Royal Commonwealth Society
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| Abbreviation | RCS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1868 |
| Legal status | Active |
| Purpose/focus | Advocate and public voice, educator and network. |
| Headquarters | Commonwealth Club, London |
| Region served | Commonwealth of Nations |
| Official languages | English |
| Website | http://thercs.org/ |
The Royal Commonwealth Society, (RCS), formerly known as the Royal Empire Society is an international educational charity and a members' club. Its mission is to support and promote the modern Commonwealth, its culture and core values. The RCS’s London home, the Commonwealth Club, acts as a centre for the exchange of ideas and, through the Society’s Public Affairs programme, offers a forum for the debate, research and development of Commonwealth thinking on key international issues. The Club also acts as a centre for the celebration of Commonwealth art and culture, with leading artists regularly exhibiting their work in the Gallery space.
Through its educational, youth and outreach programmes, the Royal Commonwealth Society seeks to encourage young people to develop their skills and, with an increased understanding of their role as global citizens, to engage with challenges facing the international community. It aims to bring alive the fundamental principles of the modern Commonwealth – tolerance, diversity, freedom, justice, democracy, human rights and sustainable development – to a generation living in an increasingly interconnected world. RCS projects seek to enable young people to engage with their counterparts across the Commonwealth in youth leadership programmes, creative writing and film-making projects. Through its range of charitable programmes and through its international network of members, honorary representatives and affiliated branches and societies, the Society’s remit is to work towards the continued growth and resilience of Commonwealth civil society.
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[edit] History
The Royal Commonwealth Society has seen a long and, at times, turbulent history: born of Empire and now a modern, multicultural centre.
[edit] Early beginnings
On Friday June 26, 1868, at a meeting in the Willis Rooms, King Street, St. James’, it was agreed that a Society with a London headquarters should be formed. The elected Chair of the Society, Viscount Bury, declared that the intention was “to provide a meeting place for gentlemen interested in colonial and Indian affairs; to establish a reading room and a library, in which recent and authentic intelligence upon colonial subjects may be constantly available, and a museum for the collection and exhibition of colonial productions; to afford opportunities for reading papers, and for holding discussions upon colonial subjects generally” (Reese T., 1968). The Colonial Society’s first home was “a pokey hole” above a shirt shop at No. 15 The Strand where it remained from 1870 until 1885. It was in this same modest space that the organisation’s library collection first began to be assembled.
[edit] Northumberland Avenue
While the initial premises could house the beginnings of the library, it was felt that they would not be able to satisfy the Society's original objective of acting as a 'meeting place'. So, in 1883, a lease was obtained for land in Northumberland Avenue, and a clubhouse built and formally opened in 1885. By this time, the Society had already received its first Charter, which led to it becoming the Royal Colonial Society (in June 1869), and, in 1870, the Royal Colonial Institute.
The Clubhouse was expanded in two further stages: early in the 20th Century to provide further accommodation, and, again, following the First World War, to provide halls for meetings, a dining area for members and a number of bedrooms. Building of the second phase began in 1934 in accordance with the design of Sir Herbert Baker and A. T. Scott, with the first stone laid by King Edward VIII. The expanded and renovated premises on Northumberland Avenue were formally opened on November 12, 1936 by The Duke and Duchess of York, later to become King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
By this time, the organisation had begun to take shape as a forward-thinking Society, allowing women to be admitted as Fellows from 1922 and encouraging a young and diverse membership.
[edit] WWII Bombing
Due to its central location close to Whitehall and Charing Cross Station, the Club premises were vulnerable during the bombing raids of World War II. On the night of April 16/17, 1941 the building was hit by a two-ton high-explosive bomb and on the night of May 10 it was severely damaged again. After several weeks of repairs, carried out in order to make some rooms habitable, the Club reopened to members. However, a complete restoration was not completed until 1957, after which time the nose of the bomb was displayed prominently in the Club. This same year, a new name for the organisation was suggested and in May 1958 what had become the Royal Empire Society took its present title of the Royal Commonwealth Society.
[edit] Commonwealth Club
After a period of mounting financial difficulties, the RCS was set on the road to recovery in the 1990s. A successful national appeal in 1993 raised £3million to save the RCS archive and, by this stage extensive, library collections. The material was sold to Cambridge University, enabling the RCS to clear its debts, to redevelop its property and to create a new clubhouse, the Commonwealth Club. This was opened, after extensive building work, in 1998.
The new Club, as designed by Linda Morey Smith, had a bright, modern feel. Its aim was to provide an informal and inviting place for its members to meet, socialise, eat and network. The Club began to be used as a forum for the charity’s series of debates, seminars and conferences on topical Commonwealth and international issues, drawing influential figures from politics, media, business and the arts. It also became a venue for Commonwealth cultural events and exhibitions.
The Society developed a programme of outreach projects aimed at promoting the Commonwealth, its ideas and values, particularly in schools and to young people. By this time, it stood at the heart of an international network of more than 10,000 members, spread across 100 countries and territories and linked by around 70 self-governing RCS branches and Commonwealth societies in 43 countries and territories.
[edit] The RCS today
In recent years, the Royal Commonwealth Society has extended its Club facilities into its current home over three floors of the neighbouring property on Northumberland Avenue. It is now one of London's premier members' clubs, offering affordable and contemporary facilities, including an airy restaurant offering international and Commonwealth cuisine.
The RCS also seems to be heading in a new direction with the appointment of a new Director General in January 2009, Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah. A young Australian of Sri Lankan origin, the new head is apparently the first non-British person to hold the post and by far the youngest. Having coming from the Institute for Public Policy Research, a large UK thinktank, the new Director began embarking on new activities early in his tenure, including a high-profile poll of British attitudes to the Commonwealth.
[edit] Library Collections
For over one hundred years the RCS Library stood at the very heart of the organisation. The Library reflected an important aim of the original Royal Colonial Institute: "to establish a reading room and a library, in which recent and authentic intelligence upon colonial subjects may be constantly available".
From its inception, the library quickly increased in size and reputation and, despite damage during World War II, grew to over half a million items. Yet, from the late 1960s onwards, mounting financial concerns, coupled with severe flood damage, led to the decision that it was no longer viable for the Society to maintain the library. The collection was acquired by Cambridge University and moved to its new site during the summer of 1993.
[edit] The Library Collection Today
Today the Royal Commonwealth Society Library contains a vast array of materials. Over 300,000 printed items include 700 archival collections of manuscript diaries, correspondence, pictures, cine-films, maps, scrapbooks and newspaper cuttings. A photograph collection, containing more than 100,000 images from across the Commonwealth, includes albums, loose prints, glass slides, transparencies and a small collection of cine films.
The collections document the topography, architecture and life of Britain's colonial dependencies and modern Commonwealth countries, as well as providing a visual record of key historical events. The photographs date from the mid-1850s to the mid-1980s, many reflecting the work of those engaged in the fields of public works, medicine, surveying and education. Embossed leather-bound albums of photographic portraits provide a unique insight into the RCS members of the past 140 years and old Commonwealth Essay Competition entries offer an illustration of evolving concepts of Commonwealth, the individual and society.
Work in Cambridge is ongoing to catalogue, preserve and improve access to these invaluable materials. As a result, a proportion of the Collections' catalogues are now searchable online.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
Reese, Trevor R., The History of the Royal Commonwealth Society 1868 – 1968, Oxford University Press, 1968.
