Loan 96 RLF 4/25

The Literary Fund’s Annual Dinners ceased during the First World War, before being revived in 1920. This box contains records of the Literary Fund Anniversary Dinners held between 1921 and 1924. These files are generally less clean and systematic than the pre-war records. The records are organised by year; for each year, there is a single folder containing documents relating to that year’s dinner, principally consisting of letters, administrative documents and ephemera such as tickets, toast lists and newspaper reports. The contents of the individual folders are summarised below; the official communications and documents have peen placed first to provide context, followed by the correspondence.

The Literary Fund’s Annual Dinners ceased during the First World War, before being revived in 1920. This box contains records of the Literary Fund Anniversary Dinners held between 1921 and 1924. These files are generally less clean and systematic than the pre-war records. The records are organised by year; for each year, there is a single folder containing documents relating to that year’s dinner, principally consisting of letters, administrative documents and ephemera such as tickets, toast lists and newspaper reports. The contents of the individual folders are summarised below; the official communications and documents have peen placed first to provide context, followed by the correspondence. For 1924, additional letters accepting and declining invitations were boxed separately and kept (see Loan 96 RLF 4/32).

1921 (Chairman: ‘His Majesty the King of the Belgians’, Albert I):

1: Annual Report; plans of the Guildhall; preliminary plan of tables; draft menu; menu with plan of the tables; dinner ticket; steward’s ticket; documents detailing the itinerary for ‘Ceremonial of the Visit of their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians’ in July 1921 (draft and final versions); lists of the Belgian and British Suites attached to the King and Queen of Belgium; list of eminent individuals attending, prepared for the Belgian Ambassador; list of possible stewards (in the hand of Hallam Tennyson), circulars to members (including drafts); letter on present extraordinary needs; reminders to the attending; toasts (including drafts); newspaper clippings; address of thanks to the King of Belgium (with drafts); associated correspondence, including letters from Hugh John Cole Marshall (the Fund’s Secretary, whose letters account for the bulk of those in the file), T Harvey Hull (the Town Clark of the Guildhall), the Prime Minister of Belgium, the Belgian Ambassador (Baron Moncheur), the Japanese Ambassador, the Swedish Minister, the Danish Minister, the Netherland Minister, Count G de Grunne, Baron Truax de Wardin, Sir James Rennell Rodd, Lord Sumner (John Hamilton), the Countess Curzon (Grace Elvina Curzon), Lady Clifford, Lord Esher (Reginald Balliol Brett), Earl Howe (Richard George Penn Curzon), Lord Ilchester (Giles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways), Lord Colwyn (Frederick Henry Smith), Lord St Cyres (Stafford Harry Northcote), Lord Southwark (Richard Knight Causton), Vice Admiral Roger Keyes, Lord Leverhulme (William Hesketh Lever), Marchioness Townshend (Gwladys Ethel Gwendolen Eugenie Townshend), the Earl of Athlone (Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George Cambridge), Countess Brassey (Idina Mary Brassey), the Prime Minister of Australia (Billy Hughes), the Master of the Stationers’ Company, Viscount Farquhar (Horace Brand Farquhar), Lord Ernle (Rowland Edmund Prothero), H Gollancz, Lord Tennyson (Hallam Tennyson), Émile Cammaerts, Sir James Bell, Sir Alfred Edmund Bateman, William Paton Ker, Clothilde Graves (Richard Dehan; enclosing a poem for the occasion), Edward Verrall Lucas, Mrs George Cran, John R Marsh (a poem for the occasion), the British Imperial Orchestra, R N Fairbanks and Edgar R Bowring.

1922 (Chairman: Rowland Edmund Prothero, Lord Ernle):

1: Draft of a letter from Lord Ernle to potential guests; stewards’ invitation card; general invitation; reminder to stewards; dinner ticket; steward’s ticket; plans of the tables; subscription papers; newspaper reports; report from the anniversary committee on the profits (with attached note by William Paton Ker); associated correspondence, including letters from Hugh John Cole Marshall, Gilbert George Parker, Lord Ernle (many), Edward Verrall Lucas, William Ralph Inge, Émile Cammaerts, Sir James Rennell Rodd, Marion Henry Spielmann, George Earle Buckle, the manager of the Hotel Victoria, Henry Wace (the Dean of Canterbury), Charles Gore (the Bishop of Oxford), William Paton Ker, William H Taylor & Sons (on printing materials to be circulated) and Charles Pendlebury.

1923 (Chairman: Alfred Edward Woodley Mason):

1: Draft of a letter from Alfred Edward Woodley Mason to potential guests; stewards’ invitation card; general invitation card; reminder to stewards; dinner ticket; steward’s ticket; list of complementary tickets; preliminary plans of tables; plan of tables; subscription papers; newspaper reports; menu; subscription paper; part of the transcripts for the speeches; newspaper clipping from the Times; form for submitting subscriptions and donations; associated correspondence, including letters from David Alexander Edward Lindsay (Earl of Crawford and Balcarres), Hugh John Cole Marshall, A E Dickinson (for Lord Crawford), Edward Verrall Lucas, Alfred Edward Woodley Mason, William Paton Ker, [F Baines?], W Stephens (for Mason), Harold H Joachim, Princess Louise (Duchess of Argyll) and Stanley Unwin.

1924 (Chairman: David Alexander Edward Lindsay, Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, replacing Edward, Prince of Wales at short notice):

1: Draft appeals for stewards; notice of the Prince of Wales’ accident; invitation for members; stewards’ invitation cards; honorary invitation cards (including redrafted version); complements slips; reminder notices; dinner tickets (including draft); steward’s tickets; plans of the tables (including draft); draft and final toast lists; draft and final menus; subscription papers; subscription cards; newspaper clippings; results of the dinner; associated correspondence, including letters from the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, Hugh John Cole Marshall, George Kennedy Allen Bell (for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson), the manager of the Hotel Victoria and William H Taylor & Sons.