Assisting a “Noble Cause”

Abstract

The public raised the bulk of the money for the Empire’s Patriotic Fund. Fundraising involved all sections of the Victorian society and seemed to temporarily transcend class barriers. Most of the money was sent to London although a sum was held back for local needs. Despite repeated requests, it was not until May 1901 that the fund was incorporated into the imperial system when it became an arm of Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund . By then, the fund had developed its own system for handling applications for assistance lodged in Victoria for the dependants of men fighting in South Africa and the men discharged as medically unfit for service.