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British Library of Political and Economic Science

Kindred of the Kibbo Kift


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0097 KK

Held at: British Library of Political and Economic Science

Title: Kindred of the Kibbo Kift

Date(s): 1919-1993

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 137 boxes

Name of creator(s): Kindred of the Kibbo Kift
Green Shirt Movement for Social Credit
Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

The Kibbo Kift Kindred was founded in 1920 by John Hargrave and some of his fellow scoutmasters as an alternative to Scouting. Their emphasis on woodcraft training and recapitulation theories of education had the support of a number of radical thinkers. John Hargrave's growing interest in social credit resulted in the gradual development of the Kibbo Kift into a political party. From 1932 it became known as the Green Shirt Movement of Social Credit and in 1935 it became the Social Credit Party. The Party was badly affected by the Public Order Act of 1936, which prohibited the wearing of uniforms by political movements. It carried on after World War Two but was dissolved in 1951. The Kibbo Kift Foundation was formed by John Hargrave in 1977, with the primary task of acting as permanent owner of the archives and regalia of the Kindred of the Kibbo Kift and its successors, The Green Shirt Movement for Social Credit and The Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The general aim and purpose of the Foundation is to revive and publicise the political, social, educational and cultural principles first laid down by John Hargrave (White Fox) when he founded the Kindred of the Kibbo Kift in 1920.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of the Kibbo Kift Kindred, the Green Shirt Movement for Social Credit, and the Social Credit Party, 1919-[1989], notably administrative material, 1928-1932, including the Kinlaw with suggested improvements, reports and minutes of the Kin Council, constitutional papers, and mandates and charters of individual members and clans; material concerning rituals, vestments and totems, 1923-1930, including correspondence and designs; material concerning teaching undertaken by the Kindred, 1924-[1932]; administrative material of the Green Shirt Movement and the Social Credit Party, 1932-1951, comprising annual reports, minutes and papers of the National Assembly, the Consultative Council and the Executive Council, and membership records; correspondence of the General Secretary and other officials, 1929-1952; correspondence and files on particular subjects, 1932-1951, including Social Credit, the Public Order Act, and SCP candidates in the general elections of 1935 and 1950; publications and propaganda for all three organisations, 1921-1950, also including drafts of articles, song sheets and poems, play scripts, and newspaper cuttings; correspondence with, and material on, other social credit organisations, 1933-1949; papers of individual members, 1921-1951; photographs of Kibbo Kift activities, [1921-1931], including photographs taken by Angus Rowland McBean; photographs relating to the Green Shirt Movement and the Social Credit Party, [1933-1950]; sound recordings, [1979], including interviews with John and Diana Hargrave relating to the Kibbo Kift; printed materials and periodicals, 1919-1965; photocopies of books by John Hargrave, 1924-1964; material deposited by the Kibbo Kift Foundation concerning its inception, history and continuing activities, 1976-[1989], such as photographs of Kibbo Kift activities taken by Angus Rowland McBean.
Also two additional accessions deposited in 2002:
M3153: Additional correspondence and papers relating to the Kibbo Kift, the Social Credit movement and John Hargrave. Also papers relating to the foundation of the Kibbo Kift Foundation, 1921-1993.
M3135: The Log of the Vagari Lodge of the Kibbo Kift and related papers, 1930-1982.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Arranged in sections as follows: Kibbo Kift: Administration; Kibbo Kift: Rituals, vestments and totems; Kibbo Kift: Education; Kibbo Kift: Miscellaneous files; Green Shirt Movement and Social Credit Party: Administration; Green Shirt Movement and Social Credit Party: Correspondence: General Secretary; Green Shirt Movement and Social Credit Party: Correspondence: Other officials; Green Shirt Movement and Social Credit Party: Correspondence and files on particular subjects; Kibbo Kift, Green Shirts and Social Credit Party: Publications and propaganda; Other Social Credit Organisations; Papers of individual members; Photographs; Sound recordings; Periodicals; Other printed material; Xeroxes.

Conditions governing access:

Open

Conditions governing reproduction:

Most items can be photocopied, subject to handling and copyright restrictions. No material may be published without the prior permission of both the copyright holder and the Library. All applications for publication must be made to the Archivist in the first instance, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

File list available for main collection; additional deposits not yet listed.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Originally part of the Youth Movement Archive (YMA). The Youth Movement Archive was established in 1973 at University College, Cardiff. The archives of the Kibbo Kift Kindred, the Green Shirt Movement and the Social Credit Party were placed in the College Library in 1978, with a further deposit in [1982]. The papers of the Woodcraft Folk were deposited by them in 1978. Papers of C J Hunt were deposited in 1982 by his executors and the Douglas Literary Trust. The entire Youth Movement Archive was transferred to the British Library of Political and Economic Science in 1984, with further material being given in 1986 and 1987. Further material was deposited by the Kibbo Kift Foundation in 1986 and 1989, and by C A Tacey in 1988. The archives making up the YMA were disaggregated in 2008 into separate collections in order to facilitate their management and promotion.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Sources: Copied from LSE Archives CALM database by Anna Towlson.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: Mar 2008


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Interest groups | Groups
Political parties | Internal politics
Social credit | Economic doctrines | Economic theory
Youth organizations | Associations | Organizations
Pressure groups x Interest groups
Economics

Personal names
Hargrave | Diana | 1920-1983 | actress
Hargrave | John Gordon | 1894-1982 | commercial artist, writer and youth movement leader
McBean | Angus Rowland | 1904-1990 | photographer

Corporate names
Green Shirt Movement for Social Credit
Kibbo Kift Foundation
Kindred of the Kibbo Kift
Social Credit Party

Places