BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

eflected the general
position of the Conservative party, suggesting
that President Kruger's real motivation was obtaining regional
domination.
Britain's efforts, by contrast, were portrayed as
motivated by a desire for justice.47
If Whitehaven appeared to give a prominent place to
parliamentary politics in its gatherings, Garstang Habitation in
Lancaster Division, Lancashire seemed to place entertainment at a
premium. Little reference is made to political issues in the Minutes.
Instead, the activities sponsored appear as a succession of varietal
shows, dances, and balls held primarily during the winter months,
supplemented by picnics and excursions in the summer.
Typically these
gatherings might consist of a very brief business meeting or lecture,
followed by a lengthy social gathering.
The annual meetings conveyed the tone set by Garstang
Habitation.
The format of the 1897 gathering was characteristic.
Approximately three hundred members and friends attended a tea held at
5:30 in the afternoon. It was succeeded by the annual general meeting,
which lasted only fifteen minutes. There followed a varietal show
consisting of a conjurer and ventriloquist, songs, solos, and a comedy
routine.
Dancing was provided from ten in the evening until four the
next day.48
q/
Ibid. See, for example, the speech given by Alderman J.R.
Musgrave to members of the Habitation on the twentieth of April, 1900
and the Primrose League pamphlets, "Why Are We At War With the Boers?,"
No. 221; "Complaints of Transvaal Boers Outside Pretoria," No. 219;
political pamphlets collection, London School of Economics.
48
Garstang Habitation Minutes, 19 April
1897.