Map of LNU branches in the Lancaster LNU District Council area (with some others)
© Janet Nelson
Branches of the League of Nations Union (LNU) were arranged in groups, called ‘District Councils,’ set up to coordinate the work of the branches in its area. The Lancaster District Council was set up some time before March 1924, covering an area extending from the River Wyre to the Northern and Eastern borders of Lancashire, including Lancaster, Morecambe, Silverdale and Tunstall. A number of other branches in the District were formed subsequently, including Burton-in-Lonsdale just over the border into Yorkshire which opted to join the Lancaster District for which they paid an annual subscription of 2s 6d (13p) (in 1935). (1)
A Committee oversaw the work of the branches, chaired in 1926 by Alderman George Wright , the former Lancaster LNU chairman. Individual branches sent representatives to District Council meetings. These must have been worthwhile, for example in enabling the branches to share information. The Lancaster branch representatives were experienced LNU members, elected by the Executive Committee to attend meetings, including Miss Kitching in 1927, ‘one of the Branch’s best workers,’ and other senior people with business, professional and local government experience. A North-West regional representative, Mr H. Walton Starkey, oversaw all the branches in his area.
References/Further Reading:
(1) Burton-in-Lonsdale LNU Minute Book. Kindly lent to us by Dr G. Price from his late father’s LNU papers, which he owns.
Lancaster Guardian, 22 Mar 1924, 9 Apr 1927, 21 Apr 28 & 21 Mar 1930.