The start of RIBI

A meeting of the seven British Clubs took place in Liverpool on 30 October 1913 and was followed by a second meeting on 04 May 1914 in London. At this second meeting it was agreed that there would be a British Association of Rotary Clubs (BARC) with its own constitution. At the 1914 Convention in Houston, BARC was recognized by the International Association of Rotary Clubs (IARC) as a necessary and desirable institution for the extension of Rotary. BARC therefore became legitimate, with its own officers and constitution.

Clubs in Britain agreed to be affiliated to IARC and pay fees to them.

1915 saw the publication of the first issue of ‘The Rotary Wheel’, the magazine of BARC. In the same year, all the Rotary Clubs that then existed were formed into 19 Districts and the first District Governors were appointed. The British Isles was District 19.

BARC continued to extend Rotary throughout the British Isles and by 1921 over 50 Clubs were in existence. During 1921 there was much discussion about BARC and its constitution which eventually led to the creation of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) in 1922.

The start of BEARC