The History of Rotary

Information on the history of Rotary

Rotary started with the vision of one man — Paul Harris (pictured on the left of this photograph).

Paul was working in Chicago as an Attorney and he missed the spirit of small-town friendliness & camaraderie with his fellow business men. Harris persuaded other local businessmen to meet and discuss forming a club for commercial trade, community, and fellowship, what we may know today as 'business networking'.

Harris and three friends (Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, Hiram E. Shorey) met on the 23rd February 1905 in a small office in downtown Chicago and together they founded the world’s first service club. They had the idea that they should do something to benefit the Community and in 1907 they initiated the first Rotary service, when they decided to fun a public convenience (for males) in Chicago in August 1910.

Rotary came to Europe in 1912, when on the 1st August the Rotary Club of London chartered. 1920 saw Rotary come to the South West Peninsula, when the Rotary Club of Plymouth was chartered ,in the December of that year.

The Rotary Club of Plympton (our club), chartered in February of 1954 and we are proud to say that we are as active as we have ever been.

Come and join us - you will have a very warm welcome!

'What We Do' Main Pages:

The History of Rotary

Information on the history of Rotary

Recent Community activity in Plympton

The Rotary Club of Plympton are proud to be celebrating seventy years of service to the community of Plympton

It is now possible to donate to our Club Charity Account via PayPal by clicking on the Donate button below

FAQ's

What we have tried to do in response to these uncertain times.

Click on this article for more info

Are you interested in joining Rotary or just finding out more about us? Here you can find details on how you can join the Rotary Club of Plympton - or Rotary in general.

This page has been created for all of those who are not actually members of our club but who participate in (or wish to participate in)club activities and/or events. We aim to use this page to keep you up to date on club activities.

The tabs on the right will take you to the various news stories for our club. You can also find out more about what is going on by visiting our Facebook page or clicking under the various sections in the "What We Do" section above.

Please find below some of the more frequently asked questions.

Details on our clubs efforts towards Rotary's End Polio campaign can be found on these pages.

Details of some of our events raising funds for the community or just providing some form of service.

The History of Rotary

Information on the history of Rotary

The History of Rotary

The Environment - Rotary's New Area of Focus

Looking back - Rotary Community

Seventy years in the community of Plympton

Donate to Rotary Club of Plympton Charity Fund

FAQ's

Covid 19 Response

Plympton Rotary always welcome new members

Join Us

Friends of Rotary

News Stories

FAQ's

End Polio Now

Community Service Projects

Youth Service

International / Foundation

Club Social Events