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under the nomenclature of the British Association of Rotary Clubs (B.A.R.C.).
The name did not please Irish Rotarians (who were outvoted) but at this
time, Ireland was still a part of the United Kingdom and governed from
London. The more accurate description of RIBI was adopted in 1922.
British
Rotarians first attended the 1913 Buffalo Convention where R W Pentland
of Edinburgh Rotary Club was created Vice-President for the British
Isles. Previously, the
Canadian Acting President of the London Club, Arthur Bigelow was made a
Director in 1912/3 the year before Pentland was made Vice President. By
1914/5 there were 2 Vice Presidents in D.F.Cooke and W.H.Alexander.
Afterwards,
Pentland engaged in the objective of bringing the other seven Rotary
Clubs of Britain and
Ireland
together and called a meeting at Liverpool for October 30th
1913.
The British
Association was officially constituted on May 4th 1914. R W
Pentland was elected the first President of B.A.R.C. Dublin’s William
Findlater was elected Vice-President (who also
became a Director of the IARC in 1913/4)
while another Edinburgh
Rotarian, Tom Stephenson (who succeeded the enigmatic Stuart Morrow as
Edinburgh Rotary Club secretary) became the Association secretary. ‘Dr
Tom’- as the retail chemist was affectionately known- would play a
pivotal role in the development of Rotary in
Britain.
Stuart Morrow would become a member of the first Board of Directors of
B.A.R.C.
Stephenson
attended the 1914 Convention in Houston, Texas where he addressed the
audience on the subject of “Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland”. At
Houston, resolution number 3 recognised the newly created British
Association as a “necessary and desirable institution, to which a hearty
welcome is extended”. The formation of B.A.R.C was accepted by the
International Association, according to Ches Perry, in order to prevent
a truly independent rival organization emerging.
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Stephenson
would also propose a resolution to the 1914 Convention that would shape
British Rotary’s quasi-autonomous future. Dr Tom made it clear to
delegates that British Rotarians wanted to be consulted in regard to any
further expansion work carried out by Stuart Morrow. This motion
effectively ended Morrow’s expansionist work in Great Britain and
Ireland.
With
official recognition of the British Clubs own association, chartering of
Rotary Clubs was carried out by both BARC and IARC. The British clubs
were actively ‘encouraged’ to affiliate to the International Association
but the initial constitution did not make it compulsory (until a change
in the constitution in 1916).
London
was the first Club to officially affiliate to Chicago HQ at $1 dollar
per head. The Celtic Clubs of Ireland and Scotland under the leadership
of Belfast Rotarian Hugh Boyd objected to this subscription level and
successfully argued for a rate of one shilling per capita (approx 20
cents). Thus, Rotarians from the
British
Isles, from the very beginning, established their special status.
The
outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 would ensure that B.A.R.C.
was here to stay. War effectively severed the direct links between
Chicago and London due to the German U-boats and the expansion of Rotary
in the
British Isles was now a
task for the Rotarians of Britain and
Ireland
alone.
Sources:
C R Hewitt
- Towards My Neighbour
Roger Levy
- Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland
David Shelley Nicholl - The Golden Wheel
Calum Thomson |
