BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

271
both in addition to an Honorary Secretary, an Executive Committee, and
several Wardens working on behalf of the association. Periodic
meetings were held by the executive, their frequency determined by the
level of activity maintained by the Habitation.
Generally speaking an
association whose officers met on at least a monthly basis in order to
review finances, receive reports from Wardens regarding the subdistrict
under their scrutiny, and plan general meetings indicated a prosperous
organization.
Subcommittees were frequently formed from the executive
in order to plan large gatherings.
The sponsorship of six or more social events in a year, over
and above any volunteer work performed on behalf of a political
candidate, indicated a fairly active association.
In some cases, as
with Huddersfield Habitation, Wardens organized functions in their
districts, taking care to coordinate activities with the local
Conservative Association or Club. 4
Rank and file members generally
confined their participation to general meetings and, to a lesser
degree, to the periods surrounding elections when they were recruited
as volunteers to serve on behalf of the local Unionist candidate.
Typically, general meetings were divided into two basic
categories, political lectures and social functions. Political
meetings generally featured as their central attraction one or more of
the following: a local M.P. or prospective candidate, a Primrose or
party agent, and an assortment of speakers drawn from all over Britain
and occasionally extending as far away as South Africa.
Topics were
4
Huddersfield Habitation Minutes, 12 March 1888; 12 April
1889; 19 April 1890; 4 April 1891; 20 June 1892; 21 July 1894.