The Anglo-Finnish Society came into being as one of the consequences of Finland’s time of troubles. From 1899 onwards there was a mobilisation of British opinion on behalf of Finland. Members of the Fabian Society and the Labour Party were especially responsive to Finns who came to London to call attention to the situation in their homeland. The press in general, assiduously cultivated by Finnish activists in Britain, was sympathetic. A Finnish Tourist Association had been founded already in the 1890’s while Finska Ångfartygs Aktiebolaget (FÅA), linked with John Good and Company in Hull, sought to encourage visitors with publications in English in 1894 and 1899. A Finland Bulletin appeared intermittently between 1900 and 1905. Finland, an English Journal devoted to the cause of the Finnish people, appeared in June 1899.
