Paul Harris had visited London in his pre-Rotary days and he returned there in 1928 for meetings with British Rotarians and some gentle sightseeing with G. Edward Line, the London Club President. On at least two occasions during this visit, he met delegations of London Rotarians with whom he dined informally. At a meeting fully reported the next day in the Daily Telegraph, he attended the London Club meeting at the Hotel Cecil on Wednesday June 13. Afterwards Paul Harris wrote: "It has never been my privilege to address a more inspiring gathering". In replying to the toast of "Our Distinguished Guest" by John Hill, Chairman of the Greater London district, Harris told his audience that during the course of his visit to this country there had been nothing that had caused him to have a bad impression. He had never been overcharged or dealt with unfairly and he could not imagine any place on earth more beautiful than the English countryside. He referred to the value of literature in cementing international relations, and said that America owed a great debt to the influence of Charles Dickens. The little Nells and little Dorrits had a better influence than all the big Berthas that had been manufactured since the beginning of time. He went on to deal with the development of Rotary and the work that it was doing for the care, cure and education of cripple children. In 23 years' experience he had known men who had been reborn in Rotary by the miracle of friendship. There was no difference of race or religion that friendship was incapable of bridging. There were now over 130,000 Rotarians in 44 countries of different races and religions.

His audience of nearly 600 contained many Rotarians from other clubs including Wilfred Andrews of Ramsgate, President RIBI 1930/1. Also present was Sydney Pascall of London who was to become President of RI in 1931/2. There were even 29 Rotarians from other countries. A Streatham Club correspondent later wrote in the 'Rotary Wheel' that ; "One felt for President Paul Harris to devote his holiday to acquainting himself with as many fellow Rotarians as could crowd to daily receptions, was taxing his staying powers unfairly." This was a sentiment which, while admirable, was rarely raised by anyone else!

In 1932 Paul Harris again visited London when he was accompanied by Hugh Galloway, the President of RIBI. Wednesday August 10, was the 21st birthday of the London Rotary Club and well over 300 Rotarians sat down at the Great Central Hotel adjacent to Marylebone Station to celebrate the event. Among those present, there were no less than 169 visitors from 76 other clubs. Apart from the President Emeritus, other distinguished guests included Immediate Past President of RI Sydney Pascall of London and Wilfrid Andrews, an RI Director, who had been Paul Harris' chauffeur on a high speed drive from London to Canterbury four years earlier. Pascall was actually on holiday at the time but travelled especially to London to meet Paul Harris and join him at this birthday party.

After an enthusiastic welcome, Paul Harris made a short speech in which he reminded those present that Rotary had not brought anything new into the world. But it had been most successful in its organisation work, and it had found a way to put forward its great principles in the everyday affairs of life. "Most of you" he continued, "are aware that in the City of London there was a Club organised and in operation centuries ago on the so-called classification plan. There is nothing new about Rotary except that Rotarians from the beginning, saw the possibility of making the Movement interesting for mankind and subsequently placed it on world wide foundations. When we first began talking in Chicago about organising a Rotary Club in this country, the attitude of mind was one of scepticism.

I cannot speak for the minds of my fellow workers but I can say for myself that the most ambitious project that I had in my life at that time was to see a Rotary Club organised and established in the City of London."

He went on to describe how Harvey Wheeler and Arthur Sheldon, the latter a friend of his, had come to England and established clubs, firstly in London and then soon afterwards in Manchester. Meanwhile another Rotarian, Stuart Morrow of the San Francisco Club had started clubs elsewhere in Britain, although at the time this was not known in America. Soon, others in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Birmingham had been added to the list. Harris told his audience that this was his second opportunity to see Rotary in action on this side of the Atlantic, and he expressed his gratitude to those present for having taken the Movement as it had been developed in North America and raised it to greater heights. "We feel" he said, "that we can depend on British Rotary to carry on in many ways that which would be impossible for us. I see no reason whatever why we cannot ultimately become that which some of our members have already proclaimed us, one of the greatest Movements that has ever been organised in the interests of mankind."

Following this, five Past Presidents spoke about the early days of the London Club and the development of Rotary in the London area, which by 1932 had over 2500 members. One Past President, J Bain Taylor, thought that that this growth was due in part to the late Charles Dewey who in his time in office had agreed to new clubs being formed in London. "Something, he said, "which should be a lead to all the great cities of the world."

That evening Paul Harris was entertained by Percy Jones, the London Club President, at the latter's home where they had "a delightful evening." On the Friday, he spent most of the day with Blair-Fish at the RIBI's offices and while there, he went out to Tavistock Square to have his photograph taken with some of the office staff. This photograph appeared in various journals.

In 1934 on April 11, he was back in London. He went first to the London Club's lunch at the Hotel Russell. The meeting was devoted to a report from a committee headed by Sydney Pascall which proposed a move by the club to a more centralised location. It also recommended the relinquishment of certain territorial rights. This latter proposal, repeated over many subsequent years both in London and other major cities, such as Chicago, engendered a lively debate. The motions for change were, however, soundly defeated. Paul Harris expressed considerable interest in the discussions but made no comment in his diary about the result of the London Club vote! That night Harris dined with Ted Unwin, a Past President of the London Club, his wife and some friends. A few years earlier, Unwin, together with Arthur Chadwick, had been instrumental in promoting the idea of Rotary beyond the immediate area of Central London into the surrounding suburbs. Eventually some territory was ceded and their first new club was opened at Streatham in 1923. By 1934, the number of clubs in the London area had grown to over a hundred. It was therefore appropriate that on the next day, Thursday April 12, after a visit to the RIBI's offices in Tavistock Square, Paul Harris, accompanied by Ted Unwin, went to a lunch meeting of the Streatham Club.

In 1937 Harris was again in Britain but on this occasion only passed through London without apparently attending any meetings there.