BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1 Primrose League Organization Chart 50 2 Primrose League Local Organization Chart 53 IV
PREFACE For a scholar embarking on her first sustained endeavor in historical research, the challenge of undertaking a detailed analysis of the Primrose League is unmistakable. It offers the opportunity to address some of the central issues in late nineteenth and twentieth century political history. Prominent among these are the social, political, and geographical foundations of popular conservatism, extraparliamentary factors responsible for the transformation of the Conservative party to the preeminent ruling power in government, and the role of the Marquis of Salisbury, the Prime Minister throughout most of the years under study. The first two themes are exemplified in the evolution of the League while the third is the subject of a major reassessment. An investigation of the Primrose League also offers an increasingly rare chance to students of modern British political history, the absence of an existing systematic study. I have attempted to fill that void by providing both a qualitative and quantitative account of the growth and development of the Primrose League. In the course of my research I had an opportunity seldom conferred upon a doctoral candidate, the chance to assist in the transfer of a privately held collection of documents to a public archive. In this case, the papers of the Primrose League, the most extensive collection of late nineteenth century manuscripts available relating to the Conservative party, were conveyed from a storage v
Page 1 and 2: BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMRO
Page 3 and 4: ABSTRACT BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables Li
Page 7: LIST OF GRAPHS 1 Cumulative Distri
Page 11 and 12: Materials were also consulted at th
Page 13 and 14: INTRODUCTION The Primose League wa
Page 15 and 16: 3 Conservative party leadership. Th
Page 17 and 18: 5 government. It is, for him, a sys
Page 19 and 20: 7 up in the early twentieth century
Page 21 and 22: 9 Through an examination of a numbe
Page 23 and 24: 11 . CHAPTER ONE Early Years, 1883
Page 25 and 26: country, albeit with the tacit supp
Page 27 and 28: 15 districts to reflect the distrib
Page 29 and 30: 17 marked most dramatically in the
Page 31 and 32: 19 my allegiance to the Sovereign o
Page 33 and 34: 21 leadership. 1 ? yhe Registrar wa
Page 35 and 36: 23 at the meetings of .the Habitati
Page 37 and 38: 25 Women in a sense had been active
Page 39 and 40: Although this was precisely the rol
Page 41 and 42: 29 Ill As early as January, 1884 t
Page 43 and 44: The gains made in the recruitment o
Page 45 and 46: 33 move intended to suggest the ass
Page 47 and 48: 35 The Ruling Council enlarged its
Page 49 and 50: 37 members charged with overseeing
Page 51 and 52: 39 chairmanship of Gorst. 57 The P
Page 53 and 54: 41 The political responsibilities o
Page 55 and 56: 43 Conservative Cabinet. Balfour, A
Page 57 and 58: 45 been taken, presumably at the in
Page 59 and 60:
47 In many respects the formal adop
Page 61 and 62:
49 existing institutions by means o
Page 63 and 64:
Gains made in other spheres helped
Page 65 and 66:
53 PRIMROSE LEAGUE LOCAL ORGANIZATI
Page 67 and 68:
55 day decisions to its Executive C
Page 69 and 70:
57 Between the years 1886 and 1888
Page 71 and 72:
59 By contrast, District. Agents we
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61 As the organization expanded, ne
Page 75 and 76:
63 meetings should be conducted at
Page 77 and 78:
65 While the move to shift registra
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67 League. Consequently in Janyary,
Page 81 and 82:
69 The idea of a great loose body o
Page 83 and 84:
71 the League's formation. 44 A mor
Page 85 and 86:
The controversy, which assumed its
Page 87 and 88:
75 Habitations. 55 The dispute bet
Page 89 and 90:
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
Page 97 and 98:
85 minimizing the irreversible gain
Page 99 and 100:
87 implementation until January, 18
Page 101 and 102:
89 a source of popular support. In
Page 103 and 104:
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
Page 109 and 110:
97 practiced by Habitations. 26 By
Page 111 and 112:
99 The exact extent of League compl
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101 Lady Churchill recalled that at
Page 115 and 116:
103 charge 1,222,000 pamphlets, lea
Page 117 and 118:
105 He was perfectly prepared to dr
Page 119 and 120:
107 Increasingly the party made inr
Page 121 and 122:
109 in promoting a voluntary extrap
Page 123 and 124:
Ill activities brought about by th
Page 125 and 126:
113 "representative" conservative o
Page 127 and 128:
Churchill's prospects further dimin
Page 129 and 130:
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
Page 135 and 136:
123 the most jealous religious comm
Page 137 and 138:
125 Between the years 1885 and 1888
Page 139 and 140:
Honorary Secretaries. At the bottom
Page 141 and 142:
129 the highest level by the operat
Page 143 and 144:
131 promoting supporters of denomin
Page 145 and 146:
The women were prime movers in the
Page 147 and 148:
135 Women assumed a proportionately
Page 149 and 150:
137 More typical, perhaps, is Nails
Page 151 and 152:
agents, and even the Vice Chancello
Page 153 and 154:
141 which the revenues of the Grand
Page 155 and 156:
143 TABLE 2 Grand Council Revenue
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145 TABLE 3 SGC Ledger and Membersh
Page 159 and 160:
147 A Grand Council Precept was iss
Page 161 and 162:
149 become involved in party politi
Page 163 and 164:
151 notable female initiatives incl
Page 165 and 166:
153 Perhaps more than anything else
Page 167 and 168:
period of several years and found i
Page 169 and 170:
157 However, the declining membersh
Page 171 and 172:
159 multi-page handouts to single f
Page 173 and 174:
161 the 152 reported in 1890. 61 O
Page 175 and 176:
163 years later they proposed the e
Page 177 and 178:
165 On the political front the Gran
Page 179 and 180:
concerning Britain's economy and ov
Page 181 and 182:
169 feature of the later years was
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171 on all great and vital question
Page 185 and 186:
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
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estoration of British supremacy and
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176 Certainly, the Primrose League
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Certainly the League was capable of
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180 Their victory in 1868 brought g
Page 203 and 204:
182 II The best means available fo
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184 Elections 3 which provides a de
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186 stage of Habitation growth on a
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188 Appendices A, B, C, D, and E pr
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League made early inroads, almost a
Page 213 and 214:
192 If we examine other regions of
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194 V Four years later, the situat
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196 The representation of the Primr
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198 The use of the census as a meas
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Cheshire county, located in Fawcett
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Habitation influence in Wales as me
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204 Even allowing for varying regio
Page 227 and 228:
206 Another prominent feature exhib
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egion it appears to have reached it
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210 achievement is a significant on
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316 or 8.3 percent of all officers.
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undoubtedly highly esteemed in thei
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216 Hanwell might best be character
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218 a number of judgements. Individ
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Members of the military, none of wh
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222 caused many to regard his achie
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area, although a cotton factory and
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were attracted by the unique opport
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228 CHAPTER SIX Political Subcultu
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230 urban and rural communities whi
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232 II The "invention of tradition
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League, "the maintenance of religio
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236 As late as 1886, Gladstone's pe
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following passage is quoted at leng
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material ran round the various balc
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Deference has fared somewhat better
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244 Times are altered, and we have
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Periodic meetings were held to prom
Page 269 and 270:
248 offered differentiating the var
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250 Bagehot exaggerated the extent
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252 actually held positions as Knig
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254 The social advantages conferred
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256 existing order by appealing to
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258 House of Lords, and the Church
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260 Wish they were dead.57 A compa
Page 283 and 284:
262 Conservatives were urged to uni
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265 Conservative M.P.s' thanking lo
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267 are Ladywood (Birmingham), Hudd
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269 and counterbalanced by the enti
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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
Page 303 and 304:
283 Relations remained uneasy in Bi
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Woolen manufacturing was the primar
Page 307 and 308:
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
Page 317 and 318:
297 The increasingly cosmopolitan f
Page 319 and 320:
299 in South Africa" and a donation
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difficulties, we have at last succe
Page 323 and 324:
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
Page 333 and 334:
313 politics. Although it adopted t
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315 the party like Walter Long, Leo
Page 337 and 338:
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
Page 343 and 344:
who were occupiers in their own rig
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In part this misconception has been
Page 347 and 348:
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
Page 357 and 358:
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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