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After Ireland
in 1911,
Stuart Morrow (QV) turned his attention first to Scotland in
1912 and finally to England. There, following a brief sojourn in
Liverpool in the spring and summer of 1913, just long enough to start a
Rotary Club there, he went to Birmingham in the autumn (fall). On
November 10, 1913 the Inaugural Meeting of the new club was held at the
White Horse Hotel in Congreve Street with 25 potential members present
and a second meeting a week later. Within a fortnight the number had
grown to 56 and at a formal dinner meeting on November 25, the new club
was organised with Stuart Morrow as Secretary. Those present immediately
applied for recognition by the International Association (RIBI records)
although the Birmingham Club history suggests that this happened on
March 1, 1914. The Club charter was granted as from April 1, 1914,
making this the 8th club in Great Britain and Ireland. Some after the
very first meetings,
Stuart Morrow's name disappears from the records in Birmingham and
the club was in the hands of President John Weatherhead and a local
committee.
Weekly notices issued by the club show the membership rising from 65
in December 1913 to over 200 at the outbreak of the World War. In
October 1914 the club launched its own journal 'Rotaria' edited by Unite
Jones. During the war, the Birmingham Club became involved in a
considerable amount of welfare work which
 gained it an enviable
reputation in the local community. In 1916, the annual conference of the B.A.R.C. was held in Birmingham and the conference delegates were
welcomed by the then Lord
Mayor, Neville Chamberlain, who became the first of several Lord
Mayors to be made Honorary Members. Neville Chamberlain subsequently
became the British Prime Minister.
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After the war, Rotary began to spread its wings and the Birmingham
Club was instrumental in the opening of several clubs including
Wolverhampton (QV). Today the club continues to play an important and
respected part in the city's life, although with the opening of several
clubs in the suburbs, starting with Erdington in 1953, membership is no
longer in the hundreds.
EXTRACT FROM
THE DAILY MAIL JANUARY 3, 1914
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BIRMINGHAM'S QUEEREST CLUB
A curious addition has been made to clubland in the Rotary Club,
the principle of which is essentially American. Business and nothing
but business is the concern of the fortunate members. I say
fortunate because the club is likely to be extremely exclusive, and
of much advantage to those who obtain the coveted Membership. The
idea is that every profession and trade shall be represented by one
man eminent in his particular line. The members meet once a week
at one of the principal hotels. They lunch together and after the
meal discuss business. Every member resolves to further the
interests of every other member. They have a sort of Masonic
badge by which all Rotarians, as they are called, may know a
confrere. There are similar Clubs in a few of the chief towns, such
as Edinburgh and Liverpool. In America these Clubs of businessmen-
Lunch clubs they are sometimes called- have been enormously
successful and in Birmingham great hopes are centred on the scheme.
Even the club's own journal 'Rotaria' observed in October
1914:-Birmingham Rotary Club, a business organisation conducted on
business lines for business purposes. Objects: the promotion of the
business interests of its members and their advancement in new,
progressive and successful business methods; the civic, commercial
and industrial development of Birmingham.
World War One to a great extent ended this attitude as the club
like others in Britain, engaged in a multitude of programmes caring
particularly for disabled and wounded soldiers. |
Basil Lewis, UK
Also read about Paul Harris in Birmingham |
