Welcome to our website
Here you can find information about the George Gorman Memorial Fund, how to apply for a grant, the Memorial Lecture and the current Trustees.
Who was George Gorman?
The Trust was set up as a recognition of the major contribution made by George Gorman during his life of service to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). In the 1940s George served as Clerk of what was then Young Friends Central Committee, now Young Friends General Meeting. He worked out of an office at Woodbrooke College in Birmingham.
George moved on to work for Friends Home Service Committee based at Friends House in London and became its General Secretary in 1952. He stayed working in that role until his retirement in 1981. By then the department had become Quaker Home Service and it has since become Quaker Life.
As General Secretary George led many weekend conferences and undertook speaking engagements presenting Quakerism to enquirers. His short book "Introducing Quakers" went through many editions after first publication in 1969. George’s own 1973 Swarthmore Lecture “The Amazing Fact of Quaker Worship” continues to serve as a classic text about Quakers. George’s writings were the source for seven paragraphs in the current Quaker Faith and Practice of Britain Yearly Meeting.
George Humphrey Gorman was born in 1916, his father was then an Anglican curate and later became Rector of Evenlode near Chipping Campden.. George sought and obtained unconditional exemption in 1940 from serving in the armed forces in the second world war. He became active amongst the Religious Society of Friends in Cheltenham Meeting where he had taken a job in an insurance office. Later George married Lucy and together they had three children Sarah, Mark and Paul.
In periods of financial difficulty George Gorman was instrumental in helping both the (residential) Penn Club in central London and Charney Manor (conference and retreat centre in rural Oxfordshire) to find ways to continue their service. Both facilities continue to serve the Quaker and wider community today.
George Gorman died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage very shortly after his retirement in 1982. George and Lucy were holiday in Sicily; George is buried there in Taormina. The Memorial Fund was set up later that year.
In 2014 a book of reminiscences of George was published called “Dear George”. If you would like a copy, please get in touch with the Trustees through the "Contact Us" form.
George moved on to work for Friends Home Service Committee based at Friends House in London and became its General Secretary in 1952. He stayed working in that role until his retirement in 1981. By then the department had become Quaker Home Service and it has since become Quaker Life.
As General Secretary George led many weekend conferences and undertook speaking engagements presenting Quakerism to enquirers. His short book "Introducing Quakers" went through many editions after first publication in 1969. George’s own 1973 Swarthmore Lecture “The Amazing Fact of Quaker Worship” continues to serve as a classic text about Quakers. George’s writings were the source for seven paragraphs in the current Quaker Faith and Practice of Britain Yearly Meeting.
George Humphrey Gorman was born in 1916, his father was then an Anglican curate and later became Rector of Evenlode near Chipping Campden.. George sought and obtained unconditional exemption in 1940 from serving in the armed forces in the second world war. He became active amongst the Religious Society of Friends in Cheltenham Meeting where he had taken a job in an insurance office. Later George married Lucy and together they had three children Sarah, Mark and Paul.
In periods of financial difficulty George Gorman was instrumental in helping both the (residential) Penn Club in central London and Charney Manor (conference and retreat centre in rural Oxfordshire) to find ways to continue their service. Both facilities continue to serve the Quaker and wider community today.
George Gorman died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage very shortly after his retirement in 1982. George and Lucy were holiday in Sicily; George is buried there in Taormina. The Memorial Fund was set up later that year.
In 2014 a book of reminiscences of George was published called “Dear George”. If you would like a copy, please get in touch with the Trustees through the "Contact Us" form.