ORA Historical Note 1.

    The origin of the Oxfordshire Rifle Association can be traced to the following important invitation placed in a letter to the Oxford Times newspaper on the 23rd March 1907.by Colonel Sir Robert Hermon-Hodge inviting local Oxfordshire Miniature Rifle Club representatives to meet to set up a County-wide organisation for the specific purpose of entering a County team in the Queen's Cup Competition  The letter produced many column inches of correspondence in the press over the next few weeks all very supportive. Finally, an inaugural meeting was held in County Hall on Saturday April 18th. Some of the reports leading up to the meeting will be reproduced in future ORA Historical Notes

From the Oxford Times 23rd March 1907:-

MINIATURE RIFLE CLUBS- THE QUEEN'S  CUP.

 To the Editor of THE OXFORD TIMES.

Sir,

Having been elected chairman of the special committee appointed by the Oxfordshire County Council for the encouragement of miniature rifle shooting within the county, I shall be ve ry grateful if every hon. secretary of a miniature rifle club in Oxfordshire will send me the name of a gentleman who will be willing to represent his club at a meeting to be held shortly in Oxford to confer with the special committee, and subsequently with the Lord Lieutenant, as to the best means of forming a miniature rifle club association for the county, under which inter-club competitions within the county can be organized, in order to raise a county team to enter for the Queen’s Cup. No one can compete unless he belongs to a club which is affiliated to the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs. The secretary of this body is Mr. H. Marks, of 20, Bucklersbury, Queen Victoria Street, London.

I am, your obedient servant,

ROBERT HERMON-HODGE.

Wyfold Grange, Near Reading.

(23rd) March 1907.

     It is interesting to note that the interim committee was appointed by the Oxfordshire County Council. Hardly likely to happen in the present climate!

 

Initial Press response

      The following article appeared in the Oxford Times at the same time as the above letter. That so much effort should have gone into the investigation of shooting in the county is a testament to the enthusiasm of the reporter  and gives a very clear idea of the importance attached to 'miniature rifle' shooting as a normal part of life in the county. There are many very interesting points that I would have personally highlighted but I realised very quickly that almost the whole article would have taken on a fluorescent yellow so I leave the sheer pleasure gained from reading the article for you. (Finally, at this early stage I should say the article is very long, about 40 column inches, so I will have to complete it in stages. For the anoraks among you, I did try to scan with OCR but the cutting is too faded and the text threw up so many errors I thought I would just slowly type it out)

 

Miniature Rifle Clubs

Progress in this district

    According to a letter appearing in our correspondence Columns this week from Sir Robert Hermon- Hodge, Bart., an attempt is to be made in the near future to establish a County Association of Miniature Rifle Clubs in Oxfordshire. Sir Robert is the chairman of a special committee appointed by the Oxfordshire County Council for the encouragement of rifle shooting, and his appointment is indeed a timely one. The central organisation of the miniature rifle clubs in this country is the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs, whose President is Lord Roberts and Secretary Mr. H. marks, of 20, Bucklersbury, Queen Victoria Street, London , and members of this society have for some time past advocated county organisation. Towards this end Major Morrison–Bell (Scots Guards) has been employed and several counties have adopted the scheme. A great fillip has been recently given to the movement by the gracious offer H. M. the Queen to present a handsome challenge trophy for annual competition between county teams. Teams of ten men will be selected from affiliated clubs in each county, and the shooting will take place on a 25 yard range with weapons of .22 bore. Each county will be entrusted of course with the election of its own team, and this duty will fall to the county association such as is now proposed for Oxfordshire. It will however, be essential that every club that joins the association will also become affiliated to the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs. This affiliation is secured by an annual fee of 5s, upwards according to membership and gives the members exemption from a gun licence, enabling them to carry weapons to and from the range.  Two medals are annually presented to the affiliated clubs for competition  among their members, and a copy of ‘the Rifleman’, the organ of the society is forwarded monthly. We understand, however, that representatives of all clubs, whether affiliated or not will be welcome at the meeting which Sir Robert Hermon-Hodge is about to call. In view if the interest that the scheme of county organisation naturally arouses, we give below , as a result of extensive inquiries, brief accounts of the rifle clubs already in existence in Oxfordshire and in townships and villages on the borders of the county. The clubs referred to are in the main institutions of a public nature controlled by committees. There are, however, particularly in the Banbury district a number of  airgun clubs associated with the management of inns and private establishments. These are doing excellent work and must be reckoned with in the matter of a county organisation, but being of a private nature we are at present unable to give detailed particulars. I case we have inadvertently overlooked any clubs in the district, we shall be pleased to publish any details that may be forward from an authoritative person.

    Miniature rifle shooting has many devotees in Oxford, but apart from that indulged by members of the auxiliary forces, the proportion of would-be marksmen to that of the population is very small.  Miniature ranges exist at the Swan Brewery, the Town Hall basement and the Volunteer Drill Hall, St. Cross Road, being used for practice purposes by the Yeomanry, the University and City Volunteers respectively. These vary from 15 to 25 yards in extent and are adapted for the Service Rifle and Morris Tube.(To be continued)

In the meantime here is a short history of the origin of the Oxfordshire Rifle Association in the form we know it today