Coroncon

(For other Loncons, see Loncon (Disambiguation).)

Coroncon, more formally the London Science Fiction Convention 1953, was the 1953 Eastercon, held May 23–24, 1953 (Whitsun weekend), at the Bonnington Hotel on Southampton Row in London. There was no GoH. Fred Brown was the chairman and Dorothy Ratigan the secretary. Other committee members aren't named but were presumably London fans.

Coroncon continued the evolution of UK conventions. Hotel venues had been used since 1951 but this was the first where a significant number of attendees stayed on site, and thus the first to see room parties; the first to at least essay a dual-track programme; and the first to use name badges. It was also scene to the ongoing schism between fans from London and those from the north, particularly Manchester. It was named 'Coroncon' because 1953 was the year of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. Ken Bulmer had originally proposed the name 'Coronvention' and the convention was also variously referred to as 'Boncon' and 'Loncon '53'.

Preparations

The convention won a contested bid at the London SF Con of 1952, easily defeating rivals Manchester and Bradford. A convention flyer of unknown date says that News Bulletins will be sent to members of the Society but as of 2024 no copies have been traced.

Membership fees were 2/6d for the 'convention society' plus 5/- per day. Teenagers and 'ladies' were half-price.

Venue

The main venue for the Saturday and Sunday was The Bonnington Hotel on Southampton Row in London. It remains in business as of 2024. Fantasy Times #179 said that, 'Unlike previous Conventions in London, most conventioneers stayed over at the Bonnington Hotel, and for the first time the whole atmosphere took on the semblance of an American Convention'.

As at Festivention and the London SF Con, preliminary sessions were again held at the White Horse pub in Fetter Lane on the Friday and presumably Thursday as this would have been the night of the regular meeting. This had also been the venue for the 1948 Whitcon.

Attendees

There is seemingly no published membership list. Fantasy Times #179 (June 1953) said the convention, 'averaged 152 attendees both days'. The following are either mentioned in contemporary reports or appear in photos.

1. Frank Arnold
2. Dave Barker
3. Eric Bentcliffe
4. Bryan Berry
5. Fred Brown
6. John Brunner
7. Daphne Buckmaster
8. Ron Buckmaster
9. Ken Bulmer
10. Brian Burgess
11. Bert Campbell
12. Peter Campbell
13. Ted Carnell
14. Vin¢ Clarke
15. Dave Cohen
16. Jack J. Curle
17. Ron Deacon
18. Philip Duerr
19. Charles Duncombe
20. Frances Evans
21. R. A. Fairthorne
22. Les Flood
23. Jesse Floyd
24. Georges Gallet
25. Dave Gardner
26. Denis Gifford
27. Maurice Goldsmith
28. Bill Harding
29. Peter Hamilton
30. Paul Hammett
31. Ernest Harmer
32. Chuck Harris
33. George Hay
34. Arthur F. Hillman
35. L. Ron Hubbard
36. Jimmy Ivins
37. Terry Jeeves
38. Kenneth Johnson
39. Eric Jones
40. Rita Krohne
41. Brian Lewis
42. Bea Mahaffey
43. Shirley Marriott
44. Frank Milnes
45. Jim Mooney
46. Alex Morrison
47. Bill Morse
48. D. Peter Ogden
49. Nic Oosterbaan
50. Mary Patchett
51. Peter Phillips
52. Ken Potter
53. Bill Price
54. Fred Price
55. Jim Ratigan
56. Dorothy Ratigan
57. Fred Robinson
58. John Roles
59. Sandy Sanderson
60. Ken Slater
61. Norman Shorrock
62. Mr Solibakke
63. Louise Solibakke
64. Pete Taylor
65. Mike Tealby
66. Bill Temple
67. Winnie Thorn
68. Jeanne Thorne
69. Tony Thorne
70. Ted Tubb
71. Brian Varley
72. Norman Wansborough
73. Norman Weedall
74. James White
75. Walt Willis
76. Madeleine Willis
77. Helen Winick
78. Dave Wood
79. Sam Youd

Fantasy Times #179 mentions 'a very fine spaceship play written by Canadian Bill Morse and Londoner Terry Wright'. However, Wright isn't mentioned in any of the Coroncon reporting and as of 2024 the name hasn't been located anywhere else. The programme book listed Matt Elder of Glasgow among 'a list of the fans who are active in Provincial Science Fiction Groups and other parts of the British Isles and whom, if all goes well, we hope to see at the Convention' but he is not mentioned in any reports so we don't know if he was in fact present.

An article in The Medway Journal #4 suggests further members of the Medway Science and Fantasy Club may have been present, aside from known attendees the Thornes, Winnie Thorn, and Brian Lewis. However, it doesn't identify them.

The convention

As with previous London conventions, fans gathered in the White Horse on Friday. Fred Robinson was surprised to find the place only 'comfortably half-full' at around 9pm. AS well as London fans, those present included the Bea Mahaffey, Rita Krohne, Jesse Floyd, Bill Harding, the Willises and James White.

On the Saturday various groups and publishers set up stalls in the main hall. The convention was due to start at 11am but didn't get going until 11:43 with news that the screening of Destination Moon had been cancelled and apology for the non-attendance of Peter Hamilton who was in the room to hear it. Walt Willis noted that this was the first convention have announcement of 'any unavoidable changes in items' listed in the programme.

After lunch, Bill Temple led off the pro authors panel. Willis said that he 'doesn't like speaking (extraordinary in one who does it so well) and insists on being put on early, with the result that everything else is something of an anticlimax'. He was followed by Ted Tubb, John Brunner, John Christopher, Vin¢ Clarke and Frank Arnold. Ted Carnell then sparked a discussion about John Christopher's 'SF Under a Cloud' essay, a Mickey Spillane story and the Liverpool Symposium on Sex and Sadism in Science Fiction before making the first public announcement of a travel fund that would become TAFF.

The Junior Fanatics presented a radio play that was charitably described as under-rehearsed, followed by discussion about future venues for the convention for which see below, and the Walt Willis sketch 'Whiskers' broadcast over the PA system. The auction, seemingly something of a flop by comparison with previous years with many BREs which even then were near unsellable while potentially valuable original art was disregarded.

The evening saw parties in the Liverpool Group suite, Bert Campbell's room, and Rita Krohne's room, albeit with interventions from the hotel's night porter.Some of the Liverpool and Manchester fans ended up on the roof.

The convention didn't really restart until 2pm on Sunday. The winners of the International Fantasy Award were announced, although the awards themselves hadn't been completed and the winners, both American, were absent anyway. 'And so the day dragged its weary way through desultorily presented items, for many of which the participants could not be found and the audience was exhorted to be patient and remain seated. An editors session was interrupted by the unannounced and unexpected appearance of L. Ron Hubbard and was followed by various comic skits.

The evening saw a further round of parties, including some off-site at Londoners' homes.

Monday was given over to farewells.

Overall assessments were mixed, with northern fans in particular generally unimpressed. Willis described it as 'British fandom's first gallant attempt at an American style convention' albeit suffering from a less that ideal hotel.

Publications

As previously noted, the flyer implied the existence of 'News Bulletin's but as of 2024 none have been traced. A 20-page programme book was distributed. There was seemingly no post-convention souvenir nor any obvious plan for one.

Future conventions

Coroncon had been selected over competing bids for Manchester and Bradford and took place against a background of tension between London and especially Manchester fandom. Dave Cohen spoke on the Saturday, criticising the London fans for not supporting Mancon. Fred Brown responded, claiming somewhat implausibly not to have known about Mancon, and Bert Campbell made things worse by saying that Northerners couldn't expect celebrities to come to their convention. Fred Robinson (from Cardiff) wrote later that perhaps the best model was a the annual 'big' convention in London focussed on the professional side of the community supplemented by a 'fancon' in Manchester or Liverpool for, by and about fandom.

Oddly, there seems to have been no formal decision at Coroncon about the venue for 1954. The convention one-shot does end with the words 'IT'S MANCON IN '54!' but convention reports don't mention any bidding session or give any suggestion of plans for the future. Vin¢ Clarke, writing in the Science Fantasy News convention supplement after Coroncon was selected at the 1952 convention, had said 'There was a general feeling that Manchester, who were second in the voting, should have some sort of official backing next year [i.e. 1954] in any case' and so maybe there was a sense that the convention would go to Manchester if they wanted it. The NSFC's Space Times #11 (dated May 1953 but published after Coroncon) certainly assumed that the next convention would be the Supermancon. However, Walt Willis, writing in Peri #3 (April 1954) quotes a letter from Fred Brown suggesting London fans were prepared to run the 1954 convention but 'if another town decides on a Convention site in Whitsun, 1954, we shall probably drop the idea of a Loncon'.

It's a little unclear, then, how it was decided, but the 1954 convention would be Supermancon, the first post-War national convention held outside London.

• Coroncon publications and photos on fanac.org.
• ''Consomme, A Ken Slater report on the con online at fanac.org.
• Conroncon on THEN.
• Con reports in Peri 3 (April 1954) by Terry Jeeves and others.

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

(Bulmer) The London con of 1953, named after some mundane event or other that took place that year; christened thus ten seconds after the proposal for a con in 1953 had been mooted (at the '52 con, also in London). It was held at the Bonnington Hotel during the same weekend the Queen's Army Schoolmistresses Reunion took place there. Site of the Roofcon, and notorious for the quelling by unplayful porters of night party sessions.

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London SF Con	Eastercon	Supermancon
	1953

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