Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Friendly Societies and Fraternal Orders
The friendly societies existing at the close of the eighteenth century appear to have been very similar in the nature of their operations to those of the present day. It is difficult to estimate, with any degree of certainty, the number of societies or their aggregate membership, but there is good reason for believing that they were at least as numerous in proportion to population as at the present day. Sir P. Colquhoun. In 1796, estimated the number of societies in London at 600, with a membership of while Sir F. M. Eden, five years later, considered that the whole kingdom might number societies, with a membership of over The amount of the sick pay allowed seems somewhat larger in proportion to wages than now. 68 8s and 10s. A week being common sums; while the modern system, now all but universal, of reducing the sickness allowance in cases of prolonged illness, appears to have been at this date rare, although, in some cases, the allowance ceased after a specified period of 13, 20, or 26 weeks of illness. And in others provision was made for the superannuation of members at a reduced rate of pay.
It was very usual for societies at this period to limit their membership - 101, 81, and in some cases 51 or 41 members, was made the limit of a society; though what superstition lay in the use of these numbers it is impossible to say.
The rules of the societies, as in earlier times, almost always exercised a paternal care over the morals and even the opinions of the members.
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