British Empire League
 FounderLord Avebury | |
| Predecessor | Imperial Federation League |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1895 |
| Founder | Lord Avebury |
| Dissolved | 1955 |
| Purpose | Unity for theBritish Empire |
| Headquarters | London,England,U.K. |
TheBritish Empire Leagueexisted from 1895 to 1955; its purpose was to secure permanent unity for theBritish Empire.
Origin
[edit]The British Empire League was a society founded byLord Avebury(1834-1913),Lord Roberts(1832-1914) andLord Strathcona(1820-1914) in London in 1895 with the aim of securing permanent unity for the British Empire.[1][2]It was successor to the formerImperial Federation League,which had broken up in 1893.[3]
Presidents of the League included:Lord Derby(1841-1908),Lord Sydenham(1848-1933), and theDuke of Devonshire(1833-1908); Vice-Presidents included:Bonar Law(1858-1923),Earl Grey(1851-1917), andArthur Balfour(1848-1930).[3]
In 1947, the League merged with the Commonwealth Industries Association, retaining its name until 1955.[1]
Purpose
[edit]The League helped tomobilisetroops during theSecond Boer Warand theFirst World War.AtImperial Conferencesbetween 1897 and 1911, it called, among other things, for the introduction of animperial penny post;later it called forpreferential tariffs,putting forward a strong case at the 1932British Empire Economic Conferencefor the protection of theBritish film industry.[1]
The League was active in the BritishdominionsofAustraliaandCanadain the early part of the twentieth century.[3]Francis Bertie Boyce(1844-1931) was the first president of the British Empire League in Australia, in 1901 (and also in 1909-11);[4]George T. Denison(1839-1925) was the first president of the League in Canada.[5]
The League's focus on the celebration of the birthday ofQueen Victoria- 24 May - as apatrioticholiday[6]was, in Australia, not only an observance of the holiday in schools, but also a wider opportunity to demonstrateloyaltyto Britain;Empire Daywas officially adopted by theReid governmentin 1905 and observed for more than fifty years.[7]The League sponsored a monthly Australian publication,United Australia,which featured on its coverBritanniaand the motto "One people one destiny".[8]
References
[edit]- ^abcBarberis, Peter (2005).Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the Twentieth Century.London:Continuum International Publishing Group.p. 94.ISBN0826458149.
- ^Cook, Chris (2014).Sources in British Political History 1900-1951: Volume I: A Guide to the Archives of Selected Organisations and Societies.London:Palgrave Macmillan.p. 107.ISBN978-1349155651.
- ^abcStephen, Daniel (2013).The Empire of Progress: West Africans, Indians, and Britons at the British Empire Exhibition, 1924-25.London:Palgrave Macmillan.p. 26.ISBN978-1137325112.
- ^"Boyce, Francis Bertie (1844–1931)".Australian Dictionary of Biography.2017.Retrieved2 October2017.
- ^Gagan, David Paul (2013).The Denison family of Toronto 1792-1925.Toronto:University of Toronto Press.p. n.p.ISBN978-0802032973.
- ^"Empire? What empire?".The Daily Telegraph.2004.Retrieved2 October2017.
- ^Griffiths, John (2014).Imperial Culture in Antipodean Cities, 1880-1939 (Britain and the World).Toronto:Palgrave Macmillan.p. 154.ISBN978-1137385727.
- ^"United Australia".Internet Archive.2017.Retrieved2 October2017.