The Origins and Development of the Fabian Society, 1884-1900

Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1986 The Origins and Development of the Fabian Society, 1884-1900 Stephen J. O'Neil Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation O'Neil, Stephen J., "The Origins and Development of the Fabian Society, 1884-1900" (1986). Dissertations. 2491. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/2491 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1986 Stephen J. O'Neil /11/ THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE FABIAN SOCIETY, 1884-1900 by Stephen J. O'Neil A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 1986 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work is the product of research over several years' span. Therefore, while I am endebted to many parties my first debt of thanks must be to my advisor Dr. Jo Hays of the Department of History, Loyola University of Chicago; for without his continuing advice and assistance over these years, this project would never have been completed. I am also grateful to Professors Walker and Gutek of Loyola who, as members of my dissertation committee, have also provided many sug gestions and continual encouraqement in completing this project. In compiling preliminary information the Library of Loyola University was also available to assist me. In particular Sister Rita Stalzer, C.S.J., Bibliographer, and Mr. Roy H. Fry, Bibliographic Services Librarian were ever ready to advise, procure materials, and assist without hesitation. Others in the United States to whom iii I owe a debt of gratitude are Mrs. Shirley E. Viviano, General Information Department and Assistant Head of the Enoch Pratt Free Library; the Photographic Services Department of the New York Public Library; the staff of the University of Chicago Library; Mrs. Carol W. Hazen, Assistant Reference Librarian of Princeton University Library; Ms. Christina M. Hanson, Assistant Research Librarian and Ms. Judith A. Schiff, Chief Research Archivist of Manuscripts and Archives at The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and Yale University; Professor Vincent Ponko, Jr., Dean of Humanities at California State College, Bakersfield; and Mr. Eric Teicholz, Associate Director of the Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis at Harvard University. While the advice and assistance of these generous professionals was essential in outlining, researching, and analyzing my topic, I was fortunate enough to have been taught the essential value of primary research by my mentors and Marquette University in Milwaukee and Loyola University of Chicago. To achieve my goal of writing an original work, however, I must thank as well Mr. Frank E. Shevlin and the Arthur J. Schmitt Foundation, without whose generous financial support in the form of a Schmitt iv Fellowship I would not have been able to undertake a year of research and writing in England and on the Continent. For it was through the Foundation's generosity that r·was able to undertake studies in Oxford and London, England which were of crucial important in the successful conclusion of this work. In this respect, I must thank especially Ms. Christine Kennedy, Librarian at Nuffield College, Oxford and her staff who tirelessly assisted me in searching manuscripts, photocopying, and generally supporting my efforts cheerfully over many months towards the achievement of my goal. I would also like to acknowledge the kind cooperation and advice of A. Tillotson, Secretary and Miss M.E.A. Pamplin, Assistant Under Librarian at the University Library, Cambridge; P. Allen, Superintendent and Miss L.C. Burrows, Clerical Officer at the Newspaper Library, British Museum Library; the Passf ield Trustees and the staff of the Library at the British Library of Political and Economic Science, London School of Economic and Political Science; C.G. Allen, Supervisor of Readers' Services and Keeper of Manuscripts also at the LSE Library; Professor Henry Felling of St. John's College, Cambridge; Professor Asa Briggs of the University of Sussex; Mr. Tom Ponsonby, General Secretary v of the Fabian Society, London; Mr. John Saville, professor of Economic and Social History and Dr. J.M. Bellamy of the Department of Economic and Social History, university of Hull; Professor E.J. Hobsbawm of Birbeck College, University of London; A.C. Taylor, Census Division, Off ice of Population Censuses and Surveys; and Mr. Geraint Parry, Department of Government, University of Manchester. vi VITA Stephen James O'Neil was born on June 13, 1946 in Lewiston, Maine. He is the son of John and Madeline O'Neil. His elementary education was obtained in the public school system of Lewiston, Maine. His secondary education was completed in 1964 at Lewiston High School. In September of 1964 Mr. O'Neil entered Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin where he received his B.A. in history in 1967. His M.A., in mediaeval economic history, was granted by Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wiscon sin in 1973. Subsequently he has worked in the marketing and planning departments of various multinational companies. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page .. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • • • • • • • • 11 VITA . vi LIST OF TABLES • • . • • ix LIST OF GRAPHS • • . x CONTENTS OF APPENDICES. • • • • • • • • • • • • • xi Chapter I. An Introduction to the Literature and Substance of Fabian Socialism. 1 II. The Fabian Executive: Its Organi- zation and Selection • • • • • • • • • • • 20 III. The Nature and Extent of Executive Control. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 41 IV. Conflict and Concilation on the Fabian Executive • • • • • • • • • • • • • 71 v. The Evolution of Fabian Finances •••••116 VI. The Fabian Membership. • • • • • • .150 VII. Fabianism Outside the Metropolis: Provincial and Group Organizations • • • .169 VIII. The Fabians in Perspective • . .194 BIBLIOGRAPHY • • • • • • . • 220 viii APPE~DIX A .238 APPENDIX B .244 APPEND! X C .248 ix LIST OF CHARTS Chart Page I. Fabian Society Executive and Committee Organization Prior to 1890 • • • • • • • • • • • . 59 II. Fabian Society Executive and Committee Organization From 1890. 60 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page I. Recorded Votes Cast for Executive Committee • • • • • • • • 93 II. Members Attending (voting) at Private Meetings •••••••••••• 95 III. Fabian Society Income -- by source (Fiscal Years, April 1 to March 31. • • • • • •••• 124 IV. Fabian Literature Sales (L) . 127 v. Fabian Printing Expenses (L) • . 129 VI. Fabian Society Expenses (in L) by Category . 141 VII. Fabian Membership (1884-1900) . 153 VIII. Official Membership Figures for the (London) Fabian Society, 1884-1900 (No "official" count til 1890) • • • • • • • • ••• . 154 IX. Duration of Memberships in the Fabian Society ••••••••• 161 x. Attendance Records (voting) at Private Members' Meetings, by year: 1883-1900 •••••••• . 164 XI. Local Fabian Societies. ~ ••• . 180 xi CHAPTER I AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERATURE AND SUBSTANCE OF FABIAN SOCIALISM In reviewing the progress of British political and economic activity during the last century, it is impossible to peruse even the most general studies of the era without finding some expanded, and usually favorable, treatment of the Fabian Society. Its membership, we are told, included such notables as Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Lord Olivier, George Bernard Shaw, and H.G. Wells. The Society, still active today, defers largely, however, to the Old Gang--the Fabian patriarchs who founded the group and charted its course from the new awakening of social consciousness in the 1880s through the birth of the Labour Party. The birth and development of the Fabian Society itself was undramatic in the political context of the times, there being little prospect of financial reward or 1 2 political power forthcoming from challenging the existing structure. Fame and position eluded the founders of the Society from the time of their joining until well into the twentieth century. Some of the key Fabian leadership joined forces, in fact, shortly after or during periods of personal or professional failure. 1 The immediate antecedent of the Society, the Fellowship of the New Life, was composed for the most part of individuals wishing to escape from what they perceived as being the harshness and injustice of the cruel '80s to a less pressured and demanding communal life of love, harmony, and contemplation. The more progressive-minded of the Fellowship, unable to sway the majority from their indecisive moral ideals, chose to form a new group which would wait patiently (as did the Roman general Fabius) until the time was right to strike out for the rational organization of mankind (at least in England). Except for labor enthusiasts and Club members, however, the Fabian word rarely went beyond the confines of London between the Society's foundation in 1884 and the publication of their only great collection of writings, the Fabian Essays, in 1889. Their views, to be sure, were not revolutionary, but were, in fact, sympathetic with contemporary Liberalism and Radicalism. 2 3 By reputation and self-proclamation, the Fabians were widely identified

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