Abstract

LAMBERT, John. Maintaining a British way of life: English-speaking South Africa's patriotic, cultural and charitable associations. Historia [online]. 2009, vol.54, n.2, pp.55-76. ISSN 2309-8392.

As part of on-going research on the history of white English-speaking South Africans, this article examines the role played by a number of patriotic, cultural and charitable associations in the lives of English-speakers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Most of the associations were transplanted to South Africa from the United Kingdom or from Canada and they were firmly grounded in the British and imperial ethos that was so marked a feature of the group. The article examines the establishment and growth of the associations and shows how they flourished during the years of British paramountcy in the sub-continent and during times of crisis such as the two World Wars. It then examines the reasons for a decline in association membership from the middle of the twentieth century.

Keywords : British Empire Service League; Britishness; brotherhood; Caledonian societies; charity; culture; English-speaking South Africans; First World War; Freemasons; Guild of Loyal Women; imperialism; MOTHs; patriotic; cultural and charitable associations; patriotism; Protestantism; Second World War; Sons of England; South Africanism; sport.

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