The Role of the Friendly Societies.

Friendly societies started in 17th and 18th century Europe and England and became most numerous in the 19th century. Their roots can be traced back to the burial societies of Greek and Roman artisans and the guilds of medieval Europe. By assessing the magnitude of the risk against which they guarded and to determine how much members should contribute to meet that risk, Friendly Societies used what is now the basic principle of insurance.

Typically they offered up to 10 shillings (50 pence) per week sickness benefit, and the services of a doctor, for a contribution of between 4 d (1.6 pence) and 8d (3.2 pence) per week. They differed from commercial insurance companies not only because they were not for profit, but also because they held convivial local meetings which were designed to inculcate comradeship and a sense of obligation amongst members.

The Friendly Societies were the largest working class organisations in Britain by 1900. Whereas the trade unions had 1.3 million members by this time, 6 million people were members of a Friendly Society. However, the system of provisions supplied by the Friendly Societies was flawed in that it was not universal nor compulsory, so many of the poor did not have a safety net beneath them.

The Ancient Order of Foresters was established in 1834, although its origins lie in a much older society called the Royal Foresters, formed in the 18th century. Meeting in Leeds, this seems at first to have been a purely sociable society until the members decided that they had a duty to assist their fellow men, who fell into need “as they walked through the forests of life”. This ‘need’ arose principally when a breadwinner fell ill, could not work and, therefore, received no wages. Illness and death left families financially distressed and often destitute.

Relief of this need has been the main purpose of the Foresters throughout their long history. It was achieved by members paying, initially, a few pence a week into a common fund from which sick pay and funeral grants could be drawn.

In 1813, the Royal Foresters began to establish subsidiary Courts (branches) and the concept of an affiliated Order of Friendly Society was born, as opposed to the many individual local societies that had long existed, which, being small, often failed financially. Expansion across the industrial towns and villages of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire was rapid, but in 1834 the parent Court in Leeds became dictatorial and insisted that any changes in the rules governing all the Courts of the Royal Foresters should be in their hands alone. The majority of Courts seceded to form the Ancient Order of Foresters, on the basis of democracy from grass-roots upwards.

The Order's structure consisted of Courts, which were responsible for their own funds and for the relief of their own members, all decisions being made by democratic vote. The majority of Courts linked themselves into Districts for mutual support. Every Court was entitled to elect a delegate to attend the annual High Court, whose purpose was to make any necessary changes to the common rules and to elect each year a group of members to act as an Executive Council. The ultimate authority was High Court.

This successful example of democracy in action took place against a background of relatively unsuccessful agitation for parliamentary democracy, spearheaded by the Chartist movement for universal (male) suffrage, a movement stamped out in 1848.

Expansion continued after 1834, including certain cities further south, such as Bristol, Southampton and extensively in London. A relative lull occurred until 1856, when another large wave of expansion took place. This continued up to the late 1880s, opening up new territory, which stretched across from Cornwall in the west to East Anglia and Kent. The reasons for this are still being explored.

Meanwhile, migration to the United States and into the then colonies of the British Empire had taken Forestry overseas to the US, Canada, the West Indies, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The administration of these Courts eventually became independent of the parent body in the UK. In Britain, the formation of ordinary Courts slowed after 1890, but the admission of women in 1892 produced a wave of Courts for females only, permitted at first to meet only in non-licensed premises. Catering for mostly young, single women, these Courts enjoyed only a modicum of success, membership falling away on marriage. In addition, by 1899, women were allowed to join the previously all male Courts, leading to many amalgamations of Female Courts with their sponsoring male equivalents.

Further expansion occurred in 1912. In that year Lloyd George’s National Insurance scheme came into operation, compulsory for those earning less than the income tax threshold, which meant the majority of the working population. Friendly Societies with more than 10,000 members, which of course included the Foresters, were organisations approved to administer the scheme for the government, along with commercial companies. At that point, many small local societies joined the Foresters to be able to take part in the scheme.

By the end of the 19th century, competition from other societies had grown. In particular, societies established by employers, who made membership of their scheme a condition of employment. As a result membership of Friendly Societies declined, a situation exacerbated by the years of economic depression between the wars.

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Updated:	Thu 6 Sep 2007 - 13
Interpretation written by	Louis Howe
Author's organisation	Curatorial
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