A Comprehensive Historyof Toastmasters in

Great Britain and Ireland1935–2014

Ted Corcoran, DTMInternational President 2003/2004

A Comprehensive History of Toastmasters in Great Britain and Ireland

1935-2014

Ted Corcoran, DTMInternational President 2003/2004

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This history would not be possible but for the efforts of many people though the years who, interested in preserving the districts history, retained records, magazines and other materials. Jim Latten, in his

book, “A History of Toastmasters International in Britain and Ireland”, published in 1997, dealt principally with the period from the late ‘60s to the early ‘90s. His personal experience was augmented by material received from Denis Tyler (Oxford), Norman Rhodes (Maidenhead), William Moloney (Shannon), Patrick McGrath (Lucan) and Michael Berkery (Tara). My sincere thanks go to Jim and all who assisted him.

Paddy Cunningham’s (Dublin) book, “A Difficult Pregnancy”, his account of the chartering of the Dublin club, was very valuable in its description of the policy issues and debates surrounding female membership. I’m indebted to his daughter Lisa for presenting me with all her father’s materials, including many copies of The Scottish Toastmaster, The British Toastmaster, as well as copies of The Toastmaster (published by Toastmasters International–TI) which enabled me construct the history from the earliest days.

Norman and Joyce Rhodes (Maidenhead) were very helpful in editing portions of the script and also in providing additional information. Teresa Dukes and David MacLeod were also helpful in supplying some missing records.

Lauri Duffy, a founder number of the Dublin club and Val Heavey, a charter member, also gave me some valuable material. Tom O’Neill and Eileen Murphy, both early members, were also helpful.

My daughter Claire and her husband Ken Jackson assisted greatly with the script and photos, while my wife Celine kept the home fires burning, as I waded through pages and pages of documents etc., for which my sincere thanks.

Finally, Sally Newell Cohen of TI arranged for staff member, Diana Helms, to tidy up the script and lay it out in a professional manner. Thanks Sally and Diana.

And so, as District 71 reforms into two districts from July 1st 2014, exactly 90 years after the founding of Toastmasters and 79 years after the first club was founded on this side of the Atlantic, we can look for­ward to further growth and expansion in the coming years. How soon before another district reformation is necessary?

Finally, we must never forget all the people who gave their time, energy and commitment, from 1935 to the present day, who made all this possible and to whom we will always be grateful.

Ted Corcoran DTM, Fingal #6255, Swords #1793International President 2003/2004

Toastmasters International

PART 1 The ’30s–’50s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

PART 2 The ’60s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

PART 3 The ’70s–’80s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

PART 4 The ’90s–’00s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

CONTENTS

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BackgroundAs a result of the historic decision taken at the District Conference in Wexford in May 2012, and the subsequent TI Board’s approval, District 71 will divide into two districts from July 1, 2014. It seems very appropriate, therefore, to now chronicle the history of toastmasters in these islands.

I will do so by decade for easier reading.

Toastmasters – The BeginningToastmasters officially began with the first meeting of the Number One Club in Santa Ana, California, on October 24, 1924. At the third meeting, a brief memorandum of organisation was approved which showed the name of the group as the “Toastmasters Club”. The club was set up by Ralph C Smedley, who was the General Secretary of the YMCA in Santa Ana at the time. In 1926, a second club was chartered in Anaheim, California. By 1930, it was apparent that a federation was necessary to coordinate the activities of some 15 clubs and to provide standard methods, so on October 4 the formal organisational meeting which joined the existing clubs into the association which adopted the name of Toastmasters International was held in Anaheim, California (source: “The Toastmaster”, October, 1958) The organisation was incorpo­rated, on December 19th, 1932, as Toastmasters International. In 1935, the first Toastmasters club outside the United States was chartered in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, while on July 6, the same year, district organisation was instituted with the organisation of District 1 in Southern California.

The Early Days – The ’30sThe 1935 International Convention – one of the earliest – granted a charter to the first club outside North America in Southport, England. The sponsor, William Lancaster, was elected to the Board of Direc­tors at the 1936 Convention in Santa Barbara, California. Sadly, he passed away on March 11, 1937. At

the Convention later that year, tributes were paid in his memory, as the man who introduced Toastmasters to Great Britain. Who he was and how he brought Toast­masters to Southport is a mystery. This club later closed down for the duration of WW2 and never reopened. There was also a second club in England, namely Leeds, as mentioned in “The Toastmaster”, June 1936, as follows,” There were clubs at work in eight states and there were two clubs in England”. WW2 most likely put paid to this second club too.

Also, in 1935, in the Public Speaker and Debater, there appeared an article by Dr. Jean Bordeaux, then Secretary of Toastmasters International, entitled, ‘Speakers who train on criticism’. This article was read by Will Goldie (seen on left), a member

of the City Business Club (a business club – not a toastmasters club) in Glasgow, who immediately saw the potential value of Toastmasters and, as a first result of his correspondence with Dr. Bordeaux, formed a Speaking Circle within the club, the forerunner of many similar bodies. These Speaking Circles lacked the individuality of Toastmasters clubs but Will Goldie’s faith and dogged persistence were rewarded when, in May, 1937, the first toastmasters club in Scotland was constituted, chartering two months later, on

PART 1

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July 13th – the Glasgow club, #86 ­ with himself as Secretary/Treasurer. As Dr Smedley had done in the USA, so also did Will Goldie for these islands by sowing the first seed in Scotland. To put this in perspec­tive, it took until January 29, 1938, for Charter #100 to be presented to the Century Toastmasters club in Santa Anna, Orange County, California.

The ’40s and ’50sJim Ewart (seen left) travelled daily between Greenock and Glasgow in the company of Will Goldie and inevitably got introduced to Toastmasters. He was not just content to join a club: he would form one! And so, after a demon­stration meeting by members of the Glasgow club, the second club in Scotland – the Greenock club, #315 was constituted in March, 1945, with Jim Ewart as Secretary. A banker by profession, Jim was successful in interesting a fellow banker in Edinburgh in Toastmasters with the result that Edinburgh club, #343 was formed. There quickly followed the Gourock club, #360, Glasgow (Commercial Bank), #363 and a second Edinburgh club, #368. As one can see from the numbers they were chartered on or about the same time.

After the Second World War, District 18, (yes D18 – that’s not a typo), was constituted on December 21, 1945, with just these six Scottish clubs and

Will Goldie serving as District Governor (DG) for 1946/47, a decision which wouldn’t be countenanced today when 60 clubs would be the norm and, even then, would be termed a provisional district for some time afterwards. By 1950, the district had grown to 20 clubs, but, amazingly, had mushroomed to 59 three years later! The people behind this enormous achievement were principally Jim Ewart, David L Moffat and Arthur Cunningham. Jim Ewart was appointed District Organiser in 1947 and travelled the length and breadth of Scotland starting new clubs. This is how his incredible commitment and determination is described in the November 1959 edition of The British Toastmaster, “From the borders to the north of Scotland he answered the call, travelling to every point where there was the remotest possibility of a club forming, nursing them through their formation period, presenting charters and gracing club functions.” In total, he was responsible for the building of 44 clubs in a very short period of time. He went on to serve as district governor in 1952/53. It must have been a very exciting time. Here is how the period 1945­1951 was described by District Secretary John Howden in “The Scottish Toastmaster” edition of December 1957.

“Let us take down the files for a moment and shake off the dust. 1945 . . . The gentle figure of Will Goldie sits upon the Olympic throne casting a pontifical and fatherly eye upon the oratorical courtiers around him . . . 1946 . . . In the east the swashbuckling Arthur Cunningham sweeps like a tempestuous giant through the countryside, gathers Edinburgh in a swift encircling movement, sends advanced troops north where Inverness quickly capitulates, marches triumphantly into the Central area . . . 1947 . . . In the west the lean and eager Jim Ewart sits astride a mighty war-horse and charges through towns like a conquering hero of old . . . Gourock has fallen . . . Port-Glasgow follows . . . Dunoon . . . Hamilton . . . Greenock . . . 1949 . . . The tempo increases . . . Ayr, Paisley, Renfrew, Alexandria, Dumbarton, Kilmarnock, Annan . . . 1950 . . . It becomes a crusade of con-quest that is almost uncontrollable . . . Flashing his secretarial sword J.O. Brunton battles furiously with Santa Anna for fresh materials, the literary ammunition to arm his restless generals; and, winning that battle, has to grapple anew with the Board of Trade for their release . . . 1951 . . . The administrators come . . . the modest Dan McGregor . . . the aristocratic C.R.MacKenzie . . . David L. Moffat, quietly insistent, ubiquitous . . . the scholarly John Harrison . . . There are many others of course, names almost forgotten now, yet men who have given unselfishly something of themselves to the movement. Their stories, their personalities, their works lie there in the files, shrouded and sealed in brown- paper wrapping that bears the bleak epitaph: Correspondence 1945-1951.”

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What wonderful descriptive prose! Stirring stuff indeed! What a huge debt we owe these men who took the fragile seed of the toastmasters idea and grew it into a sturdy tree in a very short time. And we, the current toastmasters of District 71, can trace our origins back to their unselfish efforts.

David Moffat (seen below) joined the Glasgow club in 1946. He convened the first district conference in 1952 and the following year accompanied Jim Ewart to America to attend the International Convention in Denver. He served as district governor in 1953/54. It was he who prepared the itinerary for Dr Smedley’s

visit to Scotland in 1953 and accompanied Dr and Mrs Smedley on their tour of Scotland. Dr Smedley spent two busy weeks attending 28 meetings and conferences. He considered the visit a thrilling experience and believed it resulted in a better understanding both as toastmasters and citizens of two friendly and cooperative nations.

1953 also saw the introduction of the district magazine, “The Scottish Toast­master”, later renamed “The British Toastmaster”, in November 1959. The first club chartered in England after the war was Darlington #1405, in 1953 – the second club was in Blackburn, known as Tower #1488. Both had their charters presented to them by David Moffat while serving as DG in 1953/54.

The growth of clubs continued, increasing to 73 in 1955 and to 82 by 1957. By 1956, there were 13 Areas in Scotland, with just one in England, known as “North of England”. It’s interest­ing to note the occupations of the 14 Governors of these Areas. They were all professional people, many of them former military officers. There were 5 bankers, 2 accountants, and an optician, solicitor, business owner, insurance manager, local govt official, town clerk and a schoolteacher. And, naturally, they were all men, women not being officially allowed to be members until 1973. From 1944 to 1958, Toastmasters International had grown from approximately 250 clubs to 2850, with about 80,000 members located in 30 different countries. This equates to about 3% clubs worldwide being in D18. At this time there were 2500 Toastmas­ters in Britain. The district governor in 1956/57 was an Edward A. J. Dobson, a member of the Edinburgh club who lived at 29 Craiglockhart Road North, Edinburgh. He, sadly, passed away in June 1959 at the young age of 47 years. In 1958, the Dublin club, #2601, became the first club chartered in Ireland – more about this club later. By 1959, there were 2900 clubs worldwide and of the 85 clubs listed in D18, there were 76 in Scotland, 7 in England, and a sole club (Dublin), in Ireland. Remarkably, there is also a club recorded in the Channel Islands – Jersey #939, chartered in April, 1950. This club was still alive in February 1960, but by December 1961, number 939 had been allocated to a new club, namely R.A.F., High Wycombe. How the Jersey club started, and who the people involved were, will probably never be known. In Scotland, by 1959, there were clubs as far north as Kirkwall in Orkney and spread across the country in Thurso, Aberdeen, Nairn, Inverness, Banff, Dundee and Stirling, as well as many clubs in the Glasgow and Edinburgh areas. The clubs in England at this time are recorded as Lancaster (Lancashire), Sunderland, Darlington (Durham), Newcastle­Upon­Tyne, Loughborough (Leicester), Tower (Blackburn) and Aylesbury. Of all of these clubs, only Aylesbury, #762, chartered in 1956 and Dublin, #2601, chartered in 1958, survive today as member clubs of Toastmasters International.

Front Row L/R: Will Goldie 2nd, Dr Smedley 4th, Jim Ewart 5th, David Moffat 6th, James Macaulay? far right

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The progressive total of Chartered Clubs for each year is as follows: 1945–2; 1946–6; 1947–10; 1948–11; 1949–13; 1950–20; 1951–36; 1952–50; 1953–59; 1954–69; 1955–73; 1956–80; 1957–82; 1958–83; 1959–85; 1960–90; 1961–91; 1962–108; To June 1963–119. (Extract from TCBI Club Directory 1963/64).

For list of clubs in D18 in 1957, see Appendix 14. For list of TCBI clubs 1965, see Appendix 15.March, 1958 marked a visit to Scotland from TI International Presi­

dent, Paul Haeberlin, born in Glasgow, of Swiss parents, but then living in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada, who had the distinction of being elected the first international president from outside the USA. He attended the dinner marking the 21st anniversary of the founding of the Glasgow club #86. During their visit Mr and Mrs Haeberlin spent a day sailing through the beautiful Kyles of Bute. Stopping off in Rothesay, they were presented with a suit length of tweed and a travelling rug, woven in the island’s famous tweed mill, by President Bob McLean of the Rothesday Toastmasters club #1158.

The district governor in 1959/60 was J. Lockhart Whiteford, M.A. of 8 Woodview Terrace, Hamilton (seen right). He was preceded as DG in 1958/59 by Thomas O’Beirne, of 55 Buchanan Drive, Burnside, Rutherglen. In November, 1959, the first edition of The British Toastmaster magazine was published. These magazines are the source of much of the information about that period I have relied upon for these notes. The DG, J. L. Lockhart Whiteford. In his editorial writes,

“It is with a certain degree of self consciousness, not to say trepidation, that we present ourselves in our new attire and sporting, for the first time, our new title. We trust our friends over the border and in the most distant parts of these islands will find the new title acceptable, as giving evidence of a desire on the part of the Executive to make those more distant clubs feel they are part of District Eighteen and not just so many appendages stuck on merely in the interests of geographical convenience.

Prior to this, the magazine was entitled “The Scottish Toast­master”, first published in 1953. Before this again there was a newsletter, published from 1949. These magazines were of a very high standard and much impressed TI. The issue of November 1959, (Editor John M. Goold), was of such a standard that the Board of Directors was prepared to accept the magazine as the official organ of Toast­

masters International in the British Isles and Ireland. Of course, there was also the TI magazine entitled, “The Toastmaster”. Today, this is known simply as “Toastmaster”. See Appendix 20 to see cover of January 1957 edition.

D18 Governor, Ian D. McIntyre, presented charter # 2601 to Paddy Cunningham, President of Dublin Toastmasters club, at a charter dinner in the Royal Hibernian Hotel, attended by over 70 guests on 12th April, 1958. Among the guests, were the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor James Carroll and the American Ambassador to Ireland, Mr Scott McLeod, no less! The Dublin club thus became the first club chartered in Ireland. It only takes three lines to mention

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this achievement here, but behind it laid a tremendous battle of wits and wills over many months which will described in the section entitled “Developments in Ireland”.

In mid 1958, DG McIntyre visited the USA at the invi­tation of Dr Smedley and the then Executive Director, Ted Blanding, who had joined TI in 1933 and went on to serve in many offices, including that of International President. By the time of the visit, Mr Blanding had resigned and been replaced by Maurice Forley, who was a graduate of Yale and North Western Law School, and is seen in photo below. DG McIntyre, in the November 1958 edition of “The Scottish Toastmaster, reported on his meeting with Dr Smedley and Mr Forley as follows.

“I had friendly and valuable discussions with Dr. Ralph and Maury (sic) Forley. They have a genuine concern to serve the needs of our District, a concern that was reflected at the Board meetings I was privileged to attend. There has been prompt action. Arising from our discussions a series of questions has been addressed to the District on our relations with the Home Office, and our requirements from, and attitude to, Toastmasters International. I am confident that we are reaching towards New Horizons which will open up prospects to our mutual benefit.”

All seemed to be sweetness and light between the attendees, but it very possibly was the begin­ning of the change from being a full district to a Territorial Council.

At a dinner in the Crown Hotel, Alloa, on Saturday, 25th November, 1959, Alloa Toastmasters received their charter from DG Whiteford. Referring to the American origins of Toastmasters, he said that the Alloa club was joining the move­ment at a time of transition... “when the Toastmasters in Scotland were changing from a segment of an American movement to a national branch of an international organi-

sation. We should be careful to translate American terms into our own and not merely take things as we find them”. Was this the first indication of separatism thinking, I wonder?

This brings us to the end of the ’50s. At this time there were nearly 3000 clubs in Toastmasters Interna­tional, eighty seven of them in these islands. While up to now there has been steady progress, the decade or so ahead will see many changes, not all of them positive. But, before we finally leave the ’50s, we must take a look at what was happening in Ireland.

L/R Maurice Forley; Dr Smedley; Ian McIntyre

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Developments in IrelandThe introduction of Toastmasters to Ireland was completely independent of developments in Britain. Paddy Cunningham, the founding father of the Dublin #2601 club, has described how it came about in his book, “Toastmasters.... A Difficult Pregnancy”. Paddy and his friends George Coughlan and Joe Farrell banded together and launched the Dublin Speakers Club (no connection with Toastmasters), which met weekly. The first meeting was held at No. 3 St Stephens Green, on Wednesday, September 12th, 1951. The programme featured speeches by the members, debates etc. Each speech would be then commented on by others who could be mildly critical, if, as Paddy describes it, that were warranted! This club lasted only twelve months or so but revealed a widespread interest in the art of public speaking. In 1953, an unsigned letter appeared in the Evening Mail bemoaning the fact that Ireland, home of some world famous orators, such as Edmund Burke, had not even one club to train people in this sought after art. He was quickly iden­tified as Ernest Bray, a member of Toastmasters Club 111 from San Pedro, California, an Irish American home for a few weeks on holiday. Paddy met up with him while Mr Bray was on his way to the airport to return home. At that brief meeting the seed of setting up a toastmasters club was sown.

In 1955, Paddy was invited to present a Public Speaking course in Rathmines High School of Com­merce. This was repeated in 1956 with even greater numbers. By early 1957, thoughts began about how pupils, who had completed the course, could maintain contact through some type of organisation. Paddy remembered his conversation with Ernest Bray, found some details Ernest had left him and made contact with the Home Office in California. He was quickly provided with a Prospect Kit, some information on meetings and programmes and a separate guide for each officer. An organising committee was immedi­ately formed consisting of the under mentioned and held its first meeting in Paddy’s home, Meath House, Stillorgan, on Saturday May 25th 1957 (apologies for absence received from Messrs. English and Cleary). After a further planning meeting on June 20th, the first regular meeting took place in the now defunct Grosvenor Hotel, Westland Row. This meeting approved the name Dublin Toastmasters Club and the following officers.

President: P. D. Cunningham; Educational V.P.: John J. Doran; Administrative V.P.: Lauri W. DuffySgt at Arms: Eamonn V. Cleary; Treasurer: Padraic P. English; Secretary: Louis S. ByrneWith a strong officer corp., many members, both men and women, drawn from the public speaking

classes and regular meetings, all seemed set fair for a history making charter dinner targeted for late October, or early November. However, a surprise was in store. Unaware that women were not allowed to be members of a toastmasters club, imagine the shock when a letter from District 18 Governor, Ian D. McIntyre, confirming his attendance at the charter celebrations, contained the following paragraph:

“The Charter Dinner is usually treated as a social occasion, distinct from any regular meetings; some clubs encourage Members to bring along friends (in some instances, including the ladies).”

An Extraordinary General Meeting was immediately called and a decision made to fight this perceived discrimination tooth and nail. Men and women who had soldiered together in the earlier public speaking classes were not now going to be forced to go their separate ways. Voluminous correspondence between the Home Office, in the persons of Ted Blanding , Executive Secretary, and later, in 1957, Executive Direc­tor, Maurice Forley, Administrative Counsel, and Paddy Cunningham ensued. First there was a total refusal on the part of TI to even contemplate the possibility of ladies having any role in a club. A suggestion by the club that TI interpret “man” in the Biblical sense, covering all mankind and thus permitting women members fell on deaf ears, although full marks must be given to the club for its clever, although somewhat audacious, suggestion! Then, after suggestions from TI to form a gavel club for the women members, or have them form a branch of Toastmistresses International, were spurned, a letter from Mr Forley, dated

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January 9th, 1958, seemed to indicate the end was nigh. The final paragraph stated, “If, as you suggest, you must have a Toastmasters Club on the terms you propose, and nothing else, we will return to you the funds you have submitted with regret that neither you nor we may benefit from the association we would be pleased to establish.”

However, an earlier letter from Mr Forley, dated November 27th, 1957 seemed to give each side an out. He had written, “It is within the proper bounds of local club autonomy and policy to invite women to partic-ipate in its meetings and programmes even though they are not toastmaster club members and cannot vote.”

The Dublin club, obviously seeing in this olive branch a way forward from the impasse, responded to this letter on March 1st 1958 and agreed “to comply with the current International Constitution and Bylaws in the interests of Toastmastering in Ireland.”

Mr Forley’s response to this letter seemed to give another nod and a wink by stating, inter alia, “While admittedly any alternative course to club membership may not be fully satisfying, I am confident that you will devise means whereby the ladies in your club will not feel completely excluded.”

The Dublin Club took him at his word. Accordingly, the charter was issued, the charter dinner held, the correspondence ceased and the ladies henceforward participated in all the meetings as “invitees” delivering speeches, evaluations and serving as toastmaster, topicmaster etc. A typical Irish solution to an Irish problem! I bet TI was not too unhappy either. And so they all lived happily ever after. (Source: Eileen Murphy and Tom O’Neill, club members at the time)

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The ’60sThe ’60s brought a major change in the governance of Toastmasters in these islands by the change, in 1962, from a District (D18) to Territory #1, governed by the Territorial Council of the British Isles (TCBI). Before I deal with this, however, I would like to mention some events in 1960 and 1961.

1960 began with the chartering of the first club in London, unsurprisingly named the First London club. The charter, #3068, was presented to Club President W.A. Young, by DG Whiteford on January 20th in the Railway Hotel, Edgeware. In welcoming the club to District 18, Mr Whiteford said “… the forma-

tion of this club represented the first break-through into the London area which had shown hitherto a rather surprising reluctance to be converted”. President Young, in reply, said that he first came into contact with Toastmasters in 1951, when, during a stay in the North, he became an associate of the Elgin club. The seed thus sown then germi­nated, and the next year he decided to form a club in London. He expressed his thanks to Area Gov­ernor N Grossmith and members of the Aylesbury club for the assistance they had so willingly given during the formation stages. Among the guests were the Area Governor of England, Mr Grossmith (one Area Governor for the whole of England!),

and the Presidents of the Aylesbury, Buckingham and Cotswold (United States Air Force) clubs with sev­eral of their members. American Air Force clubs played an important part in our history later through one of their members Gaylord Giles. Even though it’s mentioned as a club, the record shows it wasn’t chartered till 1966.

And so to the change of governance. In 1961, D18 agreed new arrangements with the International Board of Directors. For list of D18 Governors see Appendix 5. District officers were only too aware of the cultural differences between America and Britain, manifested principally in the educational material produced by TI. A feeling that some people here still share, no doubt! The agreement was to the effect that D18 would relinquish the designation “District” and become a “Territory”. And so Territory #1 was constituted on 1st Jan­uary, 1962, with a governing body known as the Territorial Council of the British Isles, or TCBI, its first President being John Blaney (seen on left), 7 Kyle Park Ave­nue, Uddingston, Glasgow. Members, henceforth, would pay just $1 capitation fee,

or annual subscription, to TI and subscription to the Toastmaster magazine would be voluntary. The TCBI drew up its own constitution and byelaws, which were approved by the TI Board of Directors, giving the

PART 2

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TCBI Council much autonomy in running its affairs. This state of affairs lasted till 1972 when the big rift occurred. Meanwhile, Delaware, Maryland, and a part of Virginia in the U.S. were allotted the designation District 18 and retain it to this day. (See Appendix 23 for description of how Rotary International agreed to similar governance arrangements for Rotary clubs in Britain and Ireland. No surprise, therefore, that D18 management requested the same self governance arrangements as Rotary clubs had, as they were most probably drawn from the same pool of professional people. In Rotary’s case, the arrangement still remains in place today with a membership of in excess of 50,000 members in 29 districts in Britain and Ireland.)

As an example of this new independence of the TCBI, the following excerpt was published in the British Toastmaster in April 1963.

“Certificates of MeritThe following members have qualified, on the completion of the series of twelve Basic Training Speeches for the award of the Certificate of Merit. (Note: this corresponds to the achievement of a Competent Communicator Award today).E. C. Caulfield, Burtonwood clubWilliam Hartley, Perth clubJock Spence, Perth clubHarold M. Muckle, Bathgate club.

Will club educational Vice presidents please note that applications for these certificates should be addressed to the Territorial Educational Director and NOT to World H.Q., Santa Ana. Issue is now made by TCBI and reported to WHQ; application by clubs direct to U.S.A. merely causes duplication of effort and confusion in recording.”

Also in the same magazine, there is a reference to Toastmistresses International. This was a sepa­rate organisation catering for women, as women weren’t formally admitted as members to TI till 1973. The event was the finals of the Speech Contest organised by Council #1 of Toastmistresses International. The piece reads...” In extending our congratulations to these ladies, we also pass on the suggestion of Mr MacLaren (a visiting judge from Toastmasters), that Toastmasters clubs might wherever possible arrange joint meetings with Toastmistress clubs. As he puts it, “the ladies’ criticism is perceptive and penetrating, drawing freely from their native intuition of man’s weaknesses.”

No comment of mine necessary! A George White was instrumental in assisting Dr Ralph Smedley in forming the first Toastmaster

Club in San Francisco. Many of the wives of Toastmasters would accompany their husbands to meetings and George’s wife Ernestine was no exception. It was at one of those meetings that the desk clerk at the YMCA suggested they form a group of their own. Ernestine immediately acted on this suggestion and a woman’s group was formed. The first Toastmistress club was chartered on December 16, 1938. By 1946,

the first club was formed in Canada, as was the first club in Scotland.Before this expansion, Ernestine, in 1943, unfortunately had passed away

at the very young age of 34.In the 1962 edition of “The British Toastmaster”, an excerpt from a

TI newsletter sent out by Maurice Forley, the Executive Director of TI, is quoted, “The Territorial Council of the British Isles places second (in club growth) with ten new clubs.” District 14 in Georgia, USA, was number one with 14 new clubs. This shows the rapid growth of clubs in Territory #1. Indeed, Hamish Halley (seen left), the Territorial President, in his presiden­tial message in the October 1962 issue of “The British Toastmaster”, reports “The Readers Digest article in July 1961 produced nearly 1600 replies and John

Howden as Secretary and Archie Robertson as Organiser had a tremendous job to deal with them all. The result is that expansion this year has been equal to six normal years. The total is now 108 clubs; many new ones are already functioning and quite a few more have invited me to present their charters in the Autumn.”

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Reorganisation – And WhyThe following article, written by Past District Governor 1959/60, J. Lockhart Whiteford, and published in the December 1964 edition of The British Toastmaster, clearly sets out the thinking and reasons for the change in designation from D18 to Territory #1.

In 1955, the Council of District 18 appointed a small committee to examine and report on the administrative structure of the District, in which the 73 British Toastmasters clubs were then organised. The recommendations of that committee embraced three main themes: first, putting the District, which had begun in 1945 with six clubs, and which was being heavily subsidised by the Home Office in Santa Ana, on a self sufficient basis (Note: This was how WHQ was known then); second, establishing a relationship between the clubs in Britain and American HQ which would maintain the important international aspects of Toastmasters while providing for natural development of British characteristics; and third, providing for a national organisation which would make possible a comprehensive service to clubs, while at the same time ensuring the maximum local participation in national affairs.

The committee, accepting that the primary purpose of TMI is educational, stressed the need to provide for a wide field of opportunity for men to gain experience in organisation as well as in speaking; but recognising the need for streamlining in essential organisation, recommended certain changes in the procedure then operating, to ensure both economy and efficiency. These changes were effected; and a new committee was then appointed to consider the second problem, relations between Santa Ana and clubs in Great Britain. By this time (1957) the number of clubs had reached 82 and was rising steadily; in other parts of the world TM clubs were coming into existence in ever increasing numbers. It was felt that the American system of Districts, in which each club remains directly linked with the Home Office, was not appropriate, on grounds of distance and national idiosyncrasy, to these extra-American clubs. Four years of work and nego-tiation produced the “Territorial” formula; and on January 1, 1962, District 18 became Territory #1 of TMI. By this change, the clubs in the UK retained the full advantages of international mem-bership, while matters of internal organisation, educational programmes, magazines and finance became the responsibility of the Territorial Council.

The third problem was not long in demanding an urgent solution. New clubs were being formed in 1962 at the rate of one a month, and the process showed no signs of slackening. Not only were Territorial Officers becoming over-burdened but the sense of contact between clubs and central executive was being lost. Costs has risen considerably since 1945; and an increase in sub-scription reluctantly proposed by the Executive (and accepted by the 1964 Conference), provided the occasion for a very thorough review of the Territory’s administration and possible future.

The committee, which had undertaken this review made, at the same conference, a set of proposals designed to meet the needs of the Territory for many years to come, and capable of accommodating at least 300 clubs. Since, on present trends, the number of clubs is likely to be around 170 in 1970, this ought to take care of the foreseeable future. In order to give time for discussion and detailed implementation of their proposals, the committee recommended that they should not become effective before January1, 1967.

It is proposed to divide the Territory into five “Provinces” (with the possibility of later subdivision into seven). Each of these Provinces (with a provisional roll of up to 60 clubs in each) would have responsibility for the administration of clubs in the Province, the creation of suitable areas, distri-bution of magazines and educational literature, organisation of new clubs and the conduct of pro-vincial meetings and conferences. Each Province would be represented on the Territorial Executive Council and each club at the annual meeting of the Territorial Council. The Territorial Executive council would have the responsibility for approving and issuing charters, publishing the magazine and educational matter, co-ordinating Provincial activities, and maintaining liaison with world HQ, as well as exercising general oversight of all Toastmasters activities in the British Isles.

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The Provincial limits at present proposed are: A – present Areas 1-5 (37 clubs); B – present Areas 6-10 (37 clubs); C – present Areas 7-15 (24 clubs); D – present Areas 16-17 (8 clubs); E – present Areas 18-20 (13 clubs).

These proposals were accepted in principle at Conference, 1964. The Re-organisation Com-mittee are now engaged in preparing detailed schemes of working, drawing up constitutions and by-laws, defining provincial boundaries, and devising financial arrangements. Their proposals on these matters will come before club and area meetings for discussion; and decisions on them will be made at the Territorial General Meetings of 1965 and 1966. In this way it is hoped that in 1967 we shall enter upon a new and even more successful era in British Toastmasters history; and that the hopes of 1955 will be realised.”

This proposal situated A and B in Scotland and C, D, and E in northern, central, and southern England respectively. Ireland was allocated to C in this proposal, but this was never implemented because of the Irish clubs mixed membership policy.

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Progress in IrelandAs previously mentioned, the first club in Ireland, Dublin #2601, was finally chartered in 1958 after much exchange of correspondence re the admission of women members. In January 1960, there followed the chartering of the second club in Ireland – the charter presentation dinner for Eblana, #3103, being held in the Central Hotel Dublin on January 30th. In attendance were Lord Mayor Councillor Phillip Brady, and once again the American Ambassador, Mr Scott McLeod. The inaugural meeting of Dublin’s third club was held in the Banker’s Club, St Stephens Green, Dublin, on May 1st, 1962, with an approximate attendance of 45. A fortnight later, at the next meeting, it was decided to name the new club Hellfire, which went on to charter in March 1963. By then a fourth club, Strabane #3457, in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, had been chartered in February, 1962, making just four clubs in Ireland. Jack Blaney, past Territorial President and member of the Board of TI, had made the long trip to Strabane to present the Charter, at a function at the Windmill Restaurant on September 25th 1962, to Fred W. Pratt, Club President of what was the first provincial club In Ireland.

The Irish didn’t wait around for someone to organise a speech contest for them – they organised their own! Accordingly, the first National Speech Contest was held on Saturday, May 11th 1963, in the old Jury’s Hotel in College Green, Dublin. Each of the four clubs was represented and Bosele Mosiieman, originally from Basutoland of all places, a member of the Eblana club, was declared the winner and awarded the Raymond Heavey Perpetual Trophy, kindly donated by Mr Heavey himself. A few years later, the 1970 winner, Niall Behan of Shannon #44, not alone won the TCBI speech contest in Blackpool, but went on to win the Taped Speech Contest at the International Convention in Portland, Oregon in August that year. This taped contest still exists today for members of clubs which are not yet attached to districts. For sub­sequent national winners please refer to Appendix 3.

The Charter Dinner of the Belfast Toastmasters club was held in Parliament Buildings, Stormont, on Friday, 29th November, 1963. The charter #3641 was presented to the founder President, W.A. Mosley by Mr James A. Dunlop, Territorial President. Guests included James Donaldson, Territorial Organiser, T.E. Flynn, President of the Dublin club and H. Gordon, President of the Strabane club.

The spread of toastmasters in Ireland was temporarily halted in 1965 due to the refusal of the Terri­torial Executive Committee in Glasgow to grant a Certificate of Permission to Organise on the grounds that “The Executive Council has been much perturbed by the continuing mixed membership of the three Dublin clubs and . . . has grave doubts about the setting up of a fourth club in Dublin with similar mixed membership.”

This edict, however, did not prevent the chartering of the Cork club #1868 on April 1st, 1967, a club born from the idea of Con O’Connor, a local businessman, who saw a need for toastmasters in his city. The Fermoy club #2846, fifteen miles away, followed on May 1st, 1970.

In the February, 1964, edition of the British Toastmaster it is stated that there are now more than 3600 clubs to be found throughout 45 countries of the world. It goes on to say that the Territorial Council of the British Isles is a largely autonomous unit of Toastmasters International. It includes over 120 clubs in Scot­land, England and Ireland with a membership of over 3000. The 1962/63 President, John Blaney, is shown as “TCBI Director, TMI”. What this means is that, even though semi autonomous, Territory #1 still had a representative on the Board of TI. This title was bestowed on many past presidents of TCBI. None of them, as far as I know, however, actually attended a Board meeting in person, but sent reports for consideration at these meetings. This isn’t surprising considering the question of travel and costs etc. Working relation­ships between TI and TCBI were at a high level of trust, support and, dare to say it, mutual admiration, at this time, as manifested by the following piece in The British Toastmaster in 1964, written by Executive Director of TI, Maurice Forley.

“In my annual report to the delegates at the International Convention at Denver, Colorado, in August, I expressed my personal satisfaction and pride in the growth and progress of TCBI. Exist-ing for many years as District 18, the Toastmasters of the British Isles only began to receive the

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recognition and status they deserve when they became semi-autonomous. Under consistently able leadership, TCBI now has become the largest, and one of the strongest, aggregations within our world organization. When I fade from the Toastmasters scene, I shall look back upon my small part in the negotiations for and encouragement of TCBI as among the most satisfying efforts of my administration.”

However, pretty soon hard questions began to be asked by members of Territory #1. Here is a good example of how people were thinking.

A letter to the editor of the magazine The British Toastmaster March 1966Independence for Britain?Sir, While appreciating Territorial Treasurer Roy Kelso’s efforts in detailing and tabulating how our dollar- a- head subscription to the headquarters in Santa Ana is absorbed in the Toastmasters Interna-tional operating expenses, the question which springs to my mind is: Why do we subscribe to the USA?

So that I shall not be misunderstood, let me say that I believe Toastmasters International to be a very human and social idea. That it has spread to 50 countries throughout the world is, in itself, an accolade to its function of serving and satisfying a deep-rooted need in mankind.

It is stated in our Constitution that “the Territorial Council of the British Isles is a largely autono-mous unit of Toastmasters International. Why not a completely autonomous unit? Why send our hard earned wealth to the USA to contribute to the upkeep and maintenance of sumptuous offices for clerical and administrative staff? (Might I also say it was illuminating to notice that the largest single item of expenditure in the accounts was literature and supplies. What literature? What supplies? We have mem-bers of 12 months standing who are patiently awaiting their Basic Training Manual.

Without being one little bit nationalistic – I have experienced tremendous hospitality from Ameri-cans and regard them, if not their politicians, in a friendly light – I would rather see this money retained in Great Britain to be used on the British, for the British, by the British.

May I humbly suggest a referendum to be held throughout the members of the chartered clubs in Terri tory No 1 and the results published? If there is a majority in favour of the proposal for complete independence, then correspondence and discussion can be opened with Santa Ana informing them of the majority view, in order for that we may part on the most friendly terms.

Should however, the decision be in favour of retaining the existing arrangement, then, I am sure we members would abide by the wishes of the greater number.

T. P. HopkinsBushy, Herts

The May 1969 issue No. 30 describes a Reorganisation Plan that created 6 geographical districts. The conference decisions of the 1969 TCBI included: “The territory will be divided into six districts, each of which will be divided in the areas with their constituent clubs. District Presidents and Vice presidents will be members of the executive council. It is estimated there will be financial saving by district presidents undertaking club and area visitations formerly carried out by the territorial president, whilst each district will operate on a budget.

The clubs in Ireland will not be included in a district meantime.”So, as late as 1969, eleven years after the chartering of the Dublin club, the TCBI was still a cold house

for Irish clubs.The structure described is similar to the Division and Area authorization in the current TI Corporate

By­laws. Then came the Board decision that changed everything. In 1969, the Board of Directors decided that

TCBI clubs should operate on the same basis as the other clubs worldwide; that the clubs in Britain and Ireland come under direct administration from WHQ; that the Territory structure be disbanded in favour of the District structure and that toastmasters in Territory #1 pay the same dues as members elsewhere.

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The TCBI view, on the other hand, was that it was best qualified to assess their own educational and administrative requirements and to shape their future within TI. It considered the planned return to the district structure as a retrograde step which would mean the loss of nearly ten years experience as a self determining body. Naturally enough, the thought of paying increased dues must have been a major factor in their thinking too.

So what happened between 1964, when Maurice Forley wrote the above piece, and 1969? Firstly, Mr Forley was replaced sometime in the interim by Col. Robert T. (Buck) Engle (seen left) as Executive Direc­tor. Col Engle had been appointed, in 1958, as armed forces consultant to assist in the formation and

servicing of nearly 250 toastmasters clubs at American military installations in the United States and overseas. He had served as a club president, an area and a district officer. This is how his appointment is described in The Toastmaster magazine, April 1959.

“TMI now has a consultant for Military Club Activities, in the person of Col. Robert T. Engle, USAF. Colonel Engle is currently assigned to Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Air Transport Service. In announcing Colonel Engle’s appointment, Aubrey B. Hamilton,

TMI president, said the colonel will serve as consultant for nearly 250 Toastmasters clubs at American military installations in the United States and overseas. Colonel Engle has served as a Toastmaster club president and as an Area and District officer. He has also helped organize several Toastmasters clubs within the Armed Forces during his 18 years of military service”.

What is not clear from this is who appointed him to this position – Military Command or TI. It was most likely Military Command with the agreement of TI. As you will see later, the survival of TI in Britain, in 1972, had a lot to do with the fact that a number of U.S. military clubs existed there at the time, so his appointment had important future implications. In the 1963/64 TCBI club directory, for example, there are seven toastmasters clubs listed under the heading of American Service Clubs. These were Cotswold #1966 in Brize Norton in Carterton, South Ruislip #2212 in Middlesex, London #2935 which met in the English Speaking Union, High Wycombe #2941, Lakenheath #3180 in Suffolk, Oxfordshire #3194, and One­O­Wonders # 3398 in Bentwaters R.A.F. station in Suffolk.

Accordingly, he seemed to be the right man in the right place to replace Mr Forley, when the time came ten years later in 1969. Apparently, he was possessed of a fairly gruff manner and, as a former senior military officer, he most likely wanted his own way in things. According to Bob Blakeley, International President, 1976/77, his authoritarian manner often put him in serious conflict with TI Boards at the time. Indeed, on one occasion this required the calling of an extraordinary Board meeting, an unprecedented event. Outside of his dealings with the Board, his relationship with TCBI officers also became somewhat fraught. In addition, a serious cash flow problem had arisen in TI. Speaking with Rex Davenport from Austin, Texas, who served as an International Director in the 1960s, he told me finances were so bad in TI at the time that one or more directors had to lend money to the organisation to help manage a serious liquidity problem. I met Mr Engle on just one occasion at a commemorative event in WHQ in February 1997, but he declined to elaborate. However, on the same occasion, I asked the then Executive Director, the late Terry McCann, what the financial state of TI was when he replaced Mr Engle in 1974. His reply was that there was, at times, insufficient cash flow to pay the staff.

As the Board wrestled with this problem, they must have looked enviously at the almost 150 clubs, and at least 3000 members in Territory #1, paying just $1 per annum to TI. And there was no guarantee that this payment would continue – see earlier letter from T.P. Hopkins. This was the crux of the problem which was not helped by the clash of personalities on both sides. There must have been another reason, most likely a strategic one. As Territory #1 grew to almost 150 clubs, it began to be more independent in many ways. It had its own first class magazine, its own educational literature, its own constitution and

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by­laws, a well thought out structure and systems and a leadership team elected principally from the pro­fessional elite of Scotland. As you will see from the next piece, club numbers in Australia and New Zealand were also growing apace. Having served on the Board myself for a number of years, I’m certain the Board came to the conclusion that Territories, as soon as they grew to a certain size and strength, and began to seek more and more independence, could then be very reluctant to remain within TI’s control and pay any dues, reduced or otherwise, for what was considered at the time very poor value. Accordingly, TI made a decision that Territory #1 would be brought back into the district structure and thus under full control of the Board. (The same thinking was most likely one of the principle reasons for adopting Proposal A at the 2009 Annual Business Meeting in Connecticut, but, this time, it was the incredible growth of districts and member numbers outside North America, which were, up to then, treated differently than the districts within. As the numbers increased, so did the demands for parity of treatment. The passing of Proposal A finally secured this. As someone who was very passionate about achieving this parity of treatment, while serving on the Board, I was very honoured and pleased to be invited by then President, Jana Barnhill, to lead the debate at that particular Business Meeting.)

Before leaving the ’60s, a mention must be made about regalia which are unique to our District. It was in 1960 that the TCBI first instituted a medal­and­ribbon to enhance the prestige of its club presidents. Specially cast and manufactured for TCBI by Toye, Kenning and Spencer, regalia makers to the Queen, the solid silver medal was inset with blue enamel. The medal was suspended on a blue ribbon having a gold central stripe running along its length. TK & S made the first 42 such medals sets in December 1960. A few of these medals are still in use; one is mounted on the District 71 Governor’s gold chain of office and Oxford Speakers Club also uses one. We must be grateful to David Lindsay, DG 1984/85, for restarting the idea of regalia after it had lapsed following the setting up of D71 in 1972 and to Norman Rhodes, DG 1996/97, for ensuring appropriate regalia has been available ever since. For fuller details please refer to Appendix 22.

Next we move on to the ’70s, when TI and 120 clubs approx, in TCBI, parted company. (For list of Presidents of TCBI please refer to Appendix 6.) This was a critical moment in the history of TI in these islands, but one man, in particular, initially saved the day.

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PART 3

The ’70s While all this was happening on this side of the world, there were also increasingly positive develop­ments in Australia and New Zealand. In 1959, the Territorial Council of Australia (TCA) was established, although it was not officially recognised by TI, until 1963, when there were 18 clubs. The number of clubs continued to grow, until 1971, when Districts 69 and 70 were formed with 32 and 45 clubs respectively. A New Zealand Territorial Council was established in 1967 with a very small number of clubs, followed, in 1972, by full district status as District 72, consisting of 43 clubs. So, TI was dealing with these two territorial councils, in addition to the TCBI, and obviously determined to make them into districts under TI control and making full dues payments. It is no coincidence that these four districts have consecutive numbers i.e. 69, 70, 71 and 72. As in Great Britain, this new district structure and its implications were not greeted with great enthusiasm in Australia and New Zealand either! When visiting D70 in 2005, I had a conversation with a Ray Toyea in Sydney who told me he had served on a committee consisting of representatives from both countries in the early 70’s, which considered whether they would recommend breaking away from TI and setting up a separate organisation. It was eventually decided to remain within TI and adopt the district structure. So, Australia and New Zealand remained and, at June 30, 2013, consisted of five districts, with 950 clubs between them. Here, a large number of clubs, about 120, in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, left TI on January 1st , 1972, and formed The Association of Speakers Clubs. The ASC website in February 2014 showed it consists of 110 clubs and 1600 members throughout the UK..

So, what do we know of the interactions between TI and the TCBI leading up to the breakaway?The February 1970 issue of The British Toastmaster reported on a 15 day tour of Territory #1 by Exec­

utive Director R.T. Buck Engle. The visit was planned to strengthen relationships between the TCBI and WHQ. He even found time to visit Ireland and Paddy Molloy, a long time member of the Hellfire club in Dublin, remembers his visit to the club.

The May 1970 issue reported on a visit of International President Ralph “Bud” Howland to the 1970 TCBI Conference in Blackpool. Among other critical remarks, the TCBI President stated criticisms he had heard throughout the council: “The educational materials that were distributed were sometimes good, mostly ‘absolutely puerile’. He said: “We in TCBI deplore the dictatorial attitude of World Headquarters. There must be signs of co­operation and understanding of needs before there can be improvement.”

President Howland in his closing remarks stated: “I hope that all of our discussions will lead to something that will benefit Toastmasters International. A compromise can surely be found to clear up differences.”

The February 1971 issue contains an editorial critical of WHQ’s response to a “letter of intent” sent by the Executive Council in August, 1970. It states in part, “The Executive Council, at its January meeting, expressed disappointment with the reply from Santa Ana and, as a result, a motion concerning the situ-ation will be put forward at the Conference in April when the whole matter will come under discussion.” Unfortunately, there is no record of the contents of this “letter of intent”. However, one could reasonably speculate that the “intent” was a notice of intention to disassociate from TI, unless certain conditions were met. This is borne out by the following motion.

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At the 1971 April Conference in Edinburgh a motion, “That this Council approve the line of action taken by the Executive Committee and instruct them to draw up contingency plans for a separate organ-isation”, was carried overwhelmingly.

On November 4, 1971, R.T. Buck Engle wrote to each TCBI club president detailing a plan for the British and Irish clubs. Each toastmasters club would receive a free copy of the new Basic and Advanced speech manuals, plus club officer’s leadership materials. The letter detailed an increased fees schedule, effective in gradual steps for current members over a three year period, raising the annual dues, from $2, to $8. Clubs were given until Jan 1, 1972, to advise WHQ of their intent to continue as a member club of TI and, if so, to return a current membership list.

The TCBI Executive met on Nov 21. It decided all clubs would cease as members of TI on December 31, 1971. A new organisation was proposed – The Institute of Public Speaking. This later became the Association of Speakers Clubs, or ASC. However, most of the clubs in the southern district (The Terri­tory was divided into six districts equating in size to divisions nowadays) which comprised London, East Anglia and the Home Counties opted to remain with TI. These 21 clubs along with 7 Irish and 3 Scottish were assigned by TI to the proposed new District 71 in April, 1972. Interestingly, one of the Scottish clubs to remain with TI was the Glasgow club #86, the first club chartered in Scotland in 1937. The inaugural conference of the brand new Association of Speakers Clubs attended by 300 delegates from 120 clubs was held on April 15, 1972, in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England.

Gaylord Giles, a civilian, and former district governor of District 16 in Oklahoma, was transferred to the RAF Upper Heyford base in September, 1969. He continued his involvement with Toastmasters by, first of all, establishing the Shillelagh club which met at the base and then going on to serve in other capacities, before being elected district president of the TCBI Southern District in 1971. With his experience, he was the ideal person to rally and organise the remaining 24 clubs in Britain. A speech contest and business meeting was held in London in May 1972. A 1972/73 District Executive committee was elected, with Ben Marriot of the Southend­on­Sea

club as district governor for the 1972/73 year. District 71 was granted provisional district status at the TI board meeting in August 1972. Other people who served in Territory #1, and thereafter played a promi­nent role in D71, were Denis Tyler, president of the Oxford club and secretary of the Southern District of Territory #1, in 1971/72. Roger Mason was president of Aylesbury in 1971 and also served as area governor in the Southern District the same year. He remained involved with D71 and served as Secretary/Treasurer in 1984/85.

Over the years, the Irish clubs had a loose affiliation with TCBI, not helped by the mixed membership policy in the Dublin clubs. Realising that major changes were on the way, Bill Moloney of the Shannon club had taken the initiative of writing to the presidents of all nine clubs in Ireland, which included Belfast and Strabane, proposing a meeting. This was held in Dublin on December 5, 1971. The main decision of the meeting was the formation of the Toastmasters Council of Ireland, with Bill Moloney as president. At a further meeting on January 30, 1972, the seven clubs in the Republic of Ireland committed themselves to TI. This was no surprise because the Irish clubs always felt outsiders in TCBI – not being formed into an Area being one example. This decision was very well received by TI, as indicated by the following letter to Rory Stokes, immediate past president of the Dublin 2601 club, dated March 22, 1972. (In those years, the toastmasters year extended from Jan 1 to Dec 31.)

Dear Toastmaster Stokes.At its March,1972 meeting, the Board of Directors of Toastmasters International granted excep-tion to the standard membership criteria for the three Irish clubs that traditionally had open membership.

Attached is your copy of the approved exception to the club constitution of the Dublin Toastmasters club. Please record it in your club files. A copy has also been placed in the official files at World Headquarters

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It was a pleasure to learn that the Dublin Toastmasters Club is continuing its affiliation with Toastmasters International. We shall look forward to working with you and your club members. We are certain they will enjoy their communication and leadership experience as part of an active club and an international educational organisation.

We are sending five Club Officer Manuals airmail to you under separate cover. This is enough for you to give a copy to each member of your executive committee. Also included is a copy of Patterns of Programming for your educational vice-president. This includes a number of exciting and challenging club educational programs that have been well received and used successfully by other clubs in many countries.

Thirty-two copies of the Communication and Leadership Program Manual are being sent to you to give to the thirty-two members listed on your roster. They are being shipped surface mail and we would like to know how long it takes them to arrive. Please call to your member’s attention that when they have completed this manual and submit the completion form, they should check the appropriate place to receive the Advanced Communication and Leadership Program. Mate-rials for new members will be mailed directly to them in the future when they are reported to us.

Enough copies of the current issue of The Toastmaster magazine are being sent to you for dis-tribution to your members. By the time the next issue is off the press, we will have made provision for direct mailing to the members.

We are currently in the middle of a membership sales program and we are sending along a copy of the Membership Sales booklet which contains many ideas that your club might want to use in its membership activities. Also included are samples of the special mailings developed in connection with this program that we are calling “Project Fun”.

We hope you will let us hear from you whenever we can assist the club in any way.Sincerely,John K. Tyrell

This is a very interesting letter for many reasons. Firstly, the Board granted an exception to the stan­dard membership criteria for the three Dublin clubs, i.e. Dublin, Eblana and Hellfire, and by doing so accepted for the first time, officially, the fact that these clubs had women members, if not voting members, from the day they were established, even if not full members of Toastmasters International. Here was the practical American solution to an Irish problem that had existed since 1958, fourteen years earlier! There had been protracted correspondence pre­charter between the founder of the Dublin club, Paddy Cunningham, and various people in TI and TCBI about the fact that women were excluded from joining any toastmasters club. When Paddy Cunningham sought permission from TCBI to start a fourth club in Dublin, he was turned down until the Dublin clubs conformed to the Toastmasters Constitution of men only clubs. As an example of the thinking, here is an excerpt from a letter dated December 27th 1965 from Marshall F. Macaulay to Brendan O’Dwyer:

“At present the Irish Clubs have been denied the status of an Area. The Executive feel that the time has come when they should be represented by an Area President, but only after they ( The Executive) are satisfied that these clubs are:

(a) Fully conversant with the Constitution of Toastmasters and applying it.(b) There are no lady members.(c) The Clubs are in healthy condition as regards membership numbers.

Elsewhere in this letter, he writes, “Prior to Paris Jackson’s (Note: International President at the time) visit to Territory No. 1 in June 1965, we wrote to Maurice Forley and asked for a ruling on this question. When Paris Jackson arrived he informed us that the Board of Directors of Toastmasters International had never at any time agreed to any concession in respect of lady members. They also agree that our request to the Dublin Clubs to conform to the Constitution (omitting the ladies from membership) has their full approval and support.”

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In fact, Ireland was never formed into an Area until 1972, when D71 was constituted. It is no coincidence that the exception was granted just a few months after the setting up the ASC and the commitment of the Irish clubs to TI. What had been impossible in 1958 and 1965, was now feasible seven years later. Seven­teen months after the letter from John Tyrell to Rory Stokes advising him that, “the Board of Directors of Toastmasters International granted exception to the standard membership criteria for the three Irish clubs that traditionally had open membership”, the delegates voted at the International Convention in Houston, Texas, in August 1973, to change the constitution of TI and permit women to join officially for the first time. Today, over half the members worldwide are women.

Nothing had been heard of the intentions of Strabane and Belfast at this juncture and it became obvi­ous both clubs had decided to join with the ASC clubs. Then Gaylord Giles took a further initiative and invited the Irish clubs to join the British toastmasters group. This invitation was accepted and the Toast­masters Council of Ireland dissolved. It had lasted just a few months, surely the shortest life of any such council. At the British meeting in London, in May, 1972, an Irish Area was recognised for the first time – it hadn’t been so recognised under the TCBI structure – with Rory Stokes of the Dublin club as Area Governor. Gaylord Giles, in a letter to Bill Moloney, expressed his gratitude, “for the splendid effort you have given to the formation of the Irish Area”. Gaylord laid the foundations of the new D71. He had the knowledge and experience from his previous toastmasters service and the diplomatic skills to bring the British and Irish clubs together. At the first D71 Conference in London in May, 1973, he and his wife Nora were made a presentation, as well as a framed statement of appreciation for a man “who during his stay in the United Kingdom devoted his time and energy towards the betterment of Toastmasters International in Great Britain”. And very richly deserved it was. In honour of his tremendous contribution to the new district, the Gaylord Giles Trophy was thereafter presented annually to the Toastmaster of the Year. Like a lot of such trophies, its whereabouts now is unknown.

And so D71 took its first hesitant steps. There was very little growth in the ’70s. Although the Blarney, Clonakilty, Waterford, Dun Laoire and Ennis clubs were chartered in Ireland, overall the number of clubs in the district declined to slightly more than 20. In this decade, therefore, the number of clubs, despite the addition of new clubs, had more or less halved. The number of clubs in Ireland doubled, in England halved, and the three Scottish clubs disappeared completely.

Following Ben Marriot as DG, came Geoff Barker (Bedford) in 1973/74 and Mike Murdock (Shille­lagh) the following year. In 1975/76 Ireland had its first district governor, Niall O’Riordan (Cork), and he oversaw the first District conference in Ireland, in Cork. He was followed a year later by Niall Brunicardi (Fermoy). This year saw the first visit to D71 of an International President, Robert W. Blakeley, who visited both London and Dublin. Past President Blakely still has a deep interest in what is happening in D71 and when we meet at International Conventions we always have a chat about things here. Later that year, at the International Convention in Toronto, President Blakeley awarded a Presidential Citation to Niall in recognition of his outstanding contribution to TI, the first time a member of D71 received such an award. Patrick Dullaghan (Engineers) then served two terms as district governor in 1977/78 and 1978/79, before the position returned to England in 1979/80 when Andrew Ducker (Oxford) served a term.

So, a very eventful decade came to a close. The new district was down but not out. The 80’s will see a very gradual increase in clubs and number, so by the time we get to the ’90s, the district has stabilised.

The ’80sThings didn’t improve much in the ’80s. Fifteen new clubs in Ireland and 9 in England were chartered in the decade. There may have been more but they no longer exist. Numbers of new clubs chartered each year ranged from none in 1982 to what was then a remarkable five in 1984. These five were Crusaders and Clonmel in Ireland and Camulodunum, Maidenhead and Newbury in England. The members of the Maid­enhead club have played a major role in the leadership of D71 ever since. See Appendix 21.

See Appendix 7 for details of club changes between 1972 and 1987. The surviving clubs are shown in bold and marked with an asterisk. Makes sobering reading. Of the 21 clubs in England, in 1972, only 6 had survived, while the 3 clubs in Scotland had all disappeared. However, in Ireland, of the 7 clubs in

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1972, 6 were still there 15 years later. These were the bedrock on which new clubs grew in the two largest Irish cities i.e. Dublin and Cork and eventually spread to their hinterlands. Accordingly, by 1987, the club balance had swung entirely from England to Ireland. In 1972, at the formation of the district, the num­bers were UK 24 – Ireland 7; by 1987, the numbers were Ireland 24 – England 15. This translates into an astonishing 243% gain for Ireland but a 38% loss for the UK. It’s interesting to ask the question why this exceptional disparity in growth and survival had occurred. Could it be that in Dublin and Cork, where the first clubs were chartered and which, by their proximity to each other in each city, developed networks of support which could not be replicated in England because of its size and population? Remember it was November, 1990, before Grosvenor Square, chartered March 1980, had a companion club in London! So it would be fair to say that the survival of toastmasters on these islands was due, firstly, to the initiative by Gaylord Giles in 1972 and the 21 English clubs which formed the basis of the new district, but, secondly, to the growth and survival of the Irish clubs when the number of English clubs halved during the ’70s and early ’80s.

In 2014, these 6 Irish clubs are still in rude good health, while Aylesbury, Epsom and Oxford are likewise doing very well in England. It is also interesting to note that it took, until as recently as 2008, for the number of clubs in Britain to again exceed those in Ireland.

I’m indebted to Jim Latten (Eblana – seen left with the author) and his brief history of the district, launched at the District 71 Sil­ver Jubilee Conference, in May 1997, in the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork, for much of the information about the contests in the late ’70s and ’80s. Jim was awarded a Presidential Citation at the Inter­

national convention in Dallas in August 1990 for his hard work and long service on behalf of the district. Contests at this stage of district history were quite complicated! The only contest organised in the

early ’80s was the International Speech contest – the others were introduced later. There were just 2 Areas each in England and Ireland. The first and second place winners of the English Areas competed in the first instance for the English title, while in Ireland the Area first and second place winners competed for the Irish title. Then, later, all eight of them competed for the D71 title! As it happened in 1981, Harry Knox (DG 1987/88) won his Area final, was beaten in the Irish final by his Area runner up, and then beat this rival again in the District final!! All very exciting, but hard to follow!

The speech contest for overseas districts at the International Convention was held for the first time the same year in Phoenix, Arizona, where Harry (DSL Communicators) represented D71 and was placed a creditable 2nd in the overseas contest. Ray Fulham, (Dublin 2601), now a Circuit Court judge, went one better in 1983, winning the overseas contest and so, for the first time, our fledging district was represented

in the world final. Back in D71, these district contest finals always aroused great interest in members and public alike and, Jim Latten remembers, for example, in 1979, a remark­able attendance of some 300, of which there were very many non toastmaster members, attending the finals in Fermoy, in Co Cork, not bad for a small town, a small club and a very small district of 20 or so clubs.

But the outstanding achievement of these days was Marie Pyne of the Ennis club in Ireland being crowned the World

Champion of Public Speaking in 1985 in Columbus, Ohio, with a speech enti­tled, “Age is a Hang up on Numbers”. In winning, she became only the second overseas winner and only the second woman to do so till then. She is seen here with the first woman International President, Helen Blanchard, a member of a club in Southern California, receiving her award. See Appendix 13 for her title winning speech.

A district humorous speech contest was held for the first time at the 1986 district conference in Limerick – prior to this there were separate Irish and English champions. There were just two contes­tants, one from Ireland and one from England and Celia Carlisle (Blarney), the Irish representative, was

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finally declared the winner. In 1987, the first District 71 Autumn Conference was hosted by the Blarney club in Cork and featured a District Humorous Speech Contest final, won by David Lindsey, with, for the

first time, representatives from each of the nine Areas in England and Ireland. (Divisions had not yet been introduced). I had the honour of representing Area 2 in Dublin, but had no idea I was making history! I looked a lot younger then too!

A District Evaluation Contest was first held as part of the 1988 conference in Stowe, when the winner was Rosarie Nolan (Oxford).

Growth in the ’80s, as I said, while slow but steady, was gradually creeping closer to what was then seen as the magical figure of 50 clubs. Educational comple­tions, though, were a problem and failure to meet our targets in these areas resulted in the District frequently failing to achieve Distinguished District status. Notable exceptions to this were in 1984/85, when Select Distinguished status (top 12) was achieved under the leadership of David Lindsey (Aylesbury and Thame). This was

the first success at International level for the now 13 year old district. David, a member since 1974, also possesses the distinct honour of achieving the first DTM, awarded in D71, to a member. This is what David wrote in the September/October 1985 edition of “The Spokesman”, the British and Irish Toastmasters District 71 Bulletin.

District 71 wins “Select Distinguished District”“District 71 has achieved the award of Select Distinguished District for its progress during the year. Santa Ana sets certain targets for each District at the beginning of the Toastmasters Year. We were given a goal of 27 CTMs (we made 91!), 6 ATMs (we made it!), 3 new clubs (we got 4) and about 100 new members (we got over 230!). In addition, two Youth Leadership Courses and two Success/Leadership seminars were given.

The award has never before been won by District 71. In January 1985 the District was 45th in the World rankings (out of 75 Districts), and by the end of June we had risen to 11th which is a terrific achievement brought about by sheer hard work on the part of everyone in the British and Irish District – Members, Club Officers, Area and District Executives,David Lindsey, Past District Governor”

The badge is very bedraggled and looks like the mice got at it! How it came into my possession, I have no idea. Suffice to say I found it in a folder while researching this project. It’s a historic badge – the very first one awarded to D71, but certainly not the last.

When you consider the challenges of distance between Britain and Ireland, and between both countries and WHQ and the costs of phone calls and postage, this was an admirable achievement.

For example, surface mail from the U.S. took at least three months to reach the district. The postage, by airmail, of a simple educational module cost about $40. It cost £2.77 sterling to post a new member kit from Britain, where they were stored, to Ireland. Remember this was a very small district of about 35 clubs and less than 1000 members.

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Equally meritorious – because they faced the same challenges – were the achievements of Harry Knox (DLS), in 1987/88, and Joe Prendergast (Clonmel), in 1989/90, in achieving Distinguished District status. One can’t omit, either, the achievements of the other DGs during this decade who kept the show on the road in difficult circumstances. These were, Andrew Ducker (Oxford) 1979/80, Mike Murdock (Shillelagh) 1980/81, Gerald Keen (Grosvenor Sq), 1981/82, George Gallagher­Daggitt (Oxford), 1982/83, Mary O’Connor (Waterford), 1983/84, who served as the first DG from Ireland after four years of service from the afore mentioned, Mary Dwan (Dun Laoghaire) 1985/86, Norman Rhodes (Maidenhead)

1986/87, who received the International President’s Citation in August, 1989, awarded for outstanding contributions to TI, and John Earnshaw (Oxford), 1988/89. See Appendix 10 for names of clubs in 1985/86 and their survival, or not, since.

“The Spokesman” records in its September 1986 issue the planned visit of TI Exec utive Director, Terry McCann, whose father hailed from Co Cavan, in Ireland, to the Autumn Con ference to be held in the Master Brewer Motel, Hillingdon, West London. This was Terry’s and his wife Lucille’s first visit to D71, but by no

means their last. It records the number of clubs in TI at the time as being 5776, with a total membership of 123,961.

A Division structure to co­ordinate the then 10 Areas was introduced on July 1st, 1989. The first three division governors elected were Div A John Twomey (Limerick), Div B Ian Jones (Thame) and Div C Hilary Lynott­Thomas (Dublin). Joe Prendergast (Clonmel), Jean Folan (Bray) and Conor Cummins (Hellfire) were elected to the positions of Dis­trict Governor, Educational Lt. Governor and Administrative Lt. Governor respectively.

Divisions A and C are in Ireland with B in England. During the year 1987/88 and 88/89, when this new structure was being investigated, there was strong opposition to the idea of introducing divisions for the following reasons:

1) It would lead to the break­up of the district2) It would lead to another layer of bureaucracy through division councils3) Division contests would take away from the attendance at District ConferencesThese fears were raised both at the District Council meeting in Stowe in 1988 and in Malahide, in

1989. According to Harry Knox, DG in 1987/88, delegates at both meetings were wary of introducing Divisions and were reassured there would be no Division Councils or Division Contests! Nevertheless, despite these fears, a motion moved by DG John Earnshaw (Oxford), seconded by Ken Norman (Oxford), stating, “That, from 1st July 1989, District 71 will consist of three divisions, called Division A, Division B, and Division C”, was passed unanimously.

However, just three years achieving Distinguished status, or better, since the birth of the district in 1972, while wonderful achievements, did not adequately reflect the efforts of many district leaders at every level. So what changed after 1990 to turn our steady, but underperforming district, into one of the top districts in the world, a district much respected for its achievements?

L/R Mary Dwan, Norman Rhodes, Gerry Keen, Mary O’Connor, David Lindsey, John Earnshaw

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PART 4

The ‘90sIn the three years following the setting up of the district in 1972, all the elected district officers came from England. This was followed by four years of Irish leadership, followed by four more of English rule, the agreed arrangement between English and Irish members at the time. It should be noted that there were no divisions at this time and area governors were appointed. There were just two areas each in Ireland and England. From 1983/84 onwards, the senior team alternated annually, between Ireland and England. This management structure, although understandable from a cost, communication and travel point of view, meant a complete absence of senior leaders for that year in the alternate country. It also meant that the new DG every year had not been involved at a senior level the previous year. Add in the various challenges listed earlier and any success was a miracle. This was never likely to lead to exponential growth and success at international level. However, this problem was well recognised by district leaders and, in 1987/88, DG Harry Knox proposed, and the District Council approved, a split District Executive to take effect from July 1st 1991.

Then, decisions by TI presented an opportunity to introduce such an arrangement. The Board decided that all districts, from July 1991, would include a Public Relations Officer on their District Executive teams and also, in the case of D71, approved a split executive between Ireland and England. At the 1990 Autumn District Council meeting the following three proposals were passed, almost unanimously.

1) “ That with effect from the District administrative year 1991/92, the position of Public Relations Officer be subject to election, by the District 71 District Council and, subject to satisfactory performance, be in line for progression through higher Executive offices.”

2) “ That the structure of the split District Executive be divided equally between England and Ireland in such a way as the District Governor and Lieutenant Governor Marketing be elected from the alternate country to the Educational/Training Lieutenant governor and Public Relations Offi-cer, and that this will take effect from the District year 1991/92 as previously approved by the District 71 District Council in Spring 1987/88.”

3) Where, for any reason, an elected District Officer is unable to continue his/her term of office, his/her replacement shall be a qualified member, selected from the same country as the officer retir-ing, and be subject to the ratification of the District 71 District Council.”

In the explanatory notes distributed with these motions, it is stated that in reference to Proposal #1, “In consideration of the options, the 1990/91 District Executive believes a fourth elected District Executive position would facilitate the even distribution of elected officers between England and Ireland in executing its requirement to provide a “split” District Executive from 1st July 1991.”

In reference to Proposal # 2, it is stated, “In order to improve the quality of leadership, the 1987/88 District council approved a split District Executive to take effect from 1st July 1991. Until now a “gen-tleman’s agreement” has ensured that the elected District Officers were drawn from either England or Ireland on an annual basis. This ensured fairness for all members seeking the experience and leadership

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opportunities, in the face of weighted voting power whose bias is capable of swinging drastically between the two countries (currently 66% Ireland 33% England). The 1990/91 District Executive are conscious of the need to retain this fairness of opportunities for all future members. The benefits of a “Split” Executive are evident: 1) Enhanced bonds between England and Ireland 2) Improved continuity between annual District Executives 3) Accelerated progress of members through leadership training at District level.

However, although the principle of the split executive membership was decided, the actual structure and distribution of officers was not. This is the question now addressed by this proposal in order to

a) Maintain fairness of opportunitiesb) Improve continuityc) Accelerate progress through the leadership ranksd) Enhance the English/Irish bond.

The 1990/91 District Executive sought advice from WHQ, its Directors and from District 45 (NE USA/Canada) where such a system already exists. The system proposed has operated successfully for several years in D45 and also in the Bahamas, the only other district with a similar situation.”

This conference also passed the following motion, “That District 71 introduces Division Rounds of the International Speech Contest with effect from the District Administrative year 1990/91.”

It was decided that in year 1 the DG and LGM would be elected from country A and the LGET and PRO from country B. It was understood that these positions would alternate each year, so that in year 2, the DG and LGM would be from country B, while the LGET and PRO would come from country A. This arrangement has worked very satisfactorily since and has played an important part in our district’s success.

I had the honour of being the first PRO elected under this arrangement at the Business meeting at the conference in Kinsale, Co Cork, in May 1991.

Introducing the split executive and the understanding that, everything else being equal, the elected PRO would proceed up the chairs to LGM, then LGET, and finally serve as District Governor, seems a good strategy and above all great commonsense. It gives each PRO three years to work closely with the district team and learn on the job, as it were, before taking on the heavy responsibility of serving as district governor. It may come as a surprise, then, to learn that district 71 is one of the few, if not the only district, to do this. In the rest of the world, particularly in North America, it is not unusual for every position to be challenged at the Spring Business Meeting and in some cases all top three positions filled by entirely new people. It may make for exciting Business meetings but not a great way to successfully run a district! I personally remember saying to myself, as I left the Business meeting in Kinsale, Co Cork, in 1991, having just been elected PRO, that it was wonderful that I had three years to learn the ropes of serving as district governor, as I had a very little idea then about what the role entailed.

At this conference visiting International President Edward A Bick presented the charter to the 50th club in the district – Dungarvan #2985.

This split executive, accordingly, came into being in 1991/92, is still in place, and is one of the contrib­uting reasons for our resounding success rate on the world stage.

Great praise must go to Meryll Coe (Aylesbury), seen left, who was district governor at the time, for ensuring that this important change was eased in so smoothly. The Top 4 Officers were, therefore, District Governor, Meryll Coe (England), Lieutenant Governor Education and Training, Brian O’Connor (Ireland), Lieutenant Gover­nor Marketing, Norman Fox (England) and Public Relations Officer, Ted Corcoran (Ireland).

Another first for Meryll Coe was her creation of the Committee of Past District Governors. Her view was that Past DGs gained so much knowledge and experience from being in office that it should not be wasted. Accordingly, Norman Rhodes, John

Earnshaw, and Ken Norman would meet up with Meryll to consider matters of particular interest to District

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71. The District 71 Planning Calendar published annually and the Club and District 71 Directory was one of the outputs. Another was the Planning Guide for Clubs wishing to host a District 71 Conference.

At June 30, 1991, district membership was recorded as standing at 1,490, having recruited 208 new members that year. These numbers had increased substantially from June 30, 1988, when they were 1,068 and 65 respectively.

At the Autumn Conference in Waterford, in October, 1991, a motion was passed that “the Humor­ous Speech Contest be brought into line with the International Speech and Evaluation contests and that division rounds be held beginning 1st July 1992”. There was much discussion, and some strong opposition, before the motion was finally carried by a large majority. The opposition centred mainly around the fact that, according to the rules, a three area division could have six contestants in a division final, but a four area division could only have four. 1992 also saw the introduction, worldwide, of a club year running from July 1 to June 30. Heretofore, it ran from January 1 to December 31, while the terms of office for Area Gov­ernors etc ran from July to June. Not a situation guaranteed to ensure maximum efficiency and effective­ness from all concerned! Why it took till 1992 to make this change is a mystery, as it was perfect common sense to do so. Also, in 1992, the club officer position then known as Administrative Vice President was split by the TI Board into two positions, still known as Vice President Membership and Vice President Public Relations.

The second reason for our improvement in the ‘90’s was very simply training. Up to 1990, only the District Governor, of the top officers, was brought to the International Convention in the USA for training. The LGET and LGM received no training at all. This was no great process for ensuring district success but help was on the way. The Board of Directors decided that, beginning in 1991, the top three officers in dis­tricts outside North America would be brought annually to the International Convention in the USA for two days training at TI’s expense. This was a hefty extra cost to TI as it involved three officers from the then eight outside districts (District 34 officers in Mexico were trained separately). So, in August 1991, for the first time, our top three officers, namely District Governor Meryl Coe (Aylesbury), LGET Brian O’Connor (Crusaders) and LGM Norman Fox (Maidenhead) travelled to Atlanta, Georgia.

This decision by TI exposed these officers to the wider world of Toastmasters and, certainly, in my own case, when as LGM, I went to Las Vegas in 1992, I learned very quickly what successful districts did in order to be tops. One of the defining moments for me at this Convention was a remark by another overseas DG, Owen Hayden of D74 in Southern Africa, over a cup of coffee one day during training. “You know, Ted, the problem in D71 is that you have too many social clubs”, he said. Although, at first, it hurt a little to hear this, I realised it to be only too true, as demonstrated by our slow club growth and low educational achievements. Later that week in my room in the Dunes Hotel, the Club Excellence Program was born. Brian O’Connor, Norman Fox and I quickly agreed both the principle and the details of this new program. It was then ratified and introduced later that year at the Autumn Conference in Gatwick in October, 1992. Simply explained, it had three grades of achievement. The top, or Gold award, had nine goals, the second, or Silver, had eight, and the third, or Bronze, had just six goals. Each goal from Bronze to Gold demanded ever higher achievements. For example, Bronze required completion of two CTMs, Silver – three CTMs, and Gold – five CTMs (CCs equivalent today). Another example was goals of three, four and five new members respectively. The full program is set out in Appendix 1.

I could never have imagined the effect this program would have on the fortunes of D71. The clubs obviously liked its simple structure, its choice of goals and above all its measurement of quality stan­dards. Rather than the district officers always demanding more and more new members, more educational achievements etc, these officers were now perceived as a resource to help the clubs achieve their goals. It was truly a win/win for club, area, division and district alike. At June 30th, 1993, after less than a year in place, club numbers had increased from 57 to 65 (+14%), dues payments from 3278 to3888 (+19%), CTMs from 73 to 152 (+108%) and ATMs (ACs) from 8 to 20 (+150%). Suddenly, almost overnight as it were, D71 climbed from #70 plus in the world to # 6.

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We were a very proud team, indeed, to be present at the 1993 International Con­vention in Toronto, and watch our 1992/93 DG Brian O’Connor (seen left) seated at the very top of the top table and later join him at the Hall of Fame to receive our Presidents Distinguished awards from International President Bennie Bough. In the next few years the district achieved Distinguished #25, Presidents Distinguished #2, Distinguished #13, Presidents Distinguished #6 and Select Distinguished #7. Presidents Distinguished Award was at this time awarded to the top six districts, Select Distinguished to districts 7 to 12, and Distinguished to all other districts who meet the TI goals. Less than half of the

districts worldwide achieve Distinguished or better any year. D71, in achieving Select Distinguished status in 2012/13, continued the outstanding record of the district by making it the 12th year in a row achieving Distinguished or better. When you consider less than fifteen districts, or so, achieve this for even three years in a row, you will realise what an incredible achievement this is and the wonderful testament to the quality of leadership at all levels in our district. Our district is also recognised annually for being one of the top 3 districts with the highest percentage of clubs with 20+ members i.e. charter strength. This district has received this award each year as far back as anyone can remember and certainly since 1987. However, in 2012/13, this remarkable record ended, in that D71 came 4th, but now of course there are 88 districts striving for this award. Another notable award was for achieving the highest number of new clubs, in 1994/95, when D71 chartered 16 clubs.

Now, if you think there is something vaguely familiar about the principle of the Club Excellence Pro­gram earlier in the piece, you are correct. As a result of D71’s amazing rise and rise in the world rankings, TI showed a keen interest in our new program. See Appendix 2 for details of achievements leading up to introduction and after. When it was sent to International President Len Jury (from New Zealand) and the Board, in October, 1997, it was reconfigured, agreed at the February 1998 Board meeting, and introduced to the world from July 1, 1999, as the Distinguished Club Program – yes the DCP with which we are all so familiar. Because D71 had already being using our own very similar programme since 1992, we had a head start on the rest of the world. This has resulted in our district having between 70% and 80% distinguished, or better, clubs every year, when the world average is currently (2013) slightly over 50%. This is an amazing statistic and one that probably will never be matched.

Our achievements also paved the way for my election, for a two year term, as an International Director in August, 1996, at the International Convention in St Louis, Missouri, representing all the toastmasters outside North America. Assisted by many people from our district, and outside, and with a superb cam­paign manager in Brian O’Connor, I was declared the victor in a three way election against candidates from the Philippines and Australia.

The reasons for our rise to the top, therefore, were threefold. These were the split Executive between Ireland and England, who were trained (apart from the PRO) at the International Convention each year, and who focused on our very motivational Club Excellence Program, initially, before adapting to the new Distinguished Club Plan. One could suggest, of course, with some veracity, that perhaps the new program adapted to ours! One must never forget either the contribution to this success by club members, club offi­cers and all the other members of the district team from Area Governors upwards. The “District” as I’ve often pointed out is just not the senior officers but every single member.

We must not forget either the role that easier and less expensive communications played from the late ‘90s onwards. Cheaper phone calls and travel, allied to the general availability of email, ensured that information was available more or less at the click of a button. At TI level, too, there was a major advance in ease of communications. It’s hard to credit now that up to late 2003, no transaction with TI was possible electronically. Dues payments needed a bank draft, registration of educational achievements had to be faxed or posted, while phone calls to TI cost an arm and a leg. See Appendix 16 to see how complicated the system for playing dues was only as recently as 2003. A new computer system was implemented in late 2003, not without some pain for all concerned, at a cost of $2 million, which transformed interactions with TI and without doubt hugely contributed to the dramatic increase in numbers of members and clubs outside North America.

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Up to 1994, there were just three divisions in the district i.e. A and C in Ireland and B in England, but at the Council meeting in Dublin in May, 1993, in the Killiney Castle hotel, Divisions D (Ireland) and E (England) were created and came into being on July 1, 1994. Later, at the Council meeting at the Galway conference in May, 1995, a proposal by David Hobson, Area 7 governor, introducing Table Topics contests at club, area, division and district level, commencing in Autumn, 1995, was passed.

In 1994, Toastmasters International once again returned to Scotland when toastmaster John Smith moved from Essex in England to Edinburgh. He almost immediately formed the first Toastmasters club in Scotland, after a lapse of 22 years. This was Capital Communicators #7584, which chartered on May 1st, 1995. The number of clubs is now 15 and Scotland has, after 40 years or more, its own division once again. In recognition of his efforts, he was awarded Toastmaster of the Year for 1994/95, an honour he richly deserved.

The ’00sThe new millennium brought major changes for me personally in TI. I was elected as 3rd Vice President in Miami, in August, 2000, helped once more by very many people from over here and elsewhere, and with Brian O’Connor once again as campaign manager and past district governors Mike Silverman 1997/98, (London Corinthians), and Mary O’Connell , 2000/01,(Midleton), playing key roles. I went on to serve as International President for the 2003/04 year. This was the year that TI upgraded its computer system, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, which turned out to be a very stressful few months for WHQ staff, International President, and Board members alike! At the end of my presidency, in 2004, TI had for the first time in its history, slightly exceeded 200,000 members in just over 10,000 clubs. At June 30th 2013, mem­bership has now reached 293, 000 and nearly 14,500 clubs, increases in just nine years of just over 45% in each category. No doubt, that percentage will be 50% by June 30th 2014. It is worth noting that the growth rate outside North America is currently roughly three times the rate inside. This increase worldwide is also reflected in the increase in number of members and clubs in D71. July 1, 2003, saw Divisions F, G and H come into being. Full details of our growth from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2013, are attached as Appendix 9. The figures are remarkable! Clubs have increased from 153 to 273, an increase of 78.4%; member payments from 8827 to 15,515, an increase of 75.7%; an influx of new members, excluding charter members, aver­aging 2000, or so, each year. Educational achievements have also risen in tandem. Competent Communi­cator awards increased from 351 to 518, an increase of 47.6% while Advanced Communicator awards rose from 131 to 239, an increase of 82.4%. D71 has always had a challenge in meeting its CC goals and this is reflected in a lower percentage increase than on the growth side. Our record since 2001, with Awards and respective DG’s, is as follows:

2001/02 Distinguished District #13 – Margaret Worthy (Guildford)2002/03 Select Distinguished #10 – Angus Galbraith (Thame)2003/04 Select Distinguished #7 – Jeremiah Ronayne (Speakeasy)2004/05 Select Distinguished #8 – David Thompson (Athenians)2005/06 Presidents Distinguished #4 – Lynda Molloy (Bray)2006/07 Select Distinguished #10 – Nick Benning (Guildford)2007/08 Select Distinguished #7 – Mary Murtagh (Limerick)2008/09 Select Distinguished #9 – Gary Sander (Dereham Articulate)2009/10 Distinguished # 16 – Joe Gibbs (Killaloe­Ballina)2010/11 Select Distinguished #8 – Teresa Dukes (Speakeasy@Martlesham)2011/12 Distinguished #32 – Jim Hegarty (Thomond)2012/13 Select Distinguished #1 – Freddie Daniels (Holborn)2013/14 Select Distinguished #1 – Luanne Kent (Castleknock)

What a magnificent achievement! Thirteen years in a row. No other district comes near it. Keep in mind that less than half the districts worldwide achieve Distinguished, or better, any year, and perhaps 15, or so, achieve it even three years in a row any year.

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After many years of being categorised as “Districts Not Assigned to Regions”, or the Overseas toast­masters, as I grew to know them, Proposal A, as it was called, was passed at the Business Meeting at the International Convention in Connecticut in August, 2009. This decision led to the creation of 14 Regions worldwide. D71 is now part of Region 11 which runs from almost the North Pole down to the tip of South Africa. In addition to D71, the region also encompasses D59 (Europe), D20 (Middle East­ 7 countries), D79 (Saudi Arabia), D74 (Southern Africa – 9 countries), and D94P (West Africa). This region is growing very rapidly with D71 and D59 due to reform in 2014. I served as Region Advisor for this region in 2011/12.

Division J was formed on July 1, 2011, while Divisions M, K, and L came into being on July 1, 2012. From this date London comprised 3 divisions as K and L were formed from the existing division B. Division M was formed by reforming C into two.

As soon as a district reaches 200 clubs, TI begins to suggest that the district should start thinking of reforming. The reason for this is simple – expecting volunteer leaders to manage a span of control extending over many areas and divisions is unrealistic, and when this spans two countries, even more so. Accordingly, the leaders of D71, under the outstanding leadership of past DG (2010/11) Teresa Dukes (Speakeasy@Martlesham), tabled a motion at the Spring Conference in Windsor, in May 2011, seeking permission to approach TI for agreement to proceed. This agreement was forthcoming at the Board of Directors meeting in August 2011. A Reformation Committee was formed with Teresa as chairman. A proposal to reform the district by placing Division E in England (Northern England and Scotland, minus Area 39) with Ireland as one district, leaving the rest of England consisting of Divisions B, G, H, J, and Area 39 as the other, was put forward to the District Leadership Team (DLT) for placing before the Council meeting in Glasgow in November, 2011. Due to opposition on grounds of insufficient communication and involvement, while the proposal was under discussion, and insufficient time to consider it after pub­lication, the DLT refrained from putting the proposal forward and asked the Committee to re­examine it. After further discussion, over the next several months, with many differing opinions being put for­ward both from within and without the committee, three Scenarios were tabled for decision at the Spring Conference in Wexford in May, 2012.

Scenario 1: District A Ireland District B Great Britain

Scenario 2: District A Ireland + Division E minus Area 39 District B England ­ Divisions B, G, H, J and Area 39

Scenario 3: District A Ireland + Divisions E and G District B England ­ Divisions B, H and J

After an hour long debate, superbly chaired by past district governor, Joe Gibbs, 2009/10, the vote was taken and resulted in the following outcome. Great credit must be given to all the speakers, irrespective of which side of the debate they were on, for speaking concisely and fairly on the motions before them, treating it as a business rather than a personal issue.

Scenario 1 – 112 votesScenario 2 – nil votesScenario 3 – 119 votesScenario 3 was approved by the TI Board at its August 2012 meeting and will come into effect from

July 1st 2014. It was later announced by TI that Ireland, Scotland, half of Wales and divisions E and G in England will retain the 71 number, while the District comprising the rest of England and the remainder of Wales has been given the number 91.

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And so we have come full circle. From the first clubs in 1935 to 2014, after almost eighty years of Toastmasters in these islands, the time has come to form into two districts. In 1972, when D71 was formed, could anyone imagine this? Even as recently as ten years ago, did anyone imagine it would happen so soon? Our sincere thanks must go to everyone who made this possible, our members and leaders through the years who worked so hard to keep the district alive, in the first instance, and later made the correct strategic decisions to get us where we are today.

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1 Club Excellence Program

Appendix 2 D71 Growth and Education achievement record 1982 to 1996

Appendix 3 Irish National Speech Winners 1963 to 1975

Appendix 4 D71 International Speech Winners from 1973

Appendix 5 Past District 18 Governors

Appendix 6 TCBI Past Presidents

Appendix 7 List of clubs allocated to D71 by TI in 1972

Appendix 8 Number clubs in D71 1972 to 2014

Appendix 9 Growth of clubs, areas, divisions from 2000

Appendix 10 List of D71 clubs in1985/86

Appendix 11 D71 District Governor photos

Appendix 12 District Governor names 1972 to 2014

Appendix 13 Text of Marie Pyne’s International winning speech 1985

Appendix 14 District 18 clubs 1957

Appendix 15 TCBI clubs 1965

Appendix 16 Letter circulated by District Treasurer Margaret Highton 1995/96 re payment of dues to TI

Appendix 17 D71 Evaluation and Topics contest winners

Appendix 18A TCBI Annual Conference program 1965

Appendix 18B TCBI Annual Conference program 1965

Appendix 19 D71 Humorous Speech winners

Appendix 20 Cover “The Toastmaster” magazine January 1957

Appendix 21 Maidenhead members in D71 leadership roles

Appendix 22 Regalia History

Appendix 23 Why Britain is different

Appendix 24 The Belfast Charter Dinner

Appendix 25 Oxford Charter Dinner

Appendix 26 TCBI Financial Statement 1965

Appendix 27 New WHQ Building October 1962

Appendix 28 Gaylord Giles article

Appendix 29 D71 First Chain of Office

Appendix 30 Map of District 71 and new District 91 (effective July 1, 2014)

Appendix 31 D71 Chain of Office

35

Appendix 1

District 71 Club Excellence Programme 1992 to 1999

Gold Club Excellence Award

1) October and April Semi Annual fees received in WHQ by October 10 and April 10 respectively 2) Five CTMs completed and registered with WHQ by June 30 3) One ATM completed and registered with WHQ by June 30 4) Five new members recruited and registered with WHQ by June 30 5) Six club officers attended club officer training by June 30 6) Minimum club membership 20 at June 30 7) One Success Leadership or Youth Leadership or Speechcraft Module completed and registered with

WHQ by June 30 8) New club Officer names submitted to the District Governor and WHQ by June 30 9) Proxy voting cards to be submitted to the District Governor by June 30

Silver Club Excellence Award

1) October and April Semi Annual fees received in WHQ by October 10 and April 10 respectively 2) Three CTMs completed and registered with WHQ by June 30 3) Four new members recruited and registered with WHQ by June 30 4) Five club officers attended club officer training by June 30 5) Minimum club membership 20 at June 30 6) One Success Leadership or Youth Leadership or Speechcraft Module completed and registered with

WHQ by June 30 7) New club Officer names submitted to the District Governor and WHQ by June 30 8) Proxy voting cards to be submitted to the District Governor by June 30

Bronze Club Excellence Award

1) October and April Semi Annual fees received in WHQ by October 10 and April 10 respectively 2) Two CTMs completed and registered with WHQ by June 30 3) Three new members recruited and registered with WHQ by June 30 4) Four club officers attended club officer training by June 30 5) New club Officer names submitted to the District Governor and WHQ by June 30 6) Proxy voting cards to be submitted to the District Governor by June 30

“Elite” Excellence Award

In addition to a club being awarded a Gold or Silver or Bronze Award, any club which supplies a sponsor for any new club chartered between July 1 and June 30 will be classified as a Gold “Elite”, Silver “Elite”, or Bronze “Elite” club as the case may be.

Note: The results issued by Toastmasters International during the month of August for year ending June 30 will be deemed to be the final result.

36

Appendix 2

Year Clubs Payments CTM Average per club ATM

1982/83 28 1134 28 1 6 1983/84 33 1387 31 1 2 1984/85 35 1620 91 2.8 6 1985/86 37 1808 55 1.6 3 1986/87 39 2006 58 1.6 7 1987/88 41 2136 69 1.8 15 1988/89 43 2346 75 1.8 4 1989/90 48 2563 82 1.9 11 1990/91 51 2980 76 1.6 12 1991/92 57 3278 73 1.4 8 1992/93 65 3888 152 2.7 20 1993/94 67 3911 167 2.6 22 1994/95 82 4600 213 3.2 29 1995/96 89 4774 200 2.4 33

Note: The Club Excellence Program was introduced in 1992. Note the very obvious improvement in performance from year 1992/93 onwards. CTM and ATM designations are now CC and AC.

District 71 Record 1982 to 1996

37

Appendix 3

Irish National Speech Winners 1963 to 1975

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

Bosele Mosiiman

Liam Browne

Tom Deschner

Sean Brady

Gerard Tuohy

Brendan O’Dwyer

Paddy Monahan

Niall Behan

Sean O’Donovan

Bill Carey

Eamonn McCarthy

Sean Hickey

Dick Cullinane

Eblana

Dublin

Dublin

Dun Laoire

Eblana

Dublin

Shannon

Shannon

Engineers

Cork

Cork

Shannon

Waterford

38

Appendix 4

District 71 International Speech Winners

Year District Winner Club International Result

1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

George Brenner Sean Hickey Unknown Bob Annenberg David Lindsey Susan Cowles Russ McDevitt Dick Cullinane Harry Knox Stephen Johnson Ray Fulham Denis Vickers Marie Pyne Betty Gosnell Michael Fennessy Patricia Foley Muiris O’Keeffe Giles Robinson David Lindsey Adrienne Daly Phillip Khan-Panni Brian Cluer Phillip Khan-Panni Brendan Toale Brian Cluer Joe Portley Paul Ellis Brendan Toale Phillip Khan-Panni Bob Ferguson Bob Harvey Erick Rainey Erick Rainey Simon Bucknall Simon Bucknall Sultan Nazir Gareth McHale Erick Rainey Malachi Talabi Yvonne Jordan William Dempster

Shillelagh Shannon Aylesbury Aylesbury Oxford Dun Laoghaire Waterford Waterford Mildenhall Dublin Thame Ennis Oxford Grosvenor Square Eblana Bray Epsom Thame Naas Bromley Thurles Grosvenor Square Glasnevin Thurles Crusaders Lucan Glasnevin London Athenians Hertfordshire Bromley Capital Communicators Capital Communicators London Cardinals London Cardinals Rathfarnham Northavon Manchester Orators Croydon Communicators Enniscorthy HOD

1st Place Inter-District 1st Place World Final 1st Place Inter-District 2nd Place World Final 1st Place Inter-District 2nd Place Inter-District 3rd Place World Final 2nd Place Inter-District 3rd Place Semi Finals 3rd Place Semi Finals

39

Appendix 5

Past District Governors District 18

Will Goldie

A.L. Cunningham

P.R. Jacobs

A.B Young

D.P.G. McGregor

C.R. Mackenzie

Jim Ewart

David L. Moffat

John Harrison

J.S. Munro

E.A.J. Dodson

Ian D. McIntyre

Tom O’Beirne

J. Lockhart Whiteford

Ian F. Brock

1946/47

1947/48

1948/49

1949/50

1950/51

1951/52

1952/53

1953/54

1954/55

1955/56

1956/57

1957/58

1958/59

1959/60

1960/61

40

Appendix 6

Past Presidents of the Territorial Council of the British Isles (TCBI)

John Blaney

Hamish D. Halley

James A. Dunlop

Marshall F. Macauley

Hugh Davidson

Coulson Scott

A C. McNabb

Eric M. Leitch

J S. Armstrong

A B. Niven

James Plinston

1961/62

1962/63

1963/64

1964/65

1965/66

1966/67

1967/68

1968/69

1969/70

1970/71

1971/72

41

Appendix 7

Clubs assigned by WHQ to proposed new District 71 April 1972. The district was formally designated District 71P at the TI August Board meeting 1972

England

Aylesbury * Barnet Bedford Brighton Buckingham Clacton-on-Sea * Colchester Epsom * First London Guildford Knightsbridge

762 3551 3279 2836 2799 883 792 2489 3068 2119 3576

Manchester Mayfair North Downs Oxford * Polish Hearth Shillelagh * Suffolk Southend-on-Sea * South Ruislip Sutton Coldfield

3494 2355 1997 3297 3640 2620 2352 3749 2212 3530

Ireland

Cork * Dublin * Eblana * Engineers *

1868 2601 3103 3677

Fermoy * Hellfire * Shannon

2846 3599 44

Scotland

Glasgow Irvine Prestwick

86 1039 1686

Fifteen years later, by 1987, the surviving clubs are shown in bold and marked with an asterisk. Makes sobering reading. Of the 21 clubs in England, in 1972, only 6 had survived. The 3 clubs in Scotland had all disappeared. However, in Ireland, of the 7 clubs in 1972, 6 were still there 15 years later. Not alone survived, but these were the bedrock on which new clubs grew in the two largest Irish cities, i.e. Dublin and Cork, and eventually spread to their hinterlands. Accordingly, by 1987, the club balance had swung entirely from UK to Ireland. In 1972, at the formation of the district, the numbers were UK 24 - Ireland 7; by 1987, the numbers were Ireland 24 – England 15. This translates into an astonishing 243% gain for Ireland but a 38% loss for the UK. It’s interesting to ask the question why this exceptional disparity in growth and survival had occurred. Could it be that in Dublin and Cork, where the first clubs were chartered and which, by their proximity to each other in each city, developed networks of support which could not be replicated in England because of its size and population? Remember it was the early ‘90s before Grosvenor Square had a companion club in London! It would also be fair to say that the survival of Toastmasters on these islands was due firstly to the vital initiative by Gaylord Giles in 1972, and the 21 English clubs who formed the basis of the new district, but, secondly, to the growth and survival of the Irish clubs when the number of English clubs halved during the ‘70s and early ‘80s.

In 2013, these 6 Irish clubs are still in rude good health, while Aylesbury, Epsom and Oxford are likewise doing very well in England.

42

Appendix 8 Number of Clubs in D71 from 1972 to 2014

*The numbers includes pre charter clubs in years 1999/00 to 2003/04

Year Ireland N Ireland England Scotland Wales Total

1972/73 7 21 3 31 1973/741974/751975/761976/771977/781978/791979/801980/81 10 10 20 1981/82 13 10 23 1982/83 28 1983/84 33 1984/85 35 1985/86 21 20 39 1986/87 24 17 41 1987/88 24 17 41 1988/89 28 16 44 1989/90 29 18 47 1990/91 35 21 56 1991/92 36 20 56 1992/93 42 23 65 1993/94 42 25 67 1994/95 50 32 82 1995/96 50 1 37 1 89 1996/97 56 1 42 1 100 1997/98 64 1 41 1 107 1998/99 64 1 44 2 111 1999/00* 61 1 41 2 105 2000/01* 62 1 42 2 107 2001/02* 63 1 47 3 114 2002/03* 69 2 55 3 129 2003/04* 75 2 65 4 146 2004/05 71 2 59 5 1 138 2005/06 77 2 71 4 154 2006/07 85 2 77 5 169 2007/08 88 2 83 6 1 180 2008/09 89 3 95 7 1 195 2009/10 96 3 107 7 1 214 2010/11 98 4 114 8 1 225 2011/12 102 5 131 9 1 248 2012/13 101 5 142 9 2 259 2013/14 105 5 154 13 2 279

43

Appendix 9 Since 2000, District 71 has grown steadily and progressively through the efforts of many enthusiastic Toastmasters who have started new clubs. These are the statistics which here include pre charter clubs.

Divisions Areas Clubs

2000/2001 5 29 105

2001/2002 5 29 114

2002/2003 5 30 129

2003/2004 8 33 146

2004/2005 8 35 158

2005/2006 8 37 169

2006/2007 8 38 182

2007/2008 8 40 195

2008/2009 8 43 217

2009/2010 8 48 239

2010/2011 8 50 251

2011/2012 9 50 269

2012/2013 12 59 287

44

Appendix 10

District 71 clubs 1985/1986

Area 1 England – Clacton Mens; Clacton Ladies; Colchester; Southend; Camulodumum; Mildenhall

Area 2 Ireland – Dublin; Engineers; Hellfire; Malahide; Fingal

Area 3 Ireland – Blarney; Cork; Clonakilty; Crusaders

Area 4 England – Aylesbury; Dashwood; Thame; Rosatas; Xerox; Eldergate

Area 5 Ireland – Bray; Eblana; Dun Laoghaire; Lucan; AIB; Tara

Area 6 England – Premier; Epsom; Grosvenor Sq; Maidenhead; Goan Speakers

Area 7 England – Oxford; Shillelagh; Thamesdown (Swindon); Newbury

Area 8 Ireland – Fermoy; Waterford; Clonmel; Kilkenny; DLS Communicators; Tipperary

Area 9 Ireland – Ennis; Limerick; Castlebar

Of these 45 clubs only those emboldened still exist in 2014. Just 10 of 21 in England (48%) and 21 of 24 in Ireland (88%) survive.

45

Left to Right: Gerald Keen 1981/82; Mary O’Connor 1983/84; David Lindsey 1984/85

Left to Right: Mary Dwan 1985/86; Norman Rhodes 1986/87; Harry Knox 1w987/88

Left to Right: John Earnshaw 1988/89; Joe Prendergast 1989/90; Ian Jones 1990/91

Appendix 11

46

Left to Right: Meryll Coe 1991/92; Brian O’Connor 1992/93; Norman Fox 1993/94

Left to Right: Ted Corcoran 1994/95; Ken Norman 1995/96; Hilda McHugh 1996/97

Left to Right: Mike Silverman 1997/98; Cecil Kirk 1998/99; David MacLeod 1999/00

47

Left to Right: Mary O’Connell 2000/01; Margaret Worthy 2001/02; Angus Galbraith 2002/03

Left to Right: Jeremiah Ronayne 2003/04; David Thompson 2004/05; Lynda Molloy 2005/06

Left to Right: Nick Benning 2006/07; Mary Murtagh 2007/08; Gary Sander 2008/09

48

Left to Right: Joe Gibbs 2009/10; Teresa Dukes 2010/11; Jim Hegarty 2011/12

Left to Right: Freddie Daniels 2012/13; Luanne Kent 2013/14

49

1972/73

1773/74

1974/75

1975/76

1976/77

1977/78

1978/79

1979/80

1980/81

1981/82

1982/83

1983/84

1984/85

1985/86

1986/87

1987/88

1988/89

1989/90

1990/91

1991/92

1992/93

1993/94

1994/95

1995/96

1996/97

1997/98

1998/99

Ben Marriot

Geoff Barker

Mike Murdoch

Niall O’Riordan

Niall Brunicardi

Patrick Dullaghan

Patrick Dullaghan

Andrew Ducker

Mike Murdoch

Gerald Keen

George Gallagher-Daggitt

Mary O’Connor

David Lindsey

Mary Dwan

Norman Rhodes

Harry Knox

John Earnshaw

Joe Prendergast

Ian Jones

Meryll Coe

Brian O’Connor

Norman Fox

Ted Corcoran

Ken Norman

Hilda McHugh

Mike Silverman

Cecil Kirk

Southend-on-Sea

Bedford

Shillelagh

Cork

Fermoy

Engineers

Engineers

Epsom

Shillelagh

Grosvenor Square

Oxford

Waterford

Thame

Dun Laoghaire

Maidenhead

DLS Communicators

Oxford

Clonmel

Thame

Aylesbury

Crusaders

Maidenhead

Fingal

Oxford

Limerick

Corinthians

AIB

Select Distinguished District #12

Distinguished District

Distinguished District

Presidents Distinguished District #6

Distinguished District #25

Presidents Distinguished District #2

Distinguished District #13

Presidents Distinguished District #6

Select Distinguished District #7

Appendix 12

50

1999/00

2000/01

2001/02

2002/03

2003/04

2004/05

2005/06

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

David MacLeod

Mary O’Connell

Margaret Worthy

Angus Galbraith

Jeremiah Ronayne

David Thompson

Lynda Molloy

Nick Benning

Mary Murtagh

Gary Sander

Joe Gibbs

Teresa Dukes

Jim Hegarty

Freddie Daniels

Luanne Kent

Maidenhead

Midleton

Guildford

Thame

Speakeasy

Athenians

Bray

Guildford

Limerick

Dereham Articulate

Killaloe-Ballina

Speakeasy@Martlesham

Thomond

Holborn

Castleknock

Distinguished District #13

Select Distinguished District #10

Select Distinguished District #7

Select Distinguished District #8

Presidents Distinguished District #4

Select Distinguished District #10

Select Distinguished District #7

Select Distinguished District #9

Distinguished District #16

Select Distinguished District #8

Distinguished District #32

Select Distinguished District #1

Select Distinguished District #1

Up to June 2012, the top 6 districts in achievements worldwide received the Presidents Distinguished District Award. Numbers 7 to 12 received the Select Distinguished District Award. The remaining districts, who met the performance criteria, received the Distinguished District Award. From 2013 onwards, there is no limit on how many districts receive these awards as they are now based on percentages of payments, paid clubs and distinguished clubs. Invariably, less than half, of the almost 90 districts, qualify for any of the above awards, any year.

51

Appendix 13

Full text of the winning speech at the International Speech Contest Final, in Columbus, Ohio, 1985, delivered by Marie Pyne of the Ennis club, Co Clare, Ireland.

Age is a hang up on numbers

The geology lecturer held up three rocks. "This one", he said,"dates back to the primary Geological Age and is 200 million years old. And this youthful specimen - well this is from the Tertiary Age and today we can say it is 600,000 years old".

And a voice came from the back of the room. (Song......Happy Birthday to you). 600,000 years old but in geological terms only a youngster, a mere pebble. And yet, we constantly use the words old, middle aged, young, without giving much thought to the essence of what we are discussing. Age, ladies and gentlemen, is relative. It is not only that......it is a mental attitude. It is in the final analysis, only a number. Firstly, age is relative and as we have seen in the case of the rocks, it's value depends on what we are measuring. But it also depends on when. Let's look at it this way.

If I had told my parents when I was 18 that I wanted to marry a man of 28, they would have been aghast. He's too old for you. Ten years later, when I was 28 and he was 38, they would have considered him eminently suitable. Now we have looked at the what and the when, let's examine the where.

Do you know there are places in the West of Ireland where a man is still considered an eligible bachelor well beyond his 60th birthday. In the Irish film,"A broth of a boy", the boy in question was nearly 70! In almost every other country when you reach that age, they slap a label on you which says "OLD", as if your life should be over.

The jazz pianist Eubie Blacke remarked in an interview on his 100th birthday - "If I knew I was gonna live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself".

Mind you, it was probably his approach to life that ensured his longevity. And that brings me to me second point.

Age is a mental attitude.

Last May my daughter turned 14 and people said to me, " Doesn't it make you feel old?" Of course it doesn't. She keeps me young. How else would I know who the Boss is? He's not my employer. He's Bruce Springsteen. It is she who reminds me that the only way to be dressed these days is to look like a cross between an unmade bed and last weeks rummage sale.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm 37 years old. Let me rephrase that. I'm 37 years young. Now I bet you're all surprised. Those of you at the back of the hall are doubtless very surprised. You think I look 29. Well I say, do not be fooled by appearances. What looks like interesting bone structure in the distance, can seem like plucked chicken close up. Those here at the front are even more surprised. I know you're thinking. She's 45 If she's a day. To you I say, " I'm not that old, I've just lived a lot". But how I look is not important. What counts is how I feel.... how I am. Are we being manipulated? Are we being made to fee that we have failed if we don't look younger, brighter, fitter? Why are the media always thrusting before us pictures of Michael Landon and Joan Collins?....as if not looking 50 were the only talent these people had. Some of the most exciting, vital and dynamic people that I know look 50.... and they have the lived in faces and the haystack figures to prove it.

52

Never judge a person's worth by his age. Never tell a child that he's too young to feel, to experience, to try. Children are the most surprising of all. Think of Mozart, who at nine was composing symphonies, and think too of the words of wisdom you have heard from the lips of your children.

Middle aged people are supposed to be settled, stagnant, staid. Look around you. The very fact we are Toastmasters means we have refused to allow our minds to develop middle aged spread. We are still open to personal and mental growth.

9, 50, 100? What are we anyway only a series of numbers...and this precisely is my third point.

What age would you be, if you didn't know what age you were? I have often felt three different ages or numbers all in the same day. I drag myself out of bed and every bone in my body feels 90. In the afternoon I give some advice to a student and I'm 37 and in the evening a chance remark by a friend and suddenly I'm 18 again. What I suggest is - be your age, whatever that feels. You don't have to play the numbers racket. Any age is a good age if you feel happy and content and every age can bring its problems. My neighbour on one side has a 17 year old who wants to leave home. She thinks 17 is a problem for kids. My neighbour on the other side has a 35 year old son who won't leave home. She thinks 35 is a problem age. There is no ideal age.

In the end, ladies and gentleman, age is relative and its importance depends on the what, the when and the where. It is a mental attitude. Don't forget the shiniest apple can be very dry at the core, while the hairy shell of a coconut hides a centre that is truly fresh and tender.

Age is a number and I have too many interesting and exciting challenges to face. Too many moments of pleasure and peace to enjoy... to waste it getting hung up on numbers. Haven't you?

53

Appendix 14

District 18 Clubs, as recorded in The Scottish Toastmaster, Issue #9, December, 1957. Note the Dublin club was meeting but not yet chartered.

54

Appendix 15 Back cover of “The British Toastmaster" March 1965 showing all the clubs in TCBI.

55

Appendix 16 Letter circulated by District Treasurer, 1995/96, Margaret Highton

56

Appendix 17

District 71 – Evaluation Speech Winners Contest first held in 1988.

Year 1988 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Contest Winner Rosarie Nolan Ian Rees Janet Rose Chris Cox Bob Ferguson John Evans Kate Atkin Hilary Briggs Simon Bucknall Jane Cameron Chris Boden Lynn Cantor John Webber

Club Oxford Maidenhead Maidenhead Cambridge Excalibur Thamesdown Anglia Communicators Grosvenor Square Excalibur Southside Maidenhead Excalibur Solent

Table Topics Contest Winners Contest first held in 1995.

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

William Horwood Pat Sexton Helen Henaghan John Cronin Bill Russell Alan Warner Bob Harvey Bill Russell Paul Carroll David Jones Sheila Merriman Pat Sexton John Kelly David Jones Kevin Walsh David Jones James McGinty David Jones David Jones

Oxford Speakeasy Lucan Corinthians Corinthians Bromley Corinthians Athenians Olympians North Norfolk Speakeasy Thurles Olympians Fermoy Excalibur, Olympians, Holborn Chelmsford Excalibur, Olympians, Holborn Excalibur, Olympians, Holborn

57

Appendix 18A

58

Appendix 18B

59

Appendix 19

District Humorous Speech Contest Winners from 1987.

Prior to 1987, there was an Irish and an English contest after which the two winners contested the District Final.

Year

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Contest winner

David Lindsey

Ted Corcoran

Niall Blake

Noel O’Beara

Mary O’Reilly

Gerry Moran

Liam Grimes

Brendan Toale

Matt Lawlee

David O’Keeffe

Siobhan O’Connor

Ray Cotter

Andrew Brammer

Aileen Bennett

Ciaran Blair

Chris Cox

Noreen McSweeney

Bev Avis-Dakin

Gerry French

Cole McInnes

Michael Cronin

Bob Ferguson

Adam Broomfield

Ola Aralpo

Tania West

Brian Faulkner

Club

Thame

Fingal

Ennis

Fingal

Hellfire

Kilkenny

Fingal

Glasnevin

Speakeasy

Cork

Castleknock

Lucan

Norwich

Corinthians

Engineers

Cambridge

Muskerry

Spa

Fingal

London Cardinals

Speakeasy

Excalibur

Arun

Tube Talk

Southwest Speakers

SpeakEasy @Martlesham

60

Appendix 20

The Toastmaster, January, 1957 It records 2305 active clubs in 20 or so countries.

61

DISTRICT 71 POSITIONS FILLED BY MAIDENHEAD SPEAKERS CLUB MEMBERS

Area Governor (13) Lt. Governor (3) Gerry Darby Norman Rhodes Norman Fox David MacLeod Eric Elliott Norman Fox Norman Rhodes David MacLeod James Bragg Ed Grant Club Extension Chairman - UK (2) Janet Rose Norman Rhodes Gay Bryant David Macleod Keith Clarke Helen Elliott Steve Catchick Amanda Bouch District 71 Governor (3)

Norman Rhodes Norman Fox David MacLeod

Division Governor (5) Eric Elliott David MacLeod Norman Fox New Clubs Sponsored (13) Janet Rose Apr 84 Maidenhead Speakers 5461 Steve Catchick May 84 Anglo American

now Newbury 2965 Norman Jan 86 Eldergate, Milton Keynes 6078 Rhodes Feb 88 Articulate Speakers 6844

District Treasurer (3) Mar 89 Arun Speakers 7298 Cyril Pomroy Mar 03 Manchester Orators 6726 Norman Rhodes Nov 95 North West London 4016 Joyce Rhodes Ed Grant Jun 98 Chiltern Speakers 4827 Eric Elliott

Jan 01 Reading Speakers 8471 Cyril Pomroy Aug 05 Windsor Speakers 758236 Janet Rose Jun 08 Marlow Orators 1203783 Keith Clarke

District Secretary (2) Oct 11 FM Global Communicators 1937571 Steve Catchick Joyce Rhodes Jun 13 Wokingham Speakers 3124015 Amanda Bouch Ed Grant

District 71 Trophy Master - UK District 71 Directory Editor Joyce Rhodes – 6 years David MacLeod – 19 years

District 71 Conferences Hosted (2) District 71 Regalia Designer Spring 1994 and Supplier Spring 2000 Norman Rhodes – 28 years

[Also designed/made the 2 portable flag pole display stands & transit containers for District 71 conferences]

Recipient of International President’s CitationNorman Rhodes, 17th August 1989

Norman Rhodes/20 Nov 2013

62

Appendix 22 DISTRICT 71 REGALIA - A Short History Congratulations! Please find enclosed your new regalia. District 71 (D.71) is unique among Toastmasters International Clubs because our senior officers wear this medal as a symbol of their role. 38 years ago, all our speakers clubs were part of the Toastmasters Council of the British Isles. At that time, Club Presidents, only, wore a solid silver medal with a blue enamel motif, suspended on a blue and gold ribbon. But in 1972 we became fully integrated with Toastmasters International and regalia was no longer provided. Today some clubs still have the original silver medals and so does our District Governor’s gold chain. In 1984 David Lindsey, DTM, and District Governor at the time, announced he wanted to see regalia reinstated. Educational Lt. Governor Norman Rhodes, DTM, agreed to investigate provisioning. In order to minimise costs, Norman decided to source materials only and make up the regalia himself; his recommendation that all District Officers should have regalia was accepted and his sample design and proposed ribbon colours were all approved. At the 1985 Spring Conference held at Blarney, Co, Cork, 45 sets of regalia made up by Norman were presented to all those Club Presidents who did not have the earlier silver medal and ribbon, as well as to all Area Governors and the District Executive Team. Since that time Norman has continued to make regalia sets for new clubs and additional officers. The 1985 design used a blank medal made in Italy with a ribbon sourced in USA so was truly international. Later, TI added a medal with ribbon to their supplies catalogue. These were purchased for our District’s first Division Governors in 1989 although the blue ribbon was changed for emerald green to avoid similarity with the President’s ribbon. In 1993 District Governor Norman Fox, ATM, decreed Past District Governors should be awarded regalia to be retained permanently, recognising their contribution to the District. This was identified with a sky blue ribbon. Although the District Governor has a gold chain of office it was felt too formal for club visits. So in 1996 a purple ribbon with medal was created just for the District Governor as an alterative. In 2006 Norman Rhodes designed a medal unique to District 71 which incorporated the motif he created originally for the District 71 Directory and now adopted as the District 71 logo. This medal, with a built-in ribbon slot and specially cast for us, necessitated a change to the ribbon arrangement but radically simplified its make-up as well as allowing the ribbon to hang better on the wearer. The first two samples were presented by our District Governor in May 2007 at the Spring Conference. The main quantity of medals was received the following month. The few District Officer ribbons already made in the old pattern and in stock continued to be issued until used up. Regalia are worn at club and council meetings, dinners and all formal D.71 functions. The full range of ribbon colours for D.71 officers is: Presidents - Royal Blue Area Governors - Scarlet Division Governors - Emerald Green District Executive - Gold District Governor (only) - Purple Past District Governors - Sky Blue

NCR/22 Oct 2010

63

Appendix 23

Why Britain is different

In 1914 the Rotary Clubs then in existence in the British Isles met together and formed the British Association of Rotary Clubs. In the next 5 years the Great War created a barrier between the expanding BARC and the American based International Association. While the BARC was dedicated “to standardising Rotary principles and practices”, it did not affiliate to the American association. Although some communication and interchange of personnel during the war years was possible, effectively the British Clubs developed their own ways of operating. For example some met fortnightly rather than weekly. The BARC had its own secretariat and officers serving the needs of British Rotary Clubs.. During the war, the original ‘boostering’ nature of many of the clubs was replaced by social welfare policies aiding both the troops overseas and the home front. When the war ended and communication with North America again became normal and easy, the British Clubs were operating in a parallel but separate way and saw no reason to join their fellow Rotarians in North America, or adopt, what they saw as ‘North American’ ways.

In 1921, the RI Convention was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, when it was agreed that where a country had at least 25 clubs, they could apply to become an administrative unit within RI. The BARC at once applied and in 1922, under the name of Rotary International Association for Britain and Ireland, RIBI was accepted as a territorial administrative unit, albeit with some rules and systems at variance with practice elsewhere. Some clubs for example close during the summer vacation.

A few years later in 1927, RI decided that there would be no more similar units and over the years there have even been attempts to end RIBI’s status. While some RI nomenclature was adopted, RIBI has club councils rather than boards of directors, and similarly districts have councils too made up of elected representatives from all clubs. RIBI has its own finances, its own Treasurer, C.E.O and President; in Alcester it has its own offices too.

Source: Article by Senior historian Basil Lewis, UK, on RIBI website, 20 July, 2008

64

Appendix 24 The Belfast Charter Dinner November 29th 1963

65

Appendix 25 Oxford Charter Dinner February 1962

66

Appendix 26 TCBI Financial Statement 1965

67

Appendix 27 New WHQ Building October 1962

68

69

Appendix 29 D71 First Chain of Office

This is the chain of office first worn by the new District 71 Governors from 1972 until 1982. It was, at that time, replaced by the gold chain now worn by the Governors. D71 seems to be the only district that has such a chain, as I have never seen one worn by any other district governor anywhere.

The name Brian Ross appears on the chain, but he apparently only served for a few months before stepping down for personal reasons. This seems to have happened (deduced from the order of names on the chain) in the 1979/80 year when he was replaced by Andrew Ducker.

Gaylord Giles’s name is on the chain. Although not officially listed as a DG, Gaylord was the person who pulled the remnants of the TCBI together at the beginning of 1972 and obviously assumed the role of DG until Ben Marriott took over, after the district was officially granted provisional district status and number 71 at the International Board meeting in August that year.

This chain is currently (May 2014) in the possession of past DG Mary O’Connor 1983/84, a member of the Waterford club.

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Appendix 30 – Map of District 71 and new District 91 (effective July 1, 2014)

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Appendix 31 – D71 Chain of Office