League of the Empire, often referred to as "League of Empire" was a British organisation with branches throughout the British Empire, with the aim of inculcating patriotic feelings, and was successful in inaugurating
Empire Day, on 24 May, prior to 1901 celebrated as the Queen's Birthday. The object of the league was stated as
"... to inspire personal and active interest in the Empire as a whole, and to promote educational and friendly intercommunication between its different parts (1) through the teaching of Imperial history and conditions by means of public and school lectures; (2) through the furtherance of such training as shall make members efficient citizens in whatever part of the Empire they may be called upon to live; and (3) through the supplying to the youth of the Empire a common bond of literary intercourse by means of a magazine, or by means of written correspondence, member with member, or school with school."
History
By 1904 there were 70 branches in Great Britain.
Branches
Australia
The
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
n branch, which may have been the only branch in Australia, was founded in 1904 with president
Samuel Way, and secretary
M. Rees Ward. The
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, (Sir
George Le Hunte), was Patron. Meetings were held at the
Advanced School for Girls
The Advanced School for Girls was a South Australian State school whose purpose was to prepare girls to qualify for entry to the University of Adelaide. Founded in 1879, the school merged with Adelaide High School in 1907.
History
From its ince ...
on Grote Street, later at
Our Boys' Institute on
Wakefield Street, Adelaide
Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square in the centre of the city, which has a grid street plan. It continues as ...
.
The League was prominent at the wreath laying ceremony at the statue of Queen Victoria on
Victoria Square, Adelaide each May 24 (or 23rd if the 24th was a Saturday), and participated in many Empire-related activities until the early 1950s, by which time newspaper reports were confined to its membership in the Council of Empire Societies, and after 1954 had disappeared altogether.
Canada
Mrs.
Elizabeth Middleton Ordmarshall, C.B.E., sometime secretary of the League, represented the League in the Dominion of Canada for six months in 1910.She went on to found the
Imperial Union of Teachers in 1913, and died on 29 March 1931.
[Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, 30 March 1931, p. 8, col. 3 https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/us-and-world-newspapers/page/view/62622297]
References
{{Reflist
Patriotic societies