BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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hundred in all and comprising 4,840 Knights, 550 Dames, and 260
Esquires.
The Central Office recorded a bank balance of £122.53
Still, if the expansion was not overwhelming, it was steady.
By June the membership had grown to such an extent that the Central
Office felt justified in moving to larger headquarters.
A four room
complex at St. Margaret's Offices on Victoria Street in Westminster was
rented at a cost of £250 a year.54
An indication of continued growth
was also manifest in the permanent office staff in London.
By December
it included the Registrar, Deputy Registrar, Organizing Secretary,
clerk, and two junior clerks in addition to a number of part-time
individuals hired for office or recruitment work.55
In the course of the year the key events sponsored by the Grand
Council
included the first annual banquet and the Grand Habitation.
The dinner was held in Freemasons' Tavern on the third anniversary of
the death of Disraeli.
About four hundred Knights and Dames toasted
his memory, the Ladies occupying the gallery.56
The location was a
significant one, serving as a meeting place for Conservative functions
over the years.
Not the least among these gatherings was the first
Conference of the National Union held in November of 1867 under the
53
54
Ibid., 26 November 1884.
Ibid., 11 June 1884; 14 June 1884.
55
Ibid., 1 December 1883; 19 January 1884; 2 February 1884, 9
February 1884; 23 April 1884; 17 December 1884. The figures given on
19 December 1884 list the Deputy Registrar's salary as £150 per annum;
a clerk's earnings at £55 per year, and two junior clerks wages set at
18s.7d. per week.
56 The Primrose League. Its Rise, Progress, and Constitution,
p. 9; The Times, "Beaconsfield 1 s Anniversary," 21 April 1884, p. 7.