This page is in the course of preparation during the summer of 2026. Members have been invited to suggest why the Society appeals to them and to identify the aspects of debating they regard as valuable.
Dates in square brackets after a member’s name denote the year they joined.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Reflections in the Centenary History of the Society
Meanwhile these thoughts by three members are taken from the final chapter entitled ‘Reflections’ in the Kingston Debating Society centenary history published in 1986.
Here we may gain greater enlightenment
by Francis Geldart [1899], 1920
[He discusses how debating enables us to understand one another better by regularly entering into debate] This not once, or twice, but repeatedly; not on one favourite topic guardedly stereotyped and politely referred to, but pursuing a succession of propositions, varied and dissimilar, not with dogmatic assertion . . . but in the face of skilful criticism; not with those of a like type only, but by questioning and answering all or any sort of minds.
Here we may hope, beside learning more of our own strength and weakness, to know much more of those we so often elbow with ignorant thoughtlessness as we pass through life. Here we may . . . gain greater enlightenment, some measure of modesty, respect for others, in a word an approximation to a knowledge of real value, which schools, society, business, and all the reticence and self-conceit arsing therefrom will fail to give . . .
Long may it [the Kingston Debating Society] continue to flourish and increase the debt which many owe.
Unrehearsed, uninhibited and unrecorded
by Richard Worthington [1976], 1986
The pursuit of truth is increasingly important in these days of Watergate, Chernobyl and Westland. Probably at no other time in history have individuals been so subjected to pressures, propaganda and sales pitches. To retain a sense of proportion, perspective and balanced judgement it is invaluable to hear the independent opinions of companions whose only objective, apart from scoring debating points and votes, is to inform, instruct and even to entertain their colleagues. Colleagues who, like themselves, have an appetite for hearing all three sides of an argument.
News coverage in newspapers, on television and radio is frequently curtailed or interrupted, with little or no chance of participation or development of interesting aspects. The two hours of speeches devoted to a single subject in our debating chamber provides the opportunity for full airing of a subject and often for quite unsuspected aspects of a subject to emerge.
The intellectual exercise of marshalling arguments, drawing them to a conclusion and the decision-making involved in voting is vital for free thinkers, and today’s society is in need of all the free thinkers it can muster.
The entertainment attraction of the Society is not, of course, merely that of learning something new, but of observing the gladiatorial skills of the principal speakers, particularly when one of them succeeds in retrieving an apparently lost cause. There is often the surprise of the voting. The whole proceedings are ‘live’; unrehearsed, uninhibited and unrecorded.
A forum that is welcoming
by Margaret Bird [1972], 1986
A disciplined, formal approach to debating is exceedingly important for safe-guarding free speech. The moment heckling or serious interruption is permitted that vital attribute is lost. Happily the standards of courtesy and restraint in the KDS are extremely high. Also the fact that each floor speaker can speak only once and for a limited period is important; no single participant can hijack the evening and dominate the House. If the Society is to survive towards 2036 and — dare we hope? — towards 2086 it should surely resist any temptation to develop into a seminar or discussion group . . .
The Society plays a useful role in encouraging the skills of public speaking. In almost all walks of life, despite the modern developments in the field of computers and communications, there is still a need for individuals to be able to stand up and speak clearly and coherently . . . The KDS offers an ideal means of perfecting these skills. It is a forum that is welcoming and not hostile towards inexperienced speakers. If the new speaker does not want to say much at first it does not matter in the least. Many very effective floor speeches have been only three or four sentences long . . .
For me over the past fourteen years the most rewarding feature of the KDS has been the opportunity it affords for a systematic and concentrated consideration of a single subject without any interruption. No meal is served, no hot drink brewed, no errand run in the car, no telephone rings and no secondary conversation develops.
[source: M. Bird and R.G. Worthington, The Kingston Debating Society: The first hundred years 1886–1986 (1986), pp. 366–9. Richard Worthington died in 2010 aged 83, debating to the last; Margaret Bird is still a member in 2026.]