Rotary’s Scottish past

As Gordon McInally assumes the RI presidency, we look back at Rotary’s early history in Scotland

Scotland has important ties to the history of Rotary International. The British Association of Rotary Clubs, which eventually became Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, set up its original headquarters in Edinburgh in 1914. Seven years later, Edinburgh became the first city outside the United States to host a Rotary Convention. The city was also the birthplace of Jean Thomson Harris, the wife of Rotary founder Paul Harris, and the couple witnessed the organization’s growth in Scotland over several visits.

The enthusiasm and missionary zeal of Irish American Rotarian William Stuart Morrow set the course for Rotary’s development in Scotland. Morrow helped form numerous clubs in Great Britain and Ireland, including the first two in Scotland, the Rotary clubs of Glasgow (chartered April 1913) and Edinburgh (May 1913).

Another pioneer was Scottish pharmacist Tom Stephenson. As charter secretary of the Edinburgh club, Stephenson emphatically directed Rotarians to forget the “business-boosting” aspect of club membership and instead focus their efforts on useful civic service. After the club’s charter president, R.W. Pentland, was elected to the RI Board of Directors at the 1913 Rotary Convention in Buffalo, New York, he and Stephenson encouraged other clubs in Great Britain and Ireland to form the British Association of Rotary Clubs.

The association officially came into being in May 1914. Stephenson became its honorary secretary and set up its headquarters in Edinburgh. Even after the headquarters moved to London in 1921, Stephenson remained involved. He was 1927-28 president of the group, which by then had changed its name to Rotary International — Association for Great Britain and Ireland, before he served on the RI Board of Directors in 1928-29.

In June 1921, Edinburgh welcomed 2,500 attendees to the 12th annual Rotary International Convention, the first held away from the country where the organization was founded. The ocean liners Cameronia and Caronia, full of Rotarians and their wives, crossed the Atlantic from North America. It was at this convention that Rotary amended its constitution to include the goal “to aid in the advancement of international peace and goodwill through a fellowship of business and professional men of all nations united in the Rotary ideal of service.” Summing up the event’s success, 1920-21 RI President Estes Snedecor told delegates: “This convention is Rotary’s greatest opportunity. It gives promise of being Rotary’s greatest achievement.”

Although serious business was accomplished, fun and friendship were also on order. Convention festivities culminated with a grand parade through Edinburgh’s streets. Participants included Rotarians and their wives, as well as Edinburgh’s lord provost, magistrates, and councilors, resplendent in their robes of office. One highlight for many of the American visitors was sailing down the River Clyde with the Rotary Club of Glasgow, led by its most famous member, entertainer Sir Harry Lauder. Another was the offer of “home hospitality” by Stephenson and members of the Rotary Club of Edinburgh to visiting Rotarians, a tradition that remains a popular feature of the conventions.

Following World War I, Rotary expanded gradually in Scotland despite an economic depression. The visits of Paul and Jean Harris to Scotland in the 1920s and 1930s were reported in the national press, and the couple were given civic receptions during their visits to Edinburgh.

Many Scottish Rotarians regarded Paul Harris as a close friend, especially those in the coastal town of Ayr, near the birthplace of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns. On 2 April 1934, members of the Rotary Club of Ayr presented Harris with a copy of the complete works of their world-famous poet, which is now part of Rotary’s archives.

After her husband’s death, Jean Harris returned to her native land, where she lived the rest of her life. Although her expressed desire was to remain essentially a private person, Rotarians paid her regular visits. She also attended a small reception in honor of the Rotary Club of Edinburgh’s 50th anniversary. A commemorative plaque is now displayed outside her birthplace in central Edinburgh.

Adapted from an article by James McKelvie in the February 1997 issue of this magazine.