The Fight for Right Movement was founded in August 1915 by

Francis Younghusband Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, (31 May 1863 – 31 July 1942) was a British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer. He is remembered for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia; especially the 1904 British e ...

. Its aim was to increase support for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in Great Britain and to boost morale in the armed forces.

History

Membership cost five

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

s and members were pledged to 'fight for right till right be won', a call against disaffection in the progress and conduct of the war. The movement also advocated thrift in wartime. An early meeting of the movement took place at the Aeolian Hall concert venue in London and musical composition and performance played an important part in the group's work.

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

composed " Fight for Right" for the group, to a text by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, while

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 18487 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is b ...

turned to

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

and composed "

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

" for the movement, with both first performed on 21 March 1916 at a rally at

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it ...

. Many of the leading members of the movement were connected with Britain's War Propaganda Bureau, known as

Wellington House Wellington House is the more common name for Britain's War Propaganda Bureau, which operated during the First World War from Wellington House, a building on Buckingham Gate, London, which was the headquarters of the National Insurance Commission bef ...

. Some early members such as Parry later became disaffected and the movement did not survive the war.

List of early supporters

James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, (10 May 1838 – 22 January 1922), was a British academic, jurist, historian, and Liberal politician. According to Keoth Robbins, he was a widely-traveled authority on law, government, and history whose exper ...

, President *

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

, Vice President *

Robert Bridges Robert Seymour Bridges (23 October 1844 – 21 April 1930) was an English poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is ...

, Vice President *

James Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater James William Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater, (1 April 1855 – 27 March 1949), was a British Conservative politician. He was Speaker of the House of Commons between 1905 and 1921. He was the longest-serving Speaker of the 20th century. Back ...

, Vice President *

Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece ...

, Vice President *

George Walter Prothero Sir George Walter Prothero (14 October 1848 – 10 July 1922) was an English historian, writer, and academic who served as president of the Royal Historical Society from 1901 to 1905. Life and writings Prothero was born in Wiltshire to George ...

, Vice President *

Millicent Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for women's suffrage by legal change and in 1897–1919 led Britain's largest women's rights associati ...

Caroline Spurgeon Caroline Frances Eleanor Spurgeon (24 October 1869, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous ...

Sir Frederick Pollock, 3rd Baronet Sir Frederick Pollock, 3rd Baronet PC, FBA (10 December 1845 – 18 January 1937) was an English jurist best known for his ''History of English Law before the Time of Edward I'', written with F.W. Maitland, and his lifelong correspondence w ...

, Chairman of Executive Committee *

Gervase Elwes Gervase Henry Cary-Elwes, DL (15 November 1866 – 12 January 1921), better known as Gervase Elwes, was an English tenor of great distinction, who exercised a powerful influence over the development of English music from the early 1900s up u ...

Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian, (18 April 1882 – 12 December 1940), known as Philip Kerr until 1930, was a British politician, diplomat and newspaper editor. He was private secretary to Prime Minister David Lloyd George between 19 ...

Evelyn Underhill Evelyn Underhill (6 December 1875 – 15 June 1941) was an English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her numerous works on religion and spiritual practice, in particular Christian mysticism. Her best-known is ''Mysticism'', published ...

Henry Newbolt Sir Henry John Newbolt, CH (6 June 1862 – 19 April 1938) was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a role as a government adviser with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps best remembered for his poems "Vit ...

Maurice Hewlett Maurice Henry Hewlett (1861 – 15 June 1923) was an English historical novelist, poet and essayist. Biography He was born at Weybridge, the eldest son of Henry Gay Hewlett, of Shaw Hall, Addington, Kent. He was educated at the London Internatio ...

* L. P. Jacks *

Frederick Whyte Sir Alexander Frederick Whyte (30 September 1883 – 30 July 1970) was a British civil servant, Liberal Party politician, writer, and journalist. From 1920 to 1925 he served as the first President of the new Central Legislative Assembly of Bri ...

Wickham Steed Henry Wickham Steed (10 October 1871 – 13 January 1956) was an English journalist and historian. He was editor of ''The Times'' from 1919 to 1922. Early life Born in Long Melford, England, Steed was educated at Sudbury Grammar School an ...

Émile Cammaerts Émile Leon Cammaerts CBE (16 March 1878 in Saint-Gilles, Belgium – 2 November 1953, Radlett, Hertfordshire) was a Belgian playwright, poet (including war poet) and author who wrote primarily in English and French. Cammaerts translated three b ...

Paul Painlevé Paul Painlevé (; 5 December 1863 – 29 October 1933) was a French mathematician and statesman. He served twice as Prime Minister of the Third Republic: 12 September – 13 November 1917 and 17 April – 22 November 1925. His entry into politic ...

* Rev. William Temple

References

External links

For the Right: essays and addresses by members of the Fight for Right Movement
(Internet Archive) {{Use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom