Science Fiction Association membership 1937-1939

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The Science Fiction Association (SFA) was the UK's first national fan organisation. It was founded at the 1937 Leeds Convention and had about 143 members through to January 1939 when the last issue of Novae Terrae, its official organ, was published. The Association was suspended after the outbreak of the Second World War and never resurrected. It was succeeded by the British Fantasy Society (BFS) in 1942.

If a full membership list was ever published it hasn't been located as of 2024. However, the names of new members were published in Novae Terrae starting with #11 (April 1937), and other individuals can be extrapolated as members based on names of officers and reports of branch meetings.

What follows is a likely incomplete listing of SFA members. Unlike successor organisations the Association did not issue membership numbers, or if they did then they're not recorded. The numbering in the list is for orientation only. The date after each name is the earliest issue of Novae Terrae in which their membership is noted. While the SFA was British, it included a number of members from other countries, mostly the United States; overseas members are asterisked *. Honorary members are marked H.

Note: this is a work in progress. Unlinked names are being checked to see if they already exist in F3 under variants.

  1. Forrest J Ackerman * (July 1937)
  2. George Airey (February 1937)
  3. MayBelle Anshutz * (September 1938)
  4. Ronald A. Armitage (August 1937)
  5. Frank Arnold[1] (August 1938)
  6. G. W. Axworthy (October 1937)
  7. Claire P. Beck * (August 1937)
  8. P. W. Berry (April 1937)
  9. Sid Birchby (May 1937)
  10. D. Black (August 1938)
  11. H. J. Blakeley (May 1937)
  12. Abraham Bloom (June 1937)
  13. Sydney Bounds (October 1937)
  14. John F. Burke (September 1938)
  15. John W. Campbell, Jr. * H (December 1937)
  16. E. J. Carnell (June 1937)
  17. Anthony Chapman (July 1937)
  18. G. Ken Chapman (October 1937)
  19. Hal Chibbett (November 1937)
  20. Arthur C. Clarke (August 1937)
  21. Wilfred P. Cockcroft (April 1938)
  22. Bernard H. Cohen (April 1937)
  23. S. Conning (January 1938)
  24. W. W. Crafer (January 1938)
  25. S. Davies (October 1937)
  26. S. E. Dench (August 1937)
  27. W. Alan Devereux[2] (March 1938)
  28. Frank Dobby (May 1937)
  29. John C. H. Drummond (October 1937)
  30. A. G. Dunn (January 1938)
  31. George Ellis[3] (August 1938)
  32. Gerald Evans (September 1938)
  33. I. O. Evans (August 1937)
  34. Frances Fairchild * (July 1937)
  35. John Russell Fearn (June 1938)
  36. Alicia Feather (June 1937)
  37. Nancy Featherstone * (December 1938)
  38. Ron Fishwick (July 1937)
  39. E. W. Fits * (November 1937)
  40. Les Flood (April 1937)
  41. Ernest Gabrielson (December 1938)
  42. W. Arthur Gibson (July 1937)
  43. Vic Gillard (November 1937)
  44. Walter H. Gillings (April 1937)
  45. James. H. Gilmour (July 1937)
  46. J. Gordon (September 1938)
  47. Harold Gottliffe (February 1937)
  48. Mary Corinne Gray (Pogo) * (September 1938)
  49. J. T. Greenwood (October 1937)
  50. L. Grieve *[4](September 1938)
  51. H. Griffiths (August 1938)
  52. S. Hallett (July 1937)
  53. Maurice K. Hanson (April 1937)
  54. Laurie L. Harris (January 1938)
  55. Vernon Harry * (April 1937)
  56. Dale Hart * (August 1938)
  57. Leslie V. Heald (January 1939)
  58. J Heitt * (July 1937)
  59. Phil Hetherington (April 1937)
  60. E. Hiller (May 1937)
  61. Russ Hodgkins* (July 1937)
  62. Ron Holmes (December 1938)
  63. Maurice G. Hugi (March 1938)
  64. Dennis Jacques (April 1937)
  65. J. B. Jepson (June 1937)
  66. Leslie J. Johnson (May 1937)
  67. S. Johnstone (September 1938)
  68. F. H. P. Knight (September 1938)
  69. H. C. Koenig * (August 1937)
  70. L. Kualan (October 1937)
  71. Louis Kuslan (November 1938)
  72. E. G. Lane (May 1937)
  73. F. C. Lennox (August 1938)
  74. Bert Lewis (January 1939)
  75. P. L. Lewis (December 1937)
  76. Wyndham Lewis (August 1938)
  77. J. Lightbrown (March 1938)
  78. E. Longley (November 1937)
  79. Professor A. M. Low (June 1937)
  80. K. E. F. von Lute (July 1937)
  81. Colin H. Macklin (January 1938)
  82. F. Mallen (July 1937)
  83. H. T. May (November 1937)
  84. Douglas W. F. Mayer (February 1937)
  85. David McIlwain (September 1938)
  86. A. Miller (May 1938)
  87. F. Montgomery (October 1937)
  88. D. C. Moore (January 1938)
  89. T. J. Morgan (July 1937)
  90. Eric Moss (July 1937)
  91. J. Moss (July 1937)
  92. M. L. Neale (January 1938)
  93. Eric Needham (January 1938)
  94. S. Nyman (May 1937)
  95. R. W. Parrish (September 1938)
  96. W. J. Passingham (December 1938)
  97. S. Peck (August 1937)
  98. Harold Penfold (May 1938)
  99. J. L. Pope (August 1938)
  100. Festus Pragnell (April 1937)
  101. E. Rose (July 1937)
  102. J. Michael Rosenblum (April 1937)
  103. Alan J. W. Rozelaarar (November 1938)
  104. Oliver Saari (September 1938)
  105. Andrew Salmond (July 1937)
  106. B. A. Scarff (January 1938)
  107. M. C. Schmidt (September 1938)
  108. D. R. Smith
  109. L. W. Smith (October 1937)
  110. V Smith (July 1937)
  111. A. G. Snowdon (July 1937)
  112. Jack Speer (August 1937)
  113. Olaf Stapledon (June 1937)
  114. Reg Stevens (May 1937)
  115. J. I. Stevenson (June 1937)
  116. William G. Stone (January 1938)
  117. James V. Taurasi * (December 1937)
  118. R. Taylor (July 1937)
  119. William F. Temple (October 1937)
  120. Roy Test (July 1937)
  121. G. Thompson (July 1937)
  122. Thomas C. Toy (July 1937)
  123. Fred Tozer (August 1938)
  124. F. Orlin Tremaine * H (August 1937)
  125. Harry Turner (October 1937)
  126. L. Turner (April 1937)
  127. R. E. Vincent (November 1938)
  128. Herbert Warnes (February 1937)
  129. J. Watts (July 1937)
  130. Doug Webster (January 1938)
  131. Norman Weedall (December 1938)
  132. J. D. White (September 1938)
  133. Olon F. Wiggins * (October 1937)
  134. Eric C. Williams (April 1937)
  135. A. Wilson (July 1937)
  136. Frank Wilson (March 1938)
  137. Richard Wilson * (October 1937)
  138. C. E. Windsor (November 1937)
  139. P. F. Wober (May 1937)
  140. Donald A. Wollheim * (June 1937)
  141. Dmitri de Woronin *[5] (July 1937)
  142. T. Bruce Yerke * (July 1937)
  143. C. S. Youd (June 1937)

Novae Terrae #11 (April 1937) notes Miss D. E. Essam attending a meeting of the Nuneaton branch as a prospective member. There is no evidence that she did in fact join. If she had done so she would likely have been the SFA's first female member, ahead of Alicia Feather who joined with #13 (June 1937).

Novae Terrae #26 (September 1938) lists a new member 'F. Brady (Los Angeles)'. Brady was a pseudonym of Forrest J Ackerman who was already a member.


Club 19371939
This is a club page. Please extend it by adding information about when and where the club met, when and by whom it was founded, how long it was active, notable accomplishments, well-known members, clubzines, any conventions it ran, external links to the club's website, other club pages, etc.

When there's a floreat (Fl.), this indicates the time or times for which we have found evidence that the club existed. This is probably not going to represent the club's full lifetime, so please update it if you can!

  1. Novae Terrae #25 reports 'F. J. Arnold' as a new member. Other issues include contributions credited to 'Frank Arnold', 'Frank E. Arnold' and 'Frank Edward Arnold'. As J was also one of his middle initials it seems at least likely that F. J. Arnold is Frank Arnold.
  2. Misspelled in Novae Terrae #21 as 'W. A. Devereaux'.
  3. His name is always given as 'G. Ellis' in Novae Terrae.
  4. Grieve lived in Sydney, Australia.
  5. de Woronin lived in Southern Rhodesia.