1937 Leeds Convention
The First British Science Fiction Conference was the formal name of a convention held on Sunday January 3, 1937, at the Theosophical Hall in Leeds in the UK. It is by some metrics the first convention ever but while it was unquestionably a convention, it was also unquestionably after the first convention in Philadelphia which was less clearly a convention.
The convention was promoted in Novae Terrae from at least October 1936 although Ted Carnell, a Londoner, said that 'many fans are suggesting that the Convention should be held nearer south than Leeds... Liverpool, Leicester, or London'. The December 1936 issue seemingly acknowledged United States primacy by conceding that:
New York beats Leeds in holding the first science fiction Convention, when members from the ISA in New York visited fans in Philadelphia on October 18th [actually the 22nd]
... while the supplement to that issue said in contradiction that:
the first SF convention takes place in Leeds.
In the December issue Douglas W. F. Mayer said
The following are but a few of those who have promised to attend:- D. G. MacRae, Director of the Glasgow Chapter; S. Johnstone, Director of the Barnsley Chapter; M. K. Hanson and D. A. Jacques, editors of Novae Terrae; W. H. Gillings, editor of Scientifiction; L. J. Johnson, Hon. Secy. of the British Interplanetary Society; E. J. Carnell, London Correspondent to Novae Terrae, and J. R. Fearn, author of Mathematica, etc.
Several of these people were seemingly not in fact present. Admission was by ticket although there was no charge. The official report said 'Approximately 20 fans or authors attended'. The word 'approximately' may be doing some heavy lifting there as there were fourteen known attendees:
- George Airey (Leeds)
- Ted Carnell (London)
- Arthur C. Clarke (London)
- Walter Gillings (Ilford)
- Harold Gottliffe (Leeds)
- Albert Griffiths (Bradford)
- Maurice K. Hanson (Nuneaton)
- Les Johnson (Liverpool)
- Douglas W. F. Mayer (Leeds)
- A. Miller (Leeds)
- J. Michael Rosenblum (Leeds)
- Eric Frank Russell (Liverpool)
- B. Saffer (Leeds)
- Herbert Warnes (Leeds), chairman
The three London fans (Carnell, Clarke and Gillings) travelled up overnight on the train, collecting Hanson along the way and arriving at 4am where they were met by Gottliffe. Johnson and Russell arrived at noon.
The convention started at 10:30 and was a formal affair. Mayer read out messages of support before Gillings spoke to outline his plans for Scientifiction. Carnell and Clarke spoke about the London branch of the British Interplanetary Society, and Hanson gave a report on the Nuneaton group. During the afternoon session there were a number of proposals around the formation of 'a British, non-commercial organisation ... to further science-fiction in this Country'. It was then agreed that Novae Terrae should become the official organ of the society and that 'all British groups should break away from American Societies [such as the Science Fiction League] and become branches of the new organisation.' Eric Frank Russell proposed the name for this organisation, the Science Fiction Association. The officers that were appointed were Mayer as secretary, Warnes as his assistant with the question of president to be decided later. Airey was subsequently appointed treasurer.
The official report was subsequently published by Mayer.
See also Which Was the First SF Convention?, Early Conventions and Rob Hansen's excellent web pages on the Leeds Convention including links to contemporary accounts and the official souvenir report.
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