A Brief History of the Club
1921
In the aftermath of the First World War Rotary was a growing international force. At the suggestion of a Rotarian from the Margate Club (Canterbury’s Mother Club), Alfred Baynton of Canterbury and General Manager of the East Kent Road Car Company convened an informal lunch at the County Hotel, Canterbury, on 2 December 1921. This was followed by the Charter Night and Inaugural Dinner on 9 February 1922. Wives of Rotarians set up an Inner Wheel in 1925. The first President was Wright Hunt, then Mayor of Canterbury. Alfred Baynton was elected as Secretary, becoming President of the Club 1926-1927 and District Chairman in the following year.
The Club met at the County Hotel, at first fortnightly. It continued to use this venue for 62 years; in 1984 it moved to the St Lawrence Ground of Kent County Cricket Club, where it has now remained for 25 years. The Club continued to grow during the inter-war years, serving the local community and Rotary international ideals.
Paul Harris
In 1928 Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary, visited Canterbury while on a tour of Europe and was welcomed by the then President Harold Young. Young had a distinguished career in Rotary, becoming District Governor, President of RIBI and in 1948-1949 Director of Rotary International. When Paul Harris died in 1947, Harold Young described him as “the man who believed in Friendship”.
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Rotary founder, Paul Harris, visiting Canterbury Cathedral in 1928. Click for larger image (Copyright Rotary Club of Canterbury) |
Harold Young, President at time of Paul Harris's visit in 1928. Click for larger image. (Copyright Rotary Club of Canterbury) |
The Club decided to continue during the Second World War. It provided hospitality for forces personnel serving in the area and sent 100 cigarettes (later 200) to serving Club members every month. It gave succour to those who suffered great losses in the Blitz of Canterbury on 1 June 1942.
International Contacts
In 1947 the Club celebrated its Silver Jubilee under the Presidency of John Thompson. In this year our first international contact was made, with the Rotary Club of St Quentin, France. This contact is as alive today as it was in 1947. The French Club went on to draw Clubs in Belgium (Leuven), Germany (Ludenscheid) and Netherlands (Utrecht) into a four-way grouping, from which our Club remained aloof.
However, European circumstances changed. Britain was poised to join the European Community in 1972, the year of the Club’s Golden Jubilee. The Club President David Thompson (son of John Thompson and father of current Rotarian Stephen Thompson) invited the Presidents of all the four Continental Clubs to the Jubilee Dinner in February and to the Trooping of the Colour in London in June. Thus was born the Pentangular grouping of all five Clubs, which continues to grow from strength to strength.
Links with the Cathedral
Also in 1972 the Club undertook the restoration of one of the bays in the Cloisters at Canterbury Cathedral. Using the professional skills of Rotarians, it produced a 16 mm thirty minute film depicting the history and needs for restoration of the Cathedral. This was circulated to Rotary Clubs in Britain and the USA, and the requisite funds were collected for achieving the project. Through Club membership and individual service close links have been maintained with the Cathedral. With a special Music Hall Evening at the Marlowe we were able to donate a considerable sum to the “Save the Cathedral” Appeal in 2007, and we currently have Archbishop Rowan Williams, the present Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Carey of Clifton, former Archbishop, as Honorary Members.
Sponsorships
In 1977 our Club sponsored and promoted the formation of the Canterbury Forest of Blean Club as an evening Club. This opened up Rotary membership to those who could not be present at lunchtime meetings. A close relationship has been maintained between the two Clubs, in large measure due to the existence of an Inner Wheel common to both Clubs. We went one step further in 2007-8, sponsoring and helping to set up a Sunrise Club in Canterbury. This has had the effect of bringing into Rotary a good number of younger Canterbury professionals.
A spectacular project took place in 1991: our Club and the Rotary Club of Maidstone organized a multi-sponsored event on the M20 Motorway, prior to its official opening. The two Clubs raised large sums for a joint presentation to Kent Air Ambulance and for donations to their own individual charities.
75th Anniversary and Beyond
Under Michael Talbot as President the Club celebrated its seventy fifth anniversary together with the St Quentin Club – which celebrated its own Golden Jubilee – and the other Continental partners. The Club at this time counted 71 members. An informative brochure on “The first 75 years” was produced.
Following the Anniversary the Club decided to mark the Millennium year 2000 with a Millennium Scholarship Trust Fund, to give financial assistance to young people wishing to participate in recognized charitable projects in distant lands for a limited period. Its working is described elsewhere on this website.
Whilst the Club has remained essentially a lunchtime Club, it has provided more flexibility for members or potential members finding difficulty in getting to lunchtime meetings. Besides Guest Nights on fifth Tuesdays, it now holds a supper meeting on the second Tuesday of the months, and an experiment is being made with occasional informal pub evenings.
Beside its work of supporting local and international charities, the Club has recently sponsored the Sunrise Club as mentioned above and promoted closer links with other Clubs in the Canterbury District. It has sponsored and assisted an Interact Club based on the Simon Langton School for Girls. It works more intensively with the Rotary International Foundation for achieving international aims of Rotary. In 2008 a Rotarian joined an international Rotary mission helping to eradicate polio in India and another represented the Club on a Pentangular visit to Ghana, where our Rotary grouping is restoring and extending a country hospital serving a large area.
