Overseas Education League : A successful tour of the Manitoba teachers to Great Britain in 1910 (described in the book "Britishers in Britain" by F. J. Ney ) marked the beginning of the Overseas Education League. Ney organized a more extensive programme in 1912, taking a large group of teachers to the Holy Land and the Mediterranean countries. The tours became known as the "Hands Across the Seas" movement. Ney also organized exchanges of teachers from Brandon, Manitoba to New Zealand in 1913, followed by exchanges to Britain in 1914. Tours resumed following the First World War with what was now called the Overseas Education League, with F. J. Ney serving as its vice-president. From 1921 to 1939, annual tours were arranged for teachers from every Canadian province. In addition to its tours, the League was also responsible for running the "Interchange of Teachers"--a programme which ran from 1922 to 1947 when it was taken over by the Canadian Education Association.
University students and graduates joined the League's organization in 1924 and in each successive year hundreds of students enrolled for tours specially planned and organized by the League for their needs. From late July to mid-September 1925, the League sponsored the first official visit of British Educationalists to Canada. In 1937, the Overseas Education League made it possible for 250 Canadian secondary school students to join the 8,000 youth assembled for special youth programmes associated with the Coronation of King George VI. The following year, the League sponsored a Canadian school vacation for a group of 50 secondary school girls from Britain. In 1939, a larger group arrived on tour but many were unable to return to Britain because of the outbreak of the Second World War and remained in Canada for its duration.
F. J. Ney planned the tour programmes of the Overseas Education League in co-operation with Departments of Education in Canada and Great Britain while Miss Lilian Watson, who served as the League's secretary, acted as travel director. From 1924 to 1939 the Overseas Education League also functioned as the transportation agent for many notable lecturers brought to Canada by the National Council of Education. The Overseas Education League continued to offer tours until the 1960s.
Throughout its existence the League collaborated closely with the National Council of Education. The two organizations jointly maintained offices in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and London (England) together with a joint secretary in France. The Overseas Education League shared its office staff with the National Council of Education and many of the responsibilities for the activities of both the League and Council overlapped.
