View source for British Fantasy Society membership 1942-1946

{{DISPLAYTITLE: British Fantasy Society membership 1942–1946‎ }}
The first '''[[British Fantasy Society]] (BFS)''' ran from 1942–1946 and had about 132 members through to August 1946 when the last update was reported in ''[[British Fantasy Society Bulletin]]'' #27.

The Society published full membership lists in its fifth and tenth ''Bulletins'' (another, in effect, in the ''[[Directory of Anglofandom]]'' but see below for some of its errors) and other issues announced the names and (usually) addresses and membership numbers of new recruits so it is possible to almost entirely recreate the full list. There remain a few uncertainties. 

* [[Douglas Slack]] doesn't seem to have been assigned a membership number but from context he is either 113 or 114 (although see below).
* There is a complication concerning [[T. W. Strange]] (or Stronge) and [[D. R. W. Stronge]] (or Strange). They were brothers, and thus presumably both either Strange or Stronge but we don't know which. T. W transferred his membership to D. R. W. in June 1945 because of problems receiving mail, although D. R. W. then paid a triple-rate sub. So they may both be member 28, although if so it's unclear whether that should be seen as sequentially or concurrently; or possibly D. R. W. is member 113.
* 128 and 129 may have been assigned to members announced in bulletin #26, a copy of which hasn't been traced as of 2024. It's a mystery what happened to member 131 as bulletin #27 announces members 130 and 132. 

In December 1942 [[prozine]] editor [[Alden H. Norton]] was made an honorary member for arranging complimentary subscriptions for some UK fans. In ''Bulletin'' #10 in August 1943 the Society set out its position on American members and honorary memberships generally, saying that American fans would not be eligible for membership unless they were honorary. Existing members [[Forrest J Ackerman]] and [[John M. Cunningham]] were given honorary status. In January 1944, honorary memberships were also given to [[Myrtle R. Douglas]], [[Bill Evans|William H. Evans]], [[Joe Gibson]], [[Milt Rothman]], [[Paul J. Searles]] and [[Bob Tucker]], without assigned numbers anymore. In September 1944, [[Walt Dunkelberger]] and [[Bill Watson]] were added, again without numbers. – See also the almost-alphabetical listing in the ''[[Directory of Anglofandom]]'' page (21), January 1945, which contains only 9 Americans, without Rothman and Watson. Of course, due to contingencies of its production and many obvious errors, this can be easily explained away as an inevitable oversight.

Names marked * had also been members of the pre-War [[Science Fiction Association]]. Even though the BFS was formed only three years after the SFA was suspended there are only 17 people who were members of both. Names marked H are honorary members, some of whom don't have membership numbers as noted above..

<div style="column-count:3; vertical-align:top">
* [[Forrest J Ackerman]] * (4H)
* [[John Aiken]] (49)
* [[Kenneth Allan]] (95)
* [[H. Andrews]] (117)
* [[C. Baker]] (72)
* [[Jack Banks]] (29)
* [[Syd A. Beach]] (47)
* [[Sid Birchby]] * (115)
* [[Syd Bounds]] (119)
* [[G. H. Brewer]] (71)
* [[John Briston]] (25)
* [[Colin Brown]] (126)
* [[Fred Brown]] (60)
* [[H. Ken Bulmer]] (21)
* [[L. Burgess]] (76)
* [[John F. Burke]] * (56)
* [[H. S. Burton]] (65)
* [[Arthur Busby]] (31)
* [[Edward J. Carnell]] (40)
* [[Ken Chadwick]] (57)
* [[A. Bertram Chandler]] (97)
* [[Bob Chittock|R. Chittock]] (45)
* [[Peter Corbishley]] (89)
* [[F. N Cramp]] (85)
* [[John M. Cunningham]] (38H)
* [[H. J. Cutmore]] (109)
* [[R. J. Daniels]] (130)
* [[W. Alan Devereux]] * (81)
* [[Reg Diggins]] (63)
* [[Donald J. Doughty]] (35)
* [[Myrtle R. Douglas]] * (H)
* [[J. P. Doyle]] (66)
* [[Walt Dunkelberger]] (H)
* [[B. H. Edwards]] (43)
* [[George Ellis]] * (6)
* [[H. J. Ellis]] (44)
* [[Bill Evans|William H. Evans]] (H)
* [[Joyce Fairbairn]] (124)
* [[Roland Forster]] (16)
* [[H. P. Freedman]] (77)
* [[Bruce Gaffron]] (92)
* [[Anne Gardiner]] (80)
* [[Derek Gardiner]] (22)
* [[A. W. Gardner]] (24)
* [[W. Arthur Gibson ]] (23)
* [[Jack Gibson]] (32)
* [[Joe Gibson]] (H)
* [[Bob Gibson|W. R. Gibson]] (36)
* [[Frederick V. Giles]]<ref>Sometimes referred to as 'Gibs' in the bulletin.</ref> (27)
* [[Walter Gillings]] (62)
* [[Jack Gillot]] (86)
* [[E. A Godfrey]] (98)
* [[H. Gomberg]]<ref>Referred to as 'Gompertz' in the bulletin.</ref> (96)
* [[Fred Goodier]] (50)
* [[William Gooding]] (100)
* [[Harold Gottliffe]] * (37)
* [[Maurice K. Hanson]] * (15)
* [[H. M. Hawes]] (91)
* [[Peter Hawkins]] (33)
* [[Arthur F. Hillman]] (88)
* [[Gordon Holbrow]] (67)
* [[Ron Holmes]] * (69)
* [[Ray Hooker]] (17)
* [[Eric C. Hopkins]] (121)
* [[Donald Houston]] (10)
* [[Tom Hughes]] (26)
* [[E. R. James]] (125)
* [[Kenneth Johnson]] (20)
* [[Leslie J. Johnson]] * (87)
* [[R. Rowland Johnson]] (39)
* [[J. M. Jones]] (93)
* [[R. F. Jones]] (111)
* [[W. Jordan]] (105)
* [[Harry Kay]] (83)
* [[Peter Knott]] (30)
* [[Joan Lane]] (94)
* [[Ron Lane]] (7)
* [[Norman Lazenby]] (102)
* [[Bert Lewis]] * (14)
* [[Nigel Lindsay]] (103)<ref> In ''[[Directory of Anglofandom]]'', "Addenda" page (21), Nigel is listed as "Lindsay; Norman", an obvious mistake just like his "Exexter" in his address. More interestingly his number is given as 104 (seemingly overtyping a "100"); however in the ''[[BFS Bulletin]]'' 21 from March 1945, he is reported as "Linday, N." with the (clearly correct) #103 while 104 went to March, not listed in the ''Directory''. See scan https://fanac.org/fanzines/Brit_Fantasy_Soc_Bulletin/british_fantasy_society_bulletin_21_smith_1945-03-23_fido_39.pdf </ref>
* [[Allan Longton]] (46)
* [[Michael Lord]] (68)
* [[Edwin Macdonald]] (9)
* [[Harry Manson]] (107)
* [[A. H. March]] (104)
* [[Stanley Mason]] (116)
* [[R. G. Medhurst]] (70)
* [[Allan H. Miles]] (42)
* [[J. T. Miller]] (59)
* [[Eric Moss]] * (3)
* [[Jean Murrey]] (84)
* [[Eric S. Needham]] (120)
* [[John Newman]] (122)
* [[Walter I. Norcott]] (54)
* [[Alden H. Norton]] (61H)
* [[Ralph E. Orme]] (18)
* [[S. G. J. Ouseley]] (78)
* [[Terry Overton]] (5)
* [[E. Frank Parker]] (48)
* [[Julian Parr]] (19)
* [[Eric F. Patterson]] (53)
* [[C. C. Peart]] (110)
* [[John Pennington]] (79)
* [[Gilbert Pusey]] (73)
* [[James Parkhill Rathbone]] (106)
* [[Francis G. Rayer|F. G. Rayer]] (123)
* [[J. E. Rennison]] (2)
* [[Arthur J. Ridgway]] (55)
* [[G. Robinson]] (112)
* [[J. Michael Rosenblum]] * (1)
* [[Milt Rothman]] (H)
* [[Clifford Russell]] (132)
* [[Andrew Salmond]] * (118)
* [[Laurence Sandfield]] (75)
* [[Paul J. Searles]] (honorary)
* [[A. G. Skeel]]<ref>Sometimes referred to as 'Sheel' in the bulletin.</ref> (34)
* [[Robert J. Silburn]] (41)
* [[Douglas Slack]] (113 or 114)
* [[D. R. Smith]] * (11)
* [[J. Stephenson]] (127)
* [[R. G. Stewart]] (82)
* [[T. W. Strange]] (28)
* [[D. R. W. Stronge]] (28 or 113)
* [[B. G. W. Tayler]] (108)
* [[William F. Temple]] * (13)
* [[E. C. Tubb]] (101)
* [[Bob Tucker]] (H)
* [[Dennis Tucker]] (8)
* [[I. M. Vinter]] (64)
* [[Victor S. Walton]] (51)
* [[Frederick W. Ward]] (12)
* [[Bill Watson]] (H)
* [[John Webb]] (74)
* [[James R. Wiggins]] (52)
* [[Arthur F. Williams]] (58)
* [[Gus Willmorth]] (90)
* [[C. S. Youd]] * (99)
</div>

The final issue of the ''BFS Bulletin'' was #28 published in November 1946 but a copy hasn't been located and so we don't know if there were any more last minute members before the Society dissolved.

{{club| start=1942 | end=1946}}
[[Category:List]]
[[Category:UK]]