Rugby School’s Tawney Society welcomes back Rugbeian Peter Cadbury (SF 57-61) for first meeting of the year.

RH Tawney (W 1894-99) became a renowned and reputable Christian socialist in the first half of the twentieth century. He inspired a generation to fight against what he termed "religion of inequality."

Peter Cadbury (SF 57-61) approached Head Master Walter Hamilton in 1960, stating that he would like to found a society at Rugby School to hold political debates, inviting in particular visiting speakers who would challenge the established views of Rugbeians. Hamilton was so moved that he instantly presented Cadbury with the significant sum of £5, and the Tawney Society was born, its first speaker being Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament protester, Pat Arrowsmith. So controversial was this choice that Cadbury's Housemaster refused to accommodate her overnight. 

We were privileged last night to welcome Peter Cadbury back to Rugby to address the first meeting of the new academic year, and a packed Debating Chamber was transfixed by the charismatic and authentic irreverence of his rhetoric, in the true founding spirit of the Tawney Society.