Maximum annual earnings for the
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121 The Rev. J.S. Beckwith, speakin
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123 the most jealous religious comm
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125 Between the years 1885 and 1888
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Honorary Secretaries. At the bottom
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129 the highest level by the operat
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131 promoting supporters of denomin
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The women were prime movers in the
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135 Women assumed a proportionately
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137 More typical, perhaps, is Nails
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agents, and even the Vice Chancello
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141 which the revenues of the Grand
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143 TABLE 2 Grand Council Revenue
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145 TABLE 3 SGC Ledger and Membersh
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147 A Grand Council Precept was iss
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149 become involved in party politi
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151 notable female initiatives incl
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153 Perhaps more than anything else
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period of several years and found i
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157 However, the declining membersh
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159 multi-page handouts to single f
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161 the 152 reported in 1890. 61 O
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163 years later they proposed the e
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165 On the political front the Gran
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concerning Britain's economy and ov
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169 feature of the later years was
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171 on all great and vital question
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It seems significant that at the ti
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A new generation of imperial associ
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177 the war was the extent to which
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170 concerns in which Ireland was p
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172 they failed in their result, bu
Page 195 and 196: estoration of British supremacy and
Page 197 and 198: 176 Certainly, the Primrose League
Page 199 and 200: Certainly the League was capable of
Page 201 and 202: 180 Their victory in 1868 brought g
Page 203 and 204: 182 II The best means available fo
Page 205 and 206: 184 Elections 3 which provides a de
Page 207 and 208: 186 stage of Habitation growth on a
Page 209 and 210: 188 Appendices A, B, C, D, and E pr
Page 211 and 212: League made early inroads, almost a
Page 213 and 214: 192 If we examine other regions of
Page 215 and 216: 194 V Four years later, the situat
Page 217 and 218: 196 The representation of the Primr
Page 219 and 220: 198 The use of the census as a meas
Page 221 and 222: Cheshire county, located in Fawcett
Page 223 and 224: Habitation influence in Wales as me
Page 225 and 226: 204 Even allowing for varying regio
Page 227 and 228: 206 Another prominent feature exhib
Page 229 and 230: egion it appears to have reached it
Page 231 and 232: 210 achievement is a significant on
Page 233 and 234: 316 or 8.3 percent of all officers.
Page 235 and 236: undoubtedly highly esteemed in thei
Page 237 and 238: 216 Hanwell might best be character
Page 239 and 240: 218 a number of judgements. Individ
Page 241 and 242: Members of the military, none of wh
Page 243 and 244: 222 caused many to regard his achie
Page 245: area, although a cotton factory and
Page 249 and 250: 228 CHAPTER SIX Political Subcultu
Page 251 and 252: 230 urban and rural communities whi
Page 253 and 254: 232 II The "invention of tradition
Page 255 and 256: League, "the maintenance of religio
Page 257 and 258: 236 As late as 1886, Gladstone's pe
Page 259 and 260: following passage is quoted at leng
Page 261 and 262: material ran round the various balc
Page 263 and 264: Deference has fared somewhat better
Page 265 and 266: 244 Times are altered, and we have
Page 267 and 268: Periodic meetings were held to prom
Page 269 and 270: 248 offered differentiating the var
Page 271 and 272: 250 Bagehot exaggerated the extent
Page 273 and 274: 252 actually held positions as Knig
Page 275 and 276: 254 The social advantages conferred
Page 277 and 278: 256 existing order by appealing to
Page 279 and 280: 258 House of Lords, and the Church
Page 281 and 282: 260 Wish they were dead.57 A compa
Page 283 and 284: 262 Conservatives were urged to uni
Page 285 and 286: 265 Conservative M.P.s' thanking lo
Page 287 and 288: 267 are Ladywood (Birmingham), Hudd
Page 289 and 290: 269 and counterbalanced by the enti
Page 291 and 292: 271 both in addition to an Honorary
Page 293 and 294: 273 League. In large measure this w
Page 295 and 296: 275 Prior to 1885 the rural communi
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277 that all qualified voters suppo
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279 Liberal Unionist member.*6 Des
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independently of ordinary Conservat
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283 Relations remained uneasy in Bi
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Woolen manufacturing was the primar
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287 speaker retained by Grand Counc
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In the case of both Bain and Helder
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291 Catholics favoring denomination
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293 The efforts of members of the e
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later, members reminisced "over the
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297 The increasingly cosmopolitan f
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299 in South Africa" and a donation
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difficulties, we have at last succe
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While special rights and privileges
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305 exclusively of Dames.79 The re
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dated 21 February 1890, Merrick com
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Begun in February of 1888, Whitehav
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311 CHAPTER EIGHT Epilogue We [th
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313 politics. Although it adopted t
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315 the party like Walter Long, Leo
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317 The years 1900-1914 were marked
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319 London executive following the
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321 Financial and minute records in
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who were occupiers in their own rig
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In part this misconception has been
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327 century received a mixed respon
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329 social and political reforms. I
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331 BIBLIOGRAPHY I Primrose League
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333 Thornbury Habitation Minutes,,
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Cannadine, David. "The Context, Per
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Gwyn, William B. Democracy and the
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339 Mathias, Peter. The First Indus
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341 Rempel, Richard A. Unionists Di
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343 APPENDIX A London 1899 cumula
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345 APPENDIX C Dorset 1899 cumula
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347 APPENDIX E West Riding, Yorksh
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APPENDIX G County by County Analys
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APPENDIX H (Cont'd) Comparison of
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