History of the development of the Lampeter Society

1856 - Principal Llewelyn Lewellin, the first Principal of St David’s College, Lampeter, was presented with a testimonial; a full-length portrait by Mr Pickersgill R.A. (which today hangs in the Old Hall.) One of the “senior alumni”, The Revd F E Tumour, acted as ‘chairman, representative and spokesman for the numerous company’ who had subscribed to the commemorative gift, many of whom returned to Lampeter to witness the presentation. Generous donations had been received from alumni who had settled in places as far afield as Jamaica and Australia, and Lewellin himself was clearly pleased to know that his pupils, who were ‘scattered over the four quarters of the globe […], had not yet forgotten the old man.’

1865 - The founding of the College was traditionally commemorated each year on St David’s Day; a celebration ‘to which no old member required an invitation’ – and over the years it became a de facto annual reunion. At the event in March this year, staff, students and alumni gathered as usual in the Old Hall. One notable alumnus was The Reverend Mr Griffiths of Llandeilo who had enrolled with the first cohort of students thirty-eight years previously. Vice-Principal Perowne raised the customary toast to the ‘health of the Old Students of the College who, since they left us, have by their zeal and ability in their several spheres, upheld the honour and reputation of the College’.

1876 - On St David’s Day this year, Vice-Principal Davey proposed ‘with great pleasure’ a toast to ‘the health of the Old Members of the College, because the College could not go on without their sympathy, help, and counsel’. The Reverend E Jones was called upon to respond on behalf of the alumni and he expressed their collective pleasure at returning to the place where they ‘had spent the happiest portion of their lives’.

1889 - The annual Church Congress met in Cardiff. It was described as ‘not only a Welsh, but almost a College event, so many Lampeter men, past and present being there’ (In the latter part of the nineteenth century, at least 400 Lampeter men were actively working in holy orders, around 300 of whom were in Wales). The occasion provided an opportunity  to arrange a fringe meeting of exclusively Lampeter men, which was to be ‘the first time that the children of St David’s College, Lampeter, had assembled in any great numbers outside their College walls’. And so the tradition of local Lampeter Society branches began.

1901 - A lunch was held at the Angel Hotel in Cardiff organised and attended by former Lampeter students working in the Diocese of Llandaff. The committee established at Cardiff wanted to ‘arouse a greater practical sympathy in Wales for the well-being of the College and the development of its usefulness’ and a hope was expressed that it would ‘create a stronger bond of union between the graduates of the College’. The meal was a resounding success, presided over by Principal Bebb and attended by around 100 Old Lampeterians. The Evening Express declared that it ‘ought beyond all doubt lead to its permanence as an institution’ and Bebb, buoyed by the enthusiastic reception to the event, set out a scheme to establish an official association of old Lampeter men.

1902 – Almost 250 members had by now joined Principal Bebb’s Association of Old Students. Small reunions in locations throughout Wales, and increasingly in England, became an established feature of the College calendar.  While Bebb had always hoped to raise much-needed funds through the alumni, he also valued and sought their advice and support in other ways.

1911 - Martin Ridgeway, George Vaughan and A J Davies had formed the nucleus of a group based in the North West of England which was to become “The Old Lampeterians”.

1915 – ‘The Lampeter Society of Old Students’ was formed at the Holborn Restaurant in London. However, the intensification of War in Europe, plus the untimely death of Bebb at the age of 53 in November of this year, nearly put a halt to proceedings. On St David’s Day this year, Ridgeway and Vaughan met with Arthur Shields and Charlie Reed for lunch in Manchester. There they resolved to make their informal gathering an annual event which would ‘keep alive their fellowship and their affection for their Alma Mater’.

1917 - A dozen men attended the first regular meeting of the Society in Manchester, where they raised a toast to Coleg Dewi Sant.

1925 – The Society began to re-establish itself under the new title of the ‘Lampeter College Union.’ A reunion was organised for degree day on the following year and the Union organised a Centenary Fund, the proceeds of which were handed to the College to help fund the Centenary Celebrations of 1927.

1936 - The Manchester based group, which by now had about 100 members, held a conference in Lampeter in June 1936 which led directly to the formation of the Lampeter Society. By November of this year, a constitution had been drawn up by the three Lampeter graduates then on the College staff, Professor Morris, The Reverend W H Harris and the Reverend F J T David.

1937 – The Lampeter Society was officially founded. The Constitution was adopted at a meeting in Chester in February this year with The Reverend FJT David becoming Secretary.

1938 – With 620 members now part of the Society, the first AGM and official reunion of the Lampeter Society took place in June this year. The tradition of the annual reunion had began!

1938 – The Lampeter Society’s newsletter started, known as the Bulletin until 1980 and subsequently becoming The Link – still going strong at issue No. LXXXIII.

This summary is taken from Sarah Roberts’ article ‘History of the Lampeter Society’ which was featured in the Summer 2022 edition of The Link. Sarah was formerly archivist at UWTSD, Lampeter Campus, and is now archivist at Ironbridge Gorge Museum.

More details can be found in ‘A History of the Lampeter Society’ by Ruth Russell-Jones (2004), published by the Lampeter Society in 2007 and the two-volumed ‘A History of Saint David’s University College Lampeter’ (University of Wales Press: Cardiff, 1977 & 1990) by The Reverend Dr William Price.