THE LONDON CIRCLE (1959)

Though London fans had started meeting on Thursday evenings prior to WWII, it was only when those meetings resumed after the war that they dubbed themselves 'the London Circle'. However, by the time the 1950s were drawing to a close the Circle was in decline, so Ted Tubb and Ken Bulmer decided drastic action was needed to stop the rot. At the 18th December 1958 meeting, Bulmer stood up and announced that henceforth...

"...the London Circle would meet officially on the first Thursday in every month, but stressed that the usual Thursday gathering would still continue The idea was obvious; to bring together friends on a night they knew they would meet without the chance that the meeting would be poorly attended.".

Over the next few months Tubb and Bulmer worked up the following draft consitution, (which has been OCRed from Ted's carbon copy):

THE LONDON CIRCLE CONSTITUTION 1. Name The name of the organisation shall be THE LONDON CIRCLE. 2. Objects The objects of the organisation shall be to provide facilities whereby the Members of the organisation shall have opportunities for increasing their knowledge and widening their experience of all aspects of Science-Fiction. 3. Membership Membership shall be in accordance with regulations which may be made from time to time. Applicants for membership must be proposed and seconded by Members of the organisation and if elected shall pay appropriate subscriptions and generally observe the rules and regulations of the organisation. 4. Management The management of the affairs of the organisation shall be vested in a General Committee which, for this purpose, shall have power to make, revoke and vary regulations consistent with this Constitution to appoint sub-committees which must consist of Members of the organisation who need not, however, be members of the General Committee to delegate any such sub-committees such of its powers as it may deem expedient. to further the objects of the organisation in any other way it may consider to be desirable within the powers and intentions of this Constitution to fill vacancies on the committee occurring during its tenure of office. to consider applications for membership. 5. Committee The committee shall consist of a CHAIRMAN, Hon. TREASURER, Hon. SECRETARY and THREE MEMBERS elected at the Annual General Meeting, and shall hold office until the next Annual General Meeting. The CHAIRMAN of the organisation shall not he eligible for re-election to the Committee, unless there is no new Chairman proposed, in each case if the current CHAIRMAN is prepared to take office for a further year, he is proposed, seconded and voted to the Chair. Meetings of the Committee shall he called at seven days' clear notice (or less if urgent) by the Secretary at the request of the CHAIRMAN or by any three members of the Committee. Four Committee members shall form a quorum. 6. Subscriptions The subscriptions shall be fixed by members at the General Meeting, Any member whose subscription shall not have been paid within one month of election or subsequently not later than one month after the Annual General Meeting shall cease to be a member of the organisation; but, may be re-instated on payment of arrears at the discretion of the Committee. If subscription is to be by monthly fee, this will rule out the complications of 'half-yearly fees' and/or 'if membership after a certain date' will forfeit any necessary subscription until the commencement of a new year. 7. Annual General Meeting An Annual General Meeting shall be held at a date, to be fixed by the elected Committee for that year, but for continuity, it is best to make a fixed date permanently, when the following business shall be transacted: The submission of the Annual Report, The presentation of the Audited Accounts by the Treasurer and the financial status of the organisation. The election of the Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, and other members of the Society's Committee. The consideration of matters placed on the agenda by notice of the Society's Committee. The conducting of any other business as is usual at an Annual General Meeting. 8. Special General Meetings Special General Meetings shall he convened by the Secretary: on the instruction of the Committee at the request, in writing, of any ten members of the Society. The purpose of the Meeting must be clearly defined, and the notice calling the Meeting shall be issued by the Secretary within a week of the request. At least seven days clear notice shall be given of such a Meeting, except in case or emergency. The time and the place of such a Meeting to be determined by the Chairman or the Secretary. 9. Quorum at a General Meeting One third of the Membership shall form a quorum at any General Meeting. 10. Chairman's Casting Vote At any General or Committee Meeting the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote, if such circumstances are necessary to settle any disputes. If such disputes can be settled without the Chairman's vote this would be more desirable. 11. Ordinary Meetings Ordinary Meetings shall be held normally once a month, unless through popularity, it is decided through Clause 8 to amend this rule. 12. Alteration of Constitution No alteration or addition to this Constitution shall be made except by a two—thirds majority of those attending and voting at a Special General Meeting called for the purpose. 13. Dissolution The affairs of the society may be wound up only by a three-quarters majority vote for those voting at a Special General Meeting called for the purpose, in which case any funds or other assets which are the property of the Society shall be realised as soon as practicable and the net proceeds to be devoted to any such purpose or cause to be selected at such Meeting. CERTIFICATE OF ADOPTION The foregoing Constitution is prepared for adoption at a Special General Meeting of the Members of the Society held 2nd April 1959.

At the 2nd April meeting at The Globe, seven committee members were elected (not the six envisioned in the draft constitution). These were Ken Bulmer, Vince Clarke and Ella Parker with Ted Tubb as Chairman, Charlie Duncombe as Treasurer, Sandra Hall as Secretary and Pete Taylor as Publicity Officer. George Locke was charged with editing an official news sheet. Annual subs were set at five shillings and printed yellow membership cards were distributed (see top of page).

Alas, tensions in the group would soon spill over into open conflict. A schism developed in May over business conducted in Cheltenham when a contingent of London Circle members travelled to that city to engage in a joust with its fan group (seriously!) and then in October, following the London Symposium. Vince Clarke wrote a scathing letter to Ted Tubb announcing his resignation from the Committee, which led in turn to Tubb resigning eight days later (see THEN for details of all this and a full transcript of the letter). Nor was that the end of the matter. Before the month was out a splinter group of fans led by Vince Clarke and Ella announced the formation of an alternative to the London Circle, one called the Science Fiction Club of London.

That was pretty much it for the London Circle as a formally organised SF fan group. Whether they formally dissolved the organisation as per article 13 of the constitution is unknown, but no membership cards were issued for subsequent years and London fans soon slipped back into their habit of informal meetings. In the eight decades we've been meeting, 1959 was the only year we were ever a formally organised group. The experiment collapsed amid recriminations, yet it left behind one lasting legacy. Because of it we still meet on the first-Thursday of the month rather than every Thursday, and who's to say whether if not for that innovation we'd still be meeting regularly at all?

- Rob Hansen, May 2018.