BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

The gains made in the recruitment of the aristocracy and other
31
individuals of rank were demonstrated the following month.
A list was
prepared by the League of some of its most illustrious members for
advertising purposes; the net effect of which was to shed its "secret"
status.
Topping the page was the Marquis of Abergavenny, cousin of
Lady Dorothy Nevill, and more significantly, then the unseen and all
knowing hand behind Conservative organization.
He was singularly
responsible for raising much of the party's political funds. Recruited
by Churchill to serve as the highest ranked official
in the League,
Abergavenny occupied the position of Grand Councillor until
April of
1885 when he resigned.38 His appointment lent considerable political
weight and prestige to the newly founded association.
The League's social
status was further buttressed by the likes
of the Duke of Portland; the Earls of Hoptoun, Limerick, Orford,
Kinnoull, and Egremont; and the Viscounts Castlereagh and Curzon. It
included Lord Wimborne as well as the Baronets Sir Robert Peel, Sir
George Wombwell, Sir Henry de Bath, Sir Gerald Codrington, Sir William
Heathcote, and Sir Henry Peck, M.P.
Even Ashmead Bartlett, who
initially had viewed the League suspiciously, joined as a Council
member.39
Nevertheless, it should not be assumed that all notables who
joined played a prominent or enthusiastic role.
The Marquis of
38 Abergavenny to Churchill, 11 April 1885; Churchill Papers,
RCHL v/590.
39 Minutes of the Grand Council of the Primrose League, 23
February 1884.