League of Mercy

The League of Mercy is a British foundation first established in 1899 by Royal Charter of Queen Victoria, and re-established in 1999[2]. The original goal of the organisation was to recruit a large number of volunteers to aid the sick and suffering at charity hospitals. It was disbanded at the establishment of the National Health Service in 1947,[3] with its Royal Charter subsequently surrendered.[4] In 1999, the League was re-established as a registered charity to recognise and reward volunteers.[2]

League of Mercy
Badge of the Order of the League of Mercy, version awarded 1899-1946. The bow was for ladies' awards.
Formation30 March 1899 (1899-03-30)
FounderEdward, Prince of Wales
Founded atLondon
PurposeTo recruit volunteers for hospitals
First President
Edward, Prince of Wales[1]
Current President
Robert Balchin, Baron Lingfield[2]

In the United Kingdom, the Badge of the League of Mercy comes after the Service Medal of the Order of St John and before the Voluntary Medical Service Medal in the order precedence.[5]

History

In 1898, Sir Everard Hambro chaired a committee established to consider several submitted plans and proposals on devising a badly needed organisation.[6]

On 1 March 1899, the Edward, Prince of Wales chaired a meeting at Marlborough House[6] to establish a fundraising body to support voluntary hospitals and announce subsequent directives.[7] Sixty-five districts were established based on Parliamentary constituency divisions, each with a president (grandee) who coordinated the collection of donations through middle class volunteers.[7] Many notable contemporaries were in attendance at the meeting, including the Duke of Westminster, the Marquess of Lorne, the Marquess of Camden, Earl Carrington, Earl of Clarendon, Earl of Dartmouth, Sir W. Hart Dyke, Sir Whittaker Ellis, Sir Arthur Hayter, Sir Fitzroy D. Maclean, Weetman Pearson and Edmund Boulnois.[6]

The prince stated:[6]

The purpose for which the League of Mercy has been established is to promote the welfare and to further the objects of the Prince of Wales's Hospital Fund for London, and in every way, but especially by encouraging personal service on the part of large numbers of persons to further the interests and to promote the adequate maintenance of hospitals and other institutions for the relief of sickness and suffering, and especially those institutions which are supported by voluntary contributions.

— Edward, Prince of Wales, The Times, 2 March 1899[6]

After being active for nearly half a century, the League ceased its work in 1947 on the creation of the National Health Service,[3] its Royal Charter subsequently surrendered.[4] In 1999, the League of Mercy Foundation, was re-established to recognise and reward volunteers.[2]

Presidents

The presidents of the original League were:

The president of the re-established League is Lord Robert Balchin, Baron Lingfield

Badge of the Order of Mercy
Badge of the Order of the League of Mercy, version awarded 1899-1946. The bow was for ladies' awards

The original badge of the order, awarded from 1899, was a red enamelled silver or silver gilt cross surmounted by the plumes of the Prince of Wales and with a central roundel bearing the crest of the League. The reverse is plain, save for the inscription “League of Mercy 1898” on the central roundel. It was awarded for at least five years distinguished and unpaid personal service to the League in support of charity hospitals, or in the relief of suffering, poverty or distress. A bar for a second award was introduced in 1917.[8] The Order ceased to be awarded after 1946, and the League itself closed in 1947.[3]

From 1999, the Badge was reinstituted to encourage and recognise voluntary work in these areas of care the sick, injured and disabled; young people who are at risk; the homeless; the elderly; the dying; and those who are impaired in mind.[9] In the United Kingdom, the Badge comes after the Service Medal of the Order of St John and before the Voluntary Medical Service Medal in the order precedence.[5]

League of Mercy Foundation

The League of Mercy was re-established as a charity registered in England on 30 March 1999, with Charity Number 1076885, exactly 100 years after the founding of the original League.[2]

The current President of the League is a sitting Lord, Robert Balchin, Baron Lingfield. The League continues its close relations with the British Royal Family. For example, in September 2010 in a ceremony at Armourers' Hall in the City of London, HRH Princess Michael of Kent was invested with the Companion's Badge of the League of Mercy.[2]

References
  1. "The History of the League of Mercy". League of Mercy. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  2. "The League of Mercy Today". League of Mercy Foundation. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  3. John Mussell (ed). Medal Yearbook 2015. p. 302. Published by Token Publishing Ltd. Honiton, Devon.
  4. "No. 62529". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 January 2019. p. 329.
  5. "No. 62529". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 January 2019. p. 327.
  6. "The League of Mercy". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 2 March 1899. p. 12.
  7. Davenport-Hines, Richard (1 March 2016). Edward VII: The Cosmopolitan King (1st ed.). London: Allen Lane. ISBN 9780241014806. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  8. Captain H. Taprell Dorling. Ribbons and Medals. p. 129. Published A.H.Baldwin & Sons, London. 1956.
  9. "The League of Mercy Areas of Care". League of Mercy Foundation. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
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