British Fantasy Library membership 1947-1949
The British Fantasy Library (BFL) was a successor organisation to the British Fantasy Society, becoming a separate organisation in January 1947 and continuing for an unknown period although after 1949 it seemingly no longer issued publications aside from, presumably, lists of books and magazines. The British Fantasy Library Handbook likely dates from late 1947 and lists 30 names although these don't include the organisers, Ron Holmes and Nigel Lindsay. Further new members were reported in issue of the first run of Operation Fantast. When Walt Willis mailed copies of the BFL's Booklist around Christmas 1948 there were 41 paid up members although some of the original 30 may have lapsed.
A likely incomplete listing of known members is as follows:
Names marked * had previously been members of the British Fantasy Society. Names marked (H) were honorary members. Unlinked italic names need to be checked if they're already here under variations.
- Norman Ashfield
- Peter B. Bell
- M. A. Boyd
- Daphne Bradley
- M. Charity
- Jimmy Clay
- I. Clay-Jones
- S. R. Dalton
- Arthur Duell
- Charles Duncombe
- D. W. Evans
- Derek Gardiner *
- W. Arthur Gibson *
- N. C. Gourley
- F. J. Grimes
- R. Henery
- Phil Hetherington
- Ron Holmes *
- Ian R. Innes
- E. R. James *
- Kenneth Johnson *
- W. Kerr
- John E. Koestner (H)
- Shivaji Lal
- Nigel Lindsay *
- H. Loney
- Allan Longton *
- E. Lumer
- Thomas L. MacDonald
- Harry Manson *
- David A McInnes (H)
- D. McNaught
- Peter G. Medcalf
- S. Nodleman
- P. Pennington
- C. H. Pepper
- Francis G. Rayer *
- Stanley Roberts
- E. W. Roberts
- J. Michael Rosenblum *
- Ken Slater
- D. R. Smith *
- E. F. Smith
- R. Smith
- M. J. V. Steer
- L. G. Street
- Joyce Teagle
- Terry O. Trollope
- C. Walker
- A. E. Williams
- L. Williams
- F. D. Wilson
The following don't appear on any membership list but may have been members:
- Vin¢ Clarke who distributed Booklist with Science Fantasy News.
- John Gunn who took over as editor of Booklist in 1948.
- Bert Lewis appears on the list of people wanting magazines in Operation Fantast #2.
- Tom Moulton appears on the list of people interested in trading magazines in Operation Fantast #2.
- Walter I. Norcott appears on the list of people interested in trading magazines in Operation Fantast #2.
- J. Frank White who according to Booklist #6 stopped answering letters.
- James White and Walt Willis who sought to distribute Slant with Booklist and ended up distributing Booklist with Slant.
After 1949 the BFL sections were operated by William C. Dawson, Jim Donaldson and Vera Douglas with Dawson and Douglas continuing until at least 1959 by which point they'd become 'British Fantasy and Science Fiction Library'.
Club | 1947—???? |
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! |