Founded 1916; R.I.B.I. Club No. 13
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Recollections of Leicester Rotary
Substance of an Address given to the Leicester Rotary
Club,
2nd January, 1939
by
Rotarian Robert Holt (Past President)
Looking Backward
On the 17th of March 1916 Mr. C.H. Charante a former member of the Edinburgh Rotary Club got together eight Leicester business men and explained to them the principles and practice of Rotary. Two only of the eight are still with us today, viz., Rotarians W.K. Bedingfield and George Pochin. A resolution was passed that if 30 members could be found a Club should be established for Leicester and the meeting adjourned to the 18th April. On that date Thos. Stephenson of Edinburgh (a later president of B.A.R.C.) spoke on "The History and Interpretation of Rotary" to a company of 13. Seven of the thirteen are still in the Club as Founder Members. On the 16th June 1916 in the middle of the Great War the Club was actually brought into being with a membership of 19. Mr. C.V. Levesley was voted to the Chair pro tem., Mr. W.K. Bedingfield as Vice-Chairman and Mr. W.S. Hobson took office as Treasurer - an office he was to hold for fifteen years. Mr. Charante was the first Secretary. Friday was the day chosen for the weekly luncheon meeting and the Grand Hotel as the rendezvous.
Actually the Club came into full membership of the British Association of Rotary Clubs on the 7th October 1916 when (Mr. C.V. Levelsley having retired) George Crawford Johnson took office as first President with W.K. Bedingfield as Vice-President. It is interesting to note that there are 4661 Clubs in the world and 457 in the British Isles. The Leicester Club is No. 340 of the world Clubs and was the twelth of the Clubs in the British Isles.
At the Inaugural Meeting the membership was 32 and it was rather difficult under war conditions to maintain a satisfactory attendance or increase the number. The Hotel people stipulated that a certain number of luncheons should be guaranteed and the Club had to pay for that number. members objected to paying for lunches not eaten and so guests were sometimes brought in at the Club's expense. Food rationing was in being and neither the Grand or any other Hotel wanted the trouble of a Luncheon Club. In March 1917 there was serious thought of discontining the Club till better conditions prevailed, but the members had found real pleasure in its fellowship and resolved to carry on. The difficulties of the times are illustrated by the fact that one Council Meeting was attended only by the President and Secretary. Rotarians Tarratt and Barker about this time were the first two members to depart on active service. Membership gradually increased and by the time the war ended the membership was up to 68 with an average attendance of about 32.
Even in these difficult days the Club was true to Rotary ideals and anxious to serve. The Town Clerk was invited to sugest some service the Members could render but he evidently had a poor opinion of the Club's capabilities and was not helpful. Assistance was given to the American Soldiers' Hospitality Scheme and contributions were made to certain War Funds. Early in 1918 it was brought to the knowledge of the Members that a workshop equipped with tools and material would be of great assistance to the wounded soldiers at the Base Hospital and the Club undertook the responsibility of providing it. Dr. N.I. Spriggs was Convenor of a committee and william Keay gave his services as Architect. The workshop was opened by Ald. Col. Jonathan North later in the year. It cost about £600 and served a most unseful purpose. When no longer required for its original purpose it was presented to the Wyggeston Boys' School and still bears a tablet recording its origin.
The end of the war found the Club well established and growth was rapid. Rotarian Bedingfield was the second President. He was the first Membership Chairman and Speaker finder and he filled the later office for a period of 16 years. Reference to the files indicated the excellent service he rendered the Club in that capacity. Many of the addresses given in the earlier years were reported in full in the Press and were worthy of permanent record. One address given by our Honorary Member Mr. C.J. Bond on Industry and health, the Club issued as a pamphlet, circulating 1000 copies.
In 1919 the Club held its first Annual Dinner. This was attended by the President of B.A.R.C. - Rotarian Holmes-Morton, and was the occasion on which the American Flag was presented to the Club, the gift of the New York Club in recognition of the hospitality given to American Soldiers on leave. In the same year a meeting was devoted to the entertainment of the Naval party visiting Leicester to boost Victory Bonds and at an evening dinner hospitality was given to the Executive of the British Associaton of Rotary Clubs, the President being Rotarian J.E. Lloyd-Barnes. At this dinner Rotarians Hyde and C.J. Williams were each presented with a pair of multi-coloured socks, a reward offered by Secretary Stibbe to any Rotarian finding a mistake in the Roster. Another memorable meeting about this time was that at which the International President Russell F. Grenier spoke on American and British Friendship. He was given a Leicester made Cardigan Jacket by which to remember the Club.
I have referred already to the excellent addresses given at ordinary meetings. Lord Burnham the proprietor of the Daily Telegraph and held in reverence by all Teachers, addressed the Club on Anglo-French Relationship and the late Alderman Wakerley presented a Town Planning Scheme forecasting the Charles Street widening and suggesting a tramless island round the Clock Tower. Bransby Williams was always a welcome speaker and in one address on Censorship he told how a play was passed by the Lord Chancellor [sic: a printing error in the original for Lord Chamberlain] on the understanding that the word "undervest" was substituted for "chemise".
Thinking of the period 1918-1920 I should like to hear again addresses given by Members still in the Club:
Rotarian Capriles "Language and Trade"
" Barker "The decoration of a room"
" K. Russell "Music in Leicester"
" W. Martin "The Stage and "Education"
" Bedingfield "The New Stone Age"
" Ironside "Letter Writing"
" Kingdom "Secondary Education"
" Tarratt "The pleasures of Walking"
" Christian "The Colour Industry"
Rotarian Morcom gave a talk and a demonstration of Modelling. As he spoke he produced in clay a life-like bust of the Rev. Dr. Freeman who posed for him. There are others but the aforesaid will serve as samples. In passing I may mention that in June 1919 the Lord Mayor attended and made the first public announcement that Leicester was once again a city. The first Ladies' Evening was in March 1920 and took the form of a dinner in the Assembly Rooms. The ladies presented to the Club the 'Union Jack' which companions the 'Stars and Stripes' presented the year before by the New York Club. Subsequent to the presentation of the American flas Rotarian John Harrison visited New York and on behalf of the Leicester Club presented the American Club with 5 etched sketches of Old Leicester in portfolio form, the work of Miss Sloan. Rotarian Fosbrooke composed a suitable inscription and Rotarian Bedingfield wrote it.
The Club left the "Grand" for the "Bell" hotel early in 1921 but the new arrangement lasted only a few months and new accommodation was found in the Oriental Hall. simultaneously an agreement (still in force) was made with the Church House Committee for the use of 5 St. Martins East as an office with the share of the services of the clerk. This period of the Club's history is of great importance. Under the successive Presidencies of Rotarians Mylius, R.C. Johnson and Henry Hyde, membership had grown to 150 and among the new members were nine destined to occupy the Presidential chair. When Canon W.T. Elliott (brought into the Club under a classification which broke every classification rule) became President in 1921 and the Leicester Rotary Club had the biggest weekly attendance that any Club in the British Isles outside London. Canon Elliott found in Rotary a sphere suited to his genius and Leicester can be proud to have given R.I.B.I. one of its most efficient and popular Presidents with an international reputation.
With the growth of the Club interest in wider Rotary increased and extension work was taken up. Rotarians Canon Elliott, Hyde and Bedingfield helped to form Clubs as far away as Norwich, Lincoln, Cambridge and Ipswich. The Leicester and Nottingham Clubs were jointly responsible for extension work in East Midlands. The Leicester Club has since fathered the Northampton, Loughborough, Hinckley, Coalville and Melton Mowbray clubs. District Councils were in their infancy and the latter two of the Rotarians just mentioned were pioneers and early Directors. Rotary was evolving and constitutional changes being made in I.A.R.C. (now R.I.), B.A.R.C. (now R.I.B.I.) as well as the Clubs, and Leicester made its contribution to the revised rules. Rotarians R. Wallace Henry and A.A. Ironside rendered valuable service in this connection.
Some features of the format of the Club Meetings of those formative years are worthy of record: Evening meetings were occasionally held for the the discussion of special subjects and the Annual Business Meeting was held in the evening and preceded by a dinner. Music was frequently introduced at the midday luncheon. Rotarians Ryland George, George Pochin and A.G. Barrett (described by Canon Elliott as a Barret-one) were the usual vocalists with Rotarians Bunney or Cardinal Taylor at the piano.
An occasion roll call when each member gave his name, classification and hobby had its value. Rotarian Dr. Freeman once gave his hobby as paying Super-Tax. One roll call revealed that of the 150 members 37 owner Motor Cars, 33 plaed Golf and quite a number were cyclists. ir would be interested to know the present proportions. For six weeks in August and September in the earliest years no meetings were held. Later when meetings were held in August they were informal and rather jolly, sometimes taking the form of story telling competition. Walter Martin was once crowned with a wreath of holly and laurel leaves for a story too long to tell here, but a good one. Three short stories may serve as examples of what provoked Club laughter.
Rotarian Gayton. "A woman of a kindly nature saw a poorly dressed man at the street corner. On a piece of paper she wrote 'Never despair' and having wrapped a couple of shillings in it she slipped it into the man's hands. The following morning there was a knock on the door and on opening it she was confronted by the man who handed her 10/- with the remark 'you was the only woman in the street wot backed it'."
Dr. Wallace Henry. "It was the custom in the North of Ireland on certain occasions to paint in various colours a dozen eggs. A rooster on looking round was astonished at the many colours the eggs presented and after wating till his wife came along, went out and killed the peacock."
Rotarian Hyde. " 'Good morning' said the minister to Sandy, 'you are looking very well'. Said Sandy 'I have been away for a wee holiday and had a terrible accident on the way home - I lost my luggage.' 'How did that happen' said the minister, to which Sandy with a solemn look replied 'The cork came out'."
Canon Payne as Prison Chaplain had many amusing stories to tell of his prison experiences. One ex-prisoner who begged for a shirt said the one he wore had neither back or front and the sleeves had been ripped out.
When Rotarian R.C. Johnson the fourth President retired he was able to tell how the Club had been of service in removing misunderstanding between Leicester and Nottingham on the University College schemes of the two cities and to refer to valuable assistance given to workshops for the Blind, relief to sufferers from the Louth Flood disaster, St. Mark's Xmas Fund, and to the Deaf and Dumb Mission. The sum of £125 was subscribed to furnish the Institute of the last mentioned. He mentioned also the formation of the Club which organised games for Public School boys at home for the holidays. This was a success for a time but what became of it is not recorded.
Many interesting suggestions have been made from time to time at business meetings. One was that to ensure good attendance Members should pay for a year's luncheons in advance with the Annual Subscription, another that the Roster should give the portrait of each member.
President Johnson might have mentioned in his review a very important development in the romation of a Pulbic Service Committee. Rotarian John Harrison had a great scheme under which the Club would form 28 Committees each of three members to have a watching brief over some branch of public service or charity - Transport - Gas - Water - Police - Poor Law - Hospitals, etc. etc. The sound theory was that every Rotarian should be doing some definite public service. There was much argument about the proposal and one or two evening meetings were held. Finally John got eight committees, 12 members on each and some useful work resulted. During the Edinburgh Conference of 1921 one member went over four big Hospitals in Edinburgh and Glasgow of 2,800 Beds and obtained and recorded some useful information. A lot of interesting facts must be filed somewhere as a result of the work done. A few suggestions may be mentioned, viz:
The desirability of providing Leicester with an Information Bureau
That to obviate clashing of local events a Town Engagement Book recording all forthcoming meetings etc. of a public character be kept at the Reference Library
That all school playgrounds (Secondary Schools included) should be thrown open for children during holidays
The urgent need for a Theatre for amateurs
The development of Evening Study Circles for Members and their friends.
The present form of Community Service Committee was substituted later but does not provide the same specialised study.
By the end of 1923 the Club had attained approximately its present membership. It may now be of interest to give a list of some social services rendered by Rotary other than those already mentioned. After the war much sympathy was felt for children whose fathers had lost their lives and out of this arose what was known as the Big Brother Movement. Kindly Thomas Hollis was the leader ans the idea was that each Rotarian should be responsible for watching over one or more fatherless boys of 12 or 14, giving them guidance in matters of educatiob, choice of trade, and generally looking after their physical and moral well being. No financial responsibility was involved, but of course the task did involve osme expenditure as there were occasional parties and facilities for recreation were provided. This was a great work of personal service and it was a comfort to many a war widow to know that her boy had a friend. It would be interesting to know the subsequent history of these boys. it is known that some of them have grown up to be exceelent citizens occupying important business and professional positions.
In 1924 £20 was granted to the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association and £30 sent to the Japanese Earthquake Relief Fund. The biggest task undertaken by the Club was the acquisition of the Swithland Woods in 1925. Rotarian Bedingfield was the prime mover in an achievement which secured for Leicester and the County for all time 137 acres of beautiful woodland. Club members subscribed £1,105. Walter Martin Players with the Club's assistance raised £416 and the balance was obtained from outside subscribers. The woods cost £3,048 and when they were transferred to the Bradgate Park Trustees £693 was handed over in cash and War Loan towards maintenance. There is an inscription commemorating the gift in the largest of the slate pits. It is not always readable but is permenent.
Mention has been made of the £416 from the Walter Martin Players for the Swithland Woods Scheme. Some record should be made of the great service rendered by Rotarian Walter Martin and his brother Harry in co-operation with the Rotary Club to the charities of Leicester. The Club stood guarantor against loss on the occasions when the Opera House was taken over and associated itself with the organisation. Two weeks of one play (with two special Rotary nights) endowed 3 cots at the Royal Infirmary. "Dear Brutus" brought a profit of £1,000, £100 for the Royal Infirmary and £900 to other Charities. The play which found £416 for Swithland Woods Scheme was Potash and Pearlmutter - a great performance. £322 was raised by a play for the Poor Boys and Girls Camp and other plays resuled in help to the Nursing Association (£592), Boy Scout Movement, the Deaf and Dumb Institute etc. £3,500 would be a low estimate to place as the amount realised by these efforts.
The Club took a keen interest in the beginnings of the University College and Rotarian Rattray, the first Principal, with Rotarian Gibbs, the College Secretary, kept members well informed as to its progress. The Governors were approached in 1921 with an offer to provide Entrance Gates at a cost of about £300. Later it was considered best to equip and beautify the college Hall by panelling the upper end of the Hall and providing a dais at a cost of about £500. This was supplemented by the addition of a Table and Speaking Desk and Rotarian Cholerton gave three chairs to match. The panelling was designed by Rotarian Keay and the carving executed by Rotarian Morcom. Some day the Club may consider the completion of the scheme by panelling the still open ceiling. Rotarian Hyde was made a Life Governor of the College. Rotarian H.H. Peach was a constant donor of books to the Library of the College.
In 1932 the Club arranged the publication and ciruclation of "The Leicester Jester" for the Royal Infirmary Bazaar and was able to hand over a profit of £750. Another substantial amount, viz. £529, was raised for the Lord Mayor's Distressed Miner's Fund in 1928. The Benevolent Fund, raised by devoting 3d. of each 3/- paid for lunch, was inaugurated in 1930 and at the end of each year the sum of from £50 to £60 has been distributed to local charities. More recently Leicester Rotary co-operating with the Bishop Street Church Trustees established the Bishop Street Men's Club for trainees under the Ministry of Labour, and furnished the Club raising a fund of £162. The year 1929 saw Leicester Rotary carry out the furnishing of Dining Hall of the Holt Convalescent Home at a cost of £150. Sympathy has been shown by the Members more recently with the refugee Basque children and a monthly collection resulted in substantial assistance being given to the local relief fund, a total of £58.7.11 to date.
So long ago as 1929 the Club co-operated with the Lord Mayor's Committee in a £1,000 scheme for the Depressed Areas. Early in 1935 an Ad Hoc Committee received subscriptions totalling £267.5.6 with the Club for the transference of families form the Distressed Areas. Two Houses - one in Sparkenhoe Street loaned by the Mercedes Gleitze Trustees and the other in Laurel Road - were taken and altogether 18 families were brought from Shildon in Durham County and one family from South Wales. 104 persons remain in Leicester, 70 of whom are in employment. Furniture, clothing, extra nourishment, medial attendance etc. have been provided as necessity has arisen and a considerable amount of personal service has been involved in carrying out this enterprise which has removed so many from surroundings with no prospect of employment to an community where there is reasonable prospect of continuous employment. The Chairman of the Committee Rotarian S.H. Russell has had the willing and helpful co-operation of both ladies and gentlemen and a difficult task has been ably carried out. The assistance rendered by the ladies of the Soroptomist Club was of great value.
Young people's organisations have always commanded the sympathy of the Club. The City Evening Institutes have been visited and Rotary is represented on the Evening Institute Committee. Shields were provided for Physical Culture competitions at a cost of £25 and are renewed when won outright. In co-operation with Toc H assistance was given to formation of the Shaftesbury Boys' Club in 1933 and later the Bedford Street Boys' Club was formed. Now the Club is represented on the Juvenile Organisations Committee of the City. Scouts and Guides have been helped from time to time and twice a year Lorries have been provised for the transport of Camp Kit. Each Christmas Rotarians undertake the distribution of toys to poor children collected by the Rover Scouts. £25 was raised to send Boy Scouts to the Wembley Exhibition and a similar donation was made to the save the Children Fund after the war. During the slump of 1933 the Club organised and carried through a "Spending for Employment" campaign and at the end was able to hand over a balance of £25 to the Social Service Council.
Only a short reference is possible to other activities of the past years. Among these have been the help with "jobs for the demobs", the Blind Workshops, the annual tea and concert for the Blind, the assitance with moror transport to the Royal Informary and for the Guild of Crippled outings, the co-operation of the Club in the successful Pageant of Leicester, the helpful interest in the Little Theatre, the provision of White Sticks for the Blind and the gift and maintenance of Wireless Sets for crippled people. Two teachers nominated by the Eductation Authorities to visit Geneva to obtain firsthand information about the procedure of the League of Nations each August in the two years 1936-1937.
The Leicester Rotary Club has been the recipient of gifts in addition to the American Flag and the Union Jack already mentioned. The Late Rotarian James Carmichael who was on the International Committee of the B.A.R.C. and who linked Leicester up to many foreign Clubs gave the first lot of small foreign flags which at one time adorned the luncheon tables and they were added to by his brothers Fred and Archie. The President's Chair will ever be a reminder of its generous donor President William Bastard. A fire destroyed the chair which preceded it and which was also a gift of Rotarian Bastard. Incidentally the fire also destroyed the Club Charter and past President's photographs - since replaced. The very fine big Rotary Wheel adorning the end of the luncheon room was the gift of Rotarian John Paine. Opposite the President's chair at each weekly meeting there hands a banner in needlework - a real work of art. This was made and presented to the Club by the daughter of past President Bedingfield at one of the earliest Ladies' evenings. The water jugs with an inscription and a portrait of the founder of Rotary came from the late Rotarian C.J. Williams.
Some gifts of a personal nature made by the Club are interesting enough to be recorded. The presents to the New York Club and to International President Grainer has [sic] been mentioned already, but there are others. In 1925 International President Everet Hill spoke to an unusually large company of members and visitors and Mrs. Hill wrote a very appreciative letter acknowledging a gift of Leicester made silk stockings. When Paul Harris visited the Clubduring the Presidency of Rotarian A.P. Groves he took away with him a pair of bellows of which Mrs. Harris is very proud.
For the International Conference held in Edinburgh in 1921 Rotarian Chas. Stibbe, then Club secretary, ordered 350 Woollen Scarves in a variety of colour [sic]. They were packed in pretty blue boxes adorned with the Leicester Rotary Club Wheel and presented to 350 overseas ladies. each box was inscribed "A warm and woolly welcome from Leicester - the City that clothes the world from head to foot." They cost £60 and the Club paid the bill. After the death of Past President Bastard a choice piece of Flambe Glaze pottery from his collection selected by Past President Tarratt was purchased and presented to the Leicester Museum as a tribute to his memory.
It is not possible to refer to every event of interest but one or two outstanding luncheon meetings may be recalled to memory. One was the occasion upon which a deputation from the London Club led by the London President M. Gordon Liverman J.P. visited the Club in 1934. After Lunch they much enjoyed visiting the places of historic interest in the City amd some of the centres of local industry. Another memorable event was the official visit to the Club of the British Association in 1933. This was the first time Rotary had been so honored. The President of the Royal Society accompanied by the Officers of the Association and a number of presidents of Sections - in all there were about 60 guests. The address was given by Dr. Stanley W. Kemp F.R.S., Leader of the Antarctic Expedition. Members will recall and I hope have kept the interesting brochure containing the menu and programme and some quaint illustrated references to Leicester's past which was designed by the Club President Rotarian A.P. Groves. The same year the Rotary International President Nelson came to visit the Club and practically every Club in No. 7 District attended the evening dinner at the Grand Hotel.
Another interesting meeting was that to which President Groves invited the Presidents of the various Societies and Trade Associations of the City. "Presidents Day" might well be repeated as the experiment proved a great success. Many members of the Club will have pleasant recollections of the social events of the past 23 years. The popular Ladies' Evenings, inter-club meetings at Matlock, Warwick, Welbeck Abbey. The Motor runs organised by Rotarian Fosbrooke to Kirby Hall, Melbourne etc. Visits to Boot's Factory, Austin Works, Dunlop Rubber Works, Derwent Water Works, the Garden Party at De montfort Hall in 1923, and the Ball there arranged by Rotarian Godfrey Kemp, the Little Theatre Dinner Evenings and others too numerous to mention, all of which have enriched the fellowship at the basis of the Rotary movement. On the sports side the golfers of the Club have for many years played return matches with those of the Hickley and Nottingham Rotary Clubs. There are two competitions for members of the Club each year. One is a stroke competition for a cup the gift of Past President Bastard and the other a knock-out competition in the form of a charming (bronze) lady the gift of Past President Tarratt.
Any record of the Club would be incomplete which failed to mention ints indebtedness to the successive Presidents who have so ably managed its proceedings. Their names are given in the Roster and their portraits can be seen by anyone who cares to look for them, but the Club it seems to me owes still more to the skillful and efficient work of a succession of devoted Secretaries. Rotarian C.V. Goddard is the latest. Their names are not advertised elsewhere and I give them here in their proper order; Rotarians Charante, George Pochin, C. Stibbe, E. Pilblad, P.W. Lawrie, Sidney J. Pick, A.P. Groves, S.H. Russell, George Brake, H.W. Tharp, G.L. Lea.
These reminiscences are in no chronological order but they may serve in the absence of a complete history as a reminder of some of the acheivements of the Leicester Rotary Club. I have said little or nothing about the enrichment of mind and heart as members have listened to addresses week by week covering almost every field of human interest. Much might be said about the work of the four Aims and Objects Committees, always in session. In one last word I may say as a member of the Club since its inception that my memory fails to recall any happening in the 23 years which has interrupted the harmony and good fellowship upon which Rotary is based.
Long may the Leicester Rotary Club maintain this record.
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