Gloucester Fabian Society

Minutes newspaper cuttings, notices of meetings and lectures and papers relating to the Phillip Harris Memorial Lectures.

<p>See also D6035/3/10 for programmes of Fabian Society lectures, 1921-1924</p>

Documents deposited by Gloucester Fabian Society per Mr K Dallas, Vice Chairman, 28 June 2000

The Fabian Society was founded in 1884 as a Socialist debating group supported by the voluntary subscriptions of its members. Its archive is held at the British Library of Political and Economic Science in London University.

The date of the foundation of the Gloucester Fabian Society is unclear. The earliest surviving minute book in this deposit dates from 1953, but the first minutes refer to the resignation of the existing secretary.

At the annual meetings of the Gloucester Fabian Society lectures were given about contemporary issues by invited speakers, such as MPs and university lecturers. These lectures were reported in the Gloucester newspaper, The Citizen (see D8621/2/1 for newspaper cuttings).

The collection includes papers about lectures given in honour of Phillip Harris MBE, a former sheriff of Gloucester, who died in 1990. He had served on both the City and County Councils, was the local representative of the British Council and a lifelong member of the Labour Party.