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The Royal Over-Seas League is a unique institution. It is the practical embodiment of an idea conceived by a young man John Evelyn Wrench who saw what was then the British Empire not merely as a political and economic structure but as a 'far flung brotherhood of individual men and women of diverse creeds and races living under
differing conditions in different latitudes'. He sought to encourage friendship and understanding between them.
Founded in 1910 as the Over-Seas Club, with support from Lord Northcliffe, it was granted a Royal Charter of Incorporation in 1922. To mark its Golden Jubilee in 1960, Her Majesty the Queen granted the title 'Royal'.
The International Headquarters comprise Rutland House built by James Gibbs in 1736 and purchased by the League in 1934 and Vernon House originally built towards the end of the seventeenth century and purchased by the League in 1921. Vernon House and Rutland House were extended in 1937 over what was once the courtyard and
ballroom of Rutland House.
A fully illustrated hardback and paperback copy of The Royal Over-Seas League: From Empire into Commmonwealth. A History of the First 100 Years by Adele Smith can be purchased from the ROSL Shop or via the online gift catologue. |
