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The Catenian Association was founded in 1908 in Manchester and takes its name
from the Latin for a chain – catena. It is an international organisation of
Catholic business and professional men who meet socially, at least once a month
at local branches known as Circles with members being referred to as Brothers.
Circles are grouped into Provinces for administrative convenience. There are
some 300 Circles throughout the British Isles and in Australia, Malta, Hong
Kong, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Harrogate is the 29th Circle of the Association,
inaugurated on the 27th May,1915 with six founder members. The first President of the Circle
was Henry Curtis who filled the post until 1920. Not least because of the war,
meetings were more sporadic than regular and, in fact, elections to office were
deferred pending the return of some Brothers from military service.
In January,
1920, the first annual dinner (at a total cost of £19.50) was held in the
Prospect Hotel. (Nowadays, it costs more than that for one person!) Guests
included the Bishop of Leeds together with other Church and Civic dignitaries as
well as the Presidents of other Yorkshire Circles.
In 1926, Harrogate was the
venue for the Annual Conference of the Association. It is now held
quinquennially in Harrogate and brings some 1200+ visitors to the town for the
week-end.
Despite an entertaining social programme, the Circle struggled to
exist during the 1920s/1930s, with membership fluctuating enough to threaten its
continued viability. Just as things were stabilising, war impacted again with
various Circle officers serving in the Armed Forces.
Inter Circle visiting – and
not just between adjacent Circles! – was, and still is, a hallmark of the
Catenian Association. To encourage visiting, many Circles have a tankard which
is presented for the evening to the furthest travelled visitor with the promise
that it will be kept topped up. Virtually every Province has one or more
trophies for the individual Brother and/or Circle making the greatest number of
visits in a year etc.
In 1940, consideration was given to dispensing with
inter-Circle meetings because of petrol rationing but Provincial Council advice
to continue prevailed. For the same reason it was agreed in 1942 that Brothers
could fulfil their obligation (!) for President’s Sunday in their own churches.
(Traditionally, on President’s Sunday, all Brothers of a Circle are expected to
support their President by attending Mass, usually in his parish church.)
In the mid
1940s,it was proposed by Provincial Council that Harrogate and York Circles
should amalgamate because of low membership/attendance. The minutes simply
record a resolution objecting to the wording of the letter! The amalgamation did
not take place and, today, York and Harrogate Circles are among the most
vigorous in the Province. As well as holding joint meetings, there were, on
occasions, jointly hosted social functions. One such notable event was a Grand
Carnival Ball in 1952 that attracted 140 from Leeds Circle and 70 from
Harrogate.
In the early 1960s, the Circle once again experienced a downturn in
fortunes and it was only the determination of some of the Brothers, perhaps
encouraged by the imminence of their jubilee, which enabled the Circle to
survive. The Golden Jubilee Meeting of the Circle was held on 27th May 1965 when
16 Harrogate Brothers attended together with 44 visitors. A founder member of
the Circle, Brother Alderson, read the minutes of the inaugural meeting of the
Circle and this established a practice to be followed subsequently at most major
anniversaries.
The following year a monthly rota for sick visiting was
introduced (hitherto, it had been 6 monthly) with the intention that all sick
Catenians living in the Harrogate area would be visited, not just members of the
Harrogate Circle. In 1972, the Sick Visitors’ Report (a feature in virtually
every Catenian Circle) was renamed Family Report to highlight that our care and
concern was not limited to Brothers alone but extended to their families. The
President or Secretary was to be advised of any sickness or misfortune affecting
any Brother or his family. Old habits die hard, however, and the title (but not
the practice) soon reverted. It wasn’t until 1994 that Family Report was
re-adopted when the widows of deceased Brothers were formally included in our
enquiries.
Also in 1966, the Harrogate Circle Challenge Cup was donated by the
late Brother Ted Tindall to encourage inter-Circle visiting within the Province
and to provide a focus for light entertainment after the formal meeting.
Fittingly, Harrogate won it on its first outing and the losers, Huddersfield
Circle, christened the cup with champagne. Having changed hands several times
over succeeding months, it was last mentioned in 1967 and, regrettably, it has
not been seen since. A relatively recent appeal for its whereabouts produced no
response, which just goes to show there is no honour, even among Catenians. In
truth, it’s probably been pushed to the back of a cupboard - in Harrogate!
Not
for the first time, (and it echoes to this day), there was concern expressed at
the sometimes disproportionate expense incurred, particularly by smaller
Circles, in hosting large numbers of guests at their dinner dances. Provincial
Council was to consider the matter and give a ruling shortly. Indirectly linked
was the suggestion in 1971 that Province should organise a dinner dance to
replace those of individual Circles. This did not find favour and Province
sought to encourage two or more Circles to hold communal functions, which was in
no way an innovation.
In 1973, the Circle agreed to accept the cost of hosting
visiting Presidents and their wives. Previously, this had fallen to the
President of the Circle. This was no more than just – they were, after all,
guests of the whole Circle – and it was hoped that, being relieved of this
financial burden, Brothers would be more inclined to accept office. In
continuance of the same theme, it was decided in 1988 that the President and his
partner should in future attend the Provincial Ball at Circle's expense.
The
Diamond Jubilee of the Circle was celebrated in May 1975 with a Mass at St.
Robert’s, followed by a meeting attended by 70 Brothers. The Rex Kirk
competition, now very much an enduring annual event, was introduced in the same
year and won by Harrogate, and again in 1978. The Association Conference was
again held in the town in 1975 but, strangely, the minutes indicate that the
Circle was to have little involvement in the arrangements – a far cry from more
recent years where the bulk of the local organisation falls to the Circle.
The
role of the President, vis-a-vis President’s Sunday, was re-defined in the mid
70s. He was to organise a Mass, to be followed by a modest family social
function that was to be entirely self-financing. (Hitherto, the expenses of the
day were met by the President and, very often, it finished at the President’s
house for tea or other refreshments.). If a President now choses to offer personal
hospitality, it was to be clearly seen as an optional personal gesture to avoid
re-establishing the precedent. It wasn’t until 1983 that it was decided to grant
the President an honorarium to help defray the incidental costs of his year in
office.
Yet again, in 1982, the high cost of dinner dances loomed large with the
concomitant effect on subscription rates and the consequent impact on attracting
and retaining younger men (a foretaste of the 2008 project?). On this occasion,
Province proposed an annual Provincial dinner dance organised by each Circle in
turn. Each Circle would thus undertake the duty once in 10 years. The financial
advantages were that there would be few, if any, guests to be paid for. In
common with most Circles in Province, Harrogate preferred the status quo, warts
and all!
The annual hosting of the local clergy to a meal is common practice
within the Association. In the initial years in Harrogate, before ecumenism
became the flavour of the month, non-Catholic clergy were included (and still
are in many parts of the country). By the 1980s, however, invitations were
restricted to Catholic clergy. No decision to that effect was recorded, it just
seemed to happen. Although mooted as far back as 1974, it wasn’t until 1983 that
the event was declared a “ladies’ night” and it was the following year before
the widows were included as guests as a matter of course.
Notwithstanding that
visiting other Circles is an integral part of being a Catenian, the practice tends to wax
and wane. Regrettably, 1983/84 was somewhat of a nadir for Harrogate with only
17 visits. In the same period, Halifax clocked up 155. Was it a co-incidence
that there was also a lack of nominations for office? This provoked a reminder
to Brothers that, in seeking membership, they also accepted responsibility for
helping to run their Circle.
In 1986, a subversive band of Scots in the Circle
announced their plans for what was to be the first of an occasional series of
highly successful Burns Suppers. Subsequently, in 1989, by way of retaliation,
the “tykes” in the Circle arranged a Yorkshire Evening. Though closely modelled
on the format of the Burns Suppers, it was nowt but a dim reflection. The cloth
caps, braces and shawls (and that was only the men!) were no match for
the tartan. (so says the Scottish archivist)
As a contrast to the minimal involvement of the Circle in the early
stages of planning for the 1975 Conference, the end of 1986 saw the formation of
a sub-committee to handle local arrangements for the 1988 AGM. The Conference
itself, at which a Yorkshireman, Terry McManus, was installed as Grand President, proved very
successful and the Circle members were highly praised for their contribution to
its success. There were apparently calls for it to be held here in alternate
years but Grand Council wisely settled for a quinquennial commitment.
Previous
celebrations had largely focused on Circle milestones but in 1988, Brother Ted
Tindall celebrated his golden jubilee as a Catenian. Presenting him with a
gold-framed scroll to mark the occasion, Grand President Terry McManus marvelled
that his 50 years had been in the one Circle. Moreover, he was the son of a
founder member and three of his own sons were (and still are) in the Harrogate
Circle.
Safari evenings have long been in the Harrogate social calendar but 1989
saw a departure from the tried and tested house to house formula. Instead, the
event was held in a hotel and couples migrated to different tables for each
course. In 1994, this concept was further refined when couples parted after the
first course and I understand the organiser was besieged by wives wanting to
make this arrangement permanent. This formula proved so successful, despite its temporary
nature, that it is now routine.
In 1989, the Circle received a legacy from the
late Brother Louis Riley, specifically to defray the expenses of our annual
Dinner Dance and his generosity is acknowledged on each year’s programme. To
maintain the fund, successive Presidents have topped it up with occasional
surpluses from other events. This so moved Louis’ surviving sister (now
deceased) that she, in turn, made a donation. Recognising that this was his only
memorial (Louis had left his body to medical research), the Circle commissioned
a table-top lectern with the Catenian logo carved on the lid for the President’s use at meetings.
He will now be remembered as long as the Circle endures.
In 1990, Circle acceded to
a request from Grand Council to revert to the current account system that had
operated until 1981. On a national basis, surplus cash in Circles’ current
accounts could be “borrowed” free of interest from the bank and be invested to
provide tax-free interest for the Catenian Association Benevolent Fund.
…To be
continued…
History compiled by Pat O’Donnell (pat.odonnell@lineone.net)
The
above outline history derives largely from the minutes of Circle meetings and
simply reflects what registers with me as giving a flavour of the Circle over
the years.
I am hopeful of obtaining some photos and they will be incorporated at a future update.
Inevitably, minutes get lost
which partly explains the gaps in the narrative. In addition, by their very
nature, minutes tend to be brief and what was meaningful at the time of writing
and initial reading perhaps becomes less significant with the passage of time and dimming of
memory.
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