See below
The Nomadic Worker
The Nomadic Worker
FRATERNAL SOCIETIES are societies which have utilised the principle of fraternalism in their structure and in their activities.
The popular call signs of fraternalism - solidarity, co-operation, mateship, mutuality, brotherhood - came together first in mediaeval times, and remain signifiers of fraternalism's elements despite our now living in an individualistic, material world.
The essentials of fraternalism are:
* a gathering point, often designated 'a lodge', usually indoor and usually secured against the uninitiated;
* a ceremony investing initiates with membership;
* an oath of acceptance sworn by the incoming member;
* a structure of internal advancement, each level marked by further ceremony, or by a coded token, and each marked by
* increased levels of discipline and of responsibility related to the internal workings of the organisation and to the organisation's wider 'message' which
* necessarily binds each member to the whole, as both contributor and recipient,
* that whole represented physically, financially, symbolically and/or socially, in positive, 'family' terms for the individual, the group and the group's community.
The existence of a system of benefit payments is not a pre-condition for 'fraternalism'. The contributions by members into a 'common purse' and payments back to them in situations of sickness, death, unemployment, loss of tools, etc, were consequent upon the fraternal 'essentials' which were in place because of religious, communal and self-defence reasons. The benefit systems continue to the present day in 'friendly societies' and some 'trade unions', while Freemasons have had variations on the benefits theme at different times.
Secrecy was a key concept shaping the 'essentials'. Its nature and function must be studied by any outside observer hoping to understand fraternalism.
The function of secrecy has altered over time. Initially it was the means by which insiders guarded knowledge which was the basis of their craft skills and the means by which they secured employment and assistance when not employed. Built into the whole gamut of fraternal processes, what I call 'protective' secrecy made signs, symbols, passwords, grips and coded regalia practical necessities.
Secrecy and its manifestations were not necessarily indicative of anti-authority or anti-social practices or beliefs.
In times of social conflict, secret practices did set up a barrier to penetration by authorities into the fraternal world, and thus marked a line of demarcation between autonomy and self-rule, and dependence on those authorities for legitimation. As industrialisation increased the State's urge to know and thus control, that marker became hotly contested. In the 18th and 19th centuries secrecy was, for some people, proof sufficient that fraternal societies were evil, corrupt, seditious and mere manipulators of the weak and gullible. 'Modern', democratic society did not require, indeed abhorred secrecy. An 'exposer' of Odd Fellowship in Boston wrote in 1846:
I should rejoice if my friends who are in the institution, if all its members, would
abandon it forever. I should rejoice to see them discard its folly, eschew its secrecy,
turn their backs on its bonds and its grips, and stand out 'unchained' in open day, and
on a level with their fellow-citizens, looking to God, to justice, and to law, for
protection.1
When it proved impossible to hold the line, 'secret societies' not only lost their independence but also the capacity to define certain fraternal terms. Further, 'modern' transparency insisted that if a semblance of 'lodge' secrecy was to be maintained, its existence would only signify 'insider knowledge' which the State no longer considered significant. Public acknowledgement of membership, itself, has been perhaps the site of the last battle between privacy and public information.
It is perhaps merely ironic that 'protective secrecy' has made a comeback in late capitalist times, under such heads as 'Cabinet solidarity', 'commercial in-confidence' 'Security Notices' and Press embargoes.
The hierarchy of fraternal positions within a 'lodge', from the newly-initiated member to the 'Grand Master' personifies the structure we elsewhere label 'democracy' and in which context we applaud a candidate who, on merit, makes it from the bottom rung to the top, the so-called 'log cabin to White House' phenomenon. It is precisely this capacity for advancement that the fraternal essentials were put in place to achieve. In earlier times, a person's gradually deepening moral understanding and his or her acceptance of more and more responsibility at each 'rung of the ladder' measured their level of 'enlightenment'. The various signs, lessons and status markers such as regalia had, in theory, to be earned by patient and diligent study of the fraternal message, and when achieved were indicators to the member and to his or her peers of progress.
Surviving memorabilia of 19th and 20th century fraternal societies may:
* show evidence of all the elements listed, or may
* show residual evidence only.
And as already indicated, the fraternal heritage 'map' is incomplete, from a lack of the necessary memorabilia in some cases, in others a lack of the relevant research.
Sufficient contextual implications may exist for a hypothesis to be mounted. This is the situation, at present, with the St John's Ambulance Society, for example.
Note that although use of the word 'brotherhood' in a society's title or stated 'Objects' can be a useful indicator, the definition of 'fraternalism' does not and is not intended to exclude females. 'Fraternalism' is a term pin-pointing an approach rather than the gender of the members. This is borne out by the presence of many female 'fraternities', of female-exclusive 'lodges' and of many female fraternal members. The story of fraternalism, nevertheless, highlights a number of gender-based psycho-social struggles. See 'Any Questions?' for more.
Initiated tradesmen, in the UK, tramped to find work and were assisted on the road from 'lodge' to 'lodge' if they could prove they were 'good on the books' when challenged.
Continental European tradesmen
were obliged to seek work away from their home district when they had completed their craft instruction. In France they were called 'Les Compagnonnage'.
Continental European tradesmen
were obliged to seek work away from their home district when they had completed their craft instruction. In France they were called 'Les Compagnonnage'.
The Nomadic Worker, so important to the settling of Australia's inland and to our industrial history, is just one of the under-acknowledged elements of fraternalism's heritage.
The UK's 1834 'New Poor Law' rendered any British 'traveller' a target for suspicion, and forced all battlers to fend more for themselves. While attacks on worker 'combinations', whether labelled 'trade union' or not, continued for decades in the northern hemisphere, and found voice in southern reaches, the 19th century saw the greatest wave of fraternal societies the world has ever seen surge into all habitable corners. Britain was not the only source of the fraternal essentials, and with Europeans spreading around the world in greater numbers and at a faster and faster rate, the records of numerous societies, some trade- oriented, some not, show a continued use of fraternal regalia, officials and meeting procedures well into the 20th century.
Fraternal 'evils' complained of went beyond secrecy and wage - demands to encompass conviviality and anti-patriotic nationalisms, and even the gloves, banners and emblems used in parades were, for some Wesleyans and other Protestants, tokens of devil-worship.
For Freemasons, rich or poor, and for artisans in trade-based or non-trade-based benefit societies alike, the 19th century choice was between independence, which could bring government harassment, and a projected 'respectability'. Choosing to register and thus become subject to the formalities of the managerial system meant bowing to government demands about the kinds of activities which could be pursued, the levels and kinds of benefits, how funds could be invested, how records were to be kept, etc, etc. As the regulatory system developed, any society not registered and not conforming to demands, would eventually be told they no longer existed in any legal or statutory sense.
Choosing independence was thus not a real option for most, despite the often projected image ('myth') of the self-reliant 'British' working man. Most societies eventually perceived advantages in the new approach, over time moving to centralise administrations in their Grand Lodges, or in the case of 'trade unions' the peak body of the ACTU, and State Trades Hall Councils. Between the peak body and the local 'lodge' a system of district representation evolved, often with its own rites and regalia, lectures, passwords and the like.
The managerial approach, of course, gave 'head office' a proxy State power to insist on conformity of practices within an association. Where Lodge Rules were once prepared locally, now they were written at a 'Head Office' in the capital city or even further afield, eg in Britain or the United States (of America).
In general, a concentration since 1834 on actuarial tables has loosened contact with precisely those features which Government feared the most and which were the reasons for the benefit structures in the first place. The 'modern' approach has meant that 'lodge' practices have been thought of as only to do with finances, and with increased use of expensive technology, even collection of contributions and payment of benefits has been taken out of the hands of local officials.
This has meant self-respect has drained out of the lodge structure along with knowledge of fraternal history, and the reasons for having once done things differently have become vague memories.
Yet while the workings of 'safe' fraternal associations have reflected a diminishing Biblical influence, the speed and strength of that diminution has been repeatedly over-stated by observers.
It has to be kept in mind that other sources of fraternal energy, such as the United States and Continental Europe, did not have the anti-'secret society' hostility that London-based authorities had. Britain's colonies in general provided fresh fields where old batteries could be recharged and old battles refought. Nor was the drive to replace Biblical injunctions with secular materialism the same everywhere.
In particular, the replacement of Catholicism with Protestantism as the dominant religion of the British Isles has played itself out in NSW's fraternal associations in two major ways:
* The actual day-to-day life of fraternals, and not just the obvious Catholic and Protestant ones, has included continuing struggle between these religions, and
* the form and content of the material embodiments of fraternalism, the heritage artefacts, illustrate aspects of the struggle and are themselves part of the struggle.
For some fraternal members, the Reformation/Counter Reformation dynamic remains in play, today. Others have preferred a blander form of Christianity and concentrated on non-sectarian aspects of 'lodge', eg, sporting and social activities, or on rituals which emphasised a broad fraternalism rather than the identity of a specific 'Order.'
SFreemasons would say that their philosophy has always been non-sectarian and non-political. The historical actuality denies this claim, as it denies that the practice of Speculative Freemasonry was never a political issue.4
Certain societies, generally in the forefront of financial rectitude and corporate governance issues, have, on occasion, let secular emotions such as patriotism, overwhelm claims to strict fiduciary objectivity. As one example, where Rules previously had stated an opposite policy, at the outbreak of the 1st World War some Orders paid the contributions of members serving overseas thus crippling their 'bottom line' for years thereafter.
The reverse case is that returning service personnel had insurance already in place and brought uninitiated friends into an Order when picking up their membership connection. Thus, fraternal numbers, of some of the larger or federated Orders, the 'Affiliated Friendly Societies' (AFS) in particular, shot up after each of the World Wars.
REFERENCES
1 E Willis, Renunciation of Odd Fellowship and an Expose of the Signs, Tokens, Pass-Words, and Grips, Belonging to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, (etc F Boston, Damrell, 1846, p.13.)
2 GUOOF Magazine (NSW), June, 1886
3 Leeson, pp .118-121
4 ASIO, Australia's Commonwealth spy agency opened a file in 1953- 'Freemasonry -Communist Penetration' (A612ZXR1, Item 401 - National Archives, Canberra.)
Terms in need of some explanation include:
lodge - originally the building on a mediaeval work site in which stonemasons and other artisans kept their tools and belongings;
black balled - a term used to describe someone denied entry to a fraternal society by a member's use of the black ball in casting his/her vote, rather than the white ball;
charter or dispensation - the certificate issued by the controlling body of a fraternal association legitimating the activities of the 'lodge'. Originally, the 'Charter' was provided only by 'Grand Lodge' or 'Head Office' and a 'Dispensation' was an interim measure issued by a provincial or 'sub' lodge. When a 'lodge' was 'working' the Charter was displayed. When the lodge was closed, the Charter was covered or put away. Lodges have at times carried their Charter in parades.
house of call - a term used for a fraternal refuge, often a pub or tavern, looked for by unemployed workers 'on the tramp'. The 'House' kept messages of employers looking for the particular line of worker in which that 'House' specialised. Thus, you had 'The Freemasons Arms' or 'The Odd Fellows Arms' or 'The Bricklayers Arms'.
on the box - a colloquialism used about a fraternal member in receipt of serial benefits from 'his' society, such as those for sickness, to cover an accident or for being otherwise unemployed;
speculative vs operative freemason - Freemasonry, it has generally been believed, grew out of operative stonemasonry, the artisans of which trade had their own rites of association and methods of distinguishing apprentices and craftsmen from frauds. Some accounts allow the operatives 3 degrees, some only allow 2 and argue all others now known as 'Speculative' were created after 1717. Because they also operated behind closed doors and had secret signs, passwords and knowledge which initiates swore an oath not to reveal, 18th and early 19th century Freemasonry was suspected of seditious intentions almost as much as 'trade unions' and 'friendly societies.' In very recent times, much of the 'transition theory' of Freemasonry is being re-appraised.
friendly society - was in use in the UK before 1793 but in that year the UK Government used the term to separate 'good' from 'bad' combinations of working people. One particular Act said that being a 'friendly society' was fine, but an organisation wanting to be labelled as such had to register in a particular way and have its Rules and Constitution approved. Choosing not to register or including in the Rules non-approved activities could mean being prosecuted as an illegal 'combination'. Throughout the 19th century, the number of registered societies fell far short of the numbers known to be in existence.
The term 'friendly society' gradually became the label for organisations which would not trouble the government because their activities, at least as their published Rules had it, were purely benefit-oriented, and did not involve 'bad' benefits, ie payments for workers on strike, or for fleeing surveillance because of non-approved activities.
There was much ambiguity in Europe about the terms, something which continued into the colonies. The same 'combination' could be referred to as a 'trade union', a 'friendly society', and a 'club' in the same sentence. In 1861 NSW's Registrar of Friendly Societies reported to the Parliament that:
It appears that the number of Societies established in the Colony does not exceed five,
viz:
1st. The Ancient Order of Foresters, numbering 830 members;
2nd. The Grand United Order of Oddfellows, numbering 989 members;
3rd. The Australian Mutual Benefits Society, numbering 130 members;
4th. The St Patrick's Total Abstinence Society, numbering 64 members; and
5th. The United Shipwrights Society, numbering 34 members.
This is a totally inadequate list of either extant societies or memberships and shows only those 'lodges' that had bothered to register in accordance with an 1853 Act. But it does illustrate one way in which 'Friendly Society' was used by a significant official. The same official's Report presented to Parliament in 1869 listed 149 entities as 'Friendly Society', including the 'Sydney Land and Benefit Building Society', the 'Brisbane Co-operative Society' and the 'Sydney Operative Painters' Society.'
The ambiguity of terms has been a major factor in my searching for, and finally isolating a more useful determinant of ancestry and practice, viz, 'fraternal society'.
Over the period 1750-1915, the term 'trade union' gradually came to mean just those combinations of workers which were trade-oriented. They still operated benefit systems but because protection of their funds meant protection of the working conditions providing those funds, their activities were politically sensitive, where assisting the lame, the blind and the halt whatever their occupation, were not as clearly so. Throughout the 19th and well into the 20th century, stopping work in support of colleagues, wages or working conditions was easily characterised as anti-trade, and any closed meeting as a conspiracy to bring down the government.
Before 1793, Government ministers knew that all fraternals used oaths, passwords, rites and regalia, but were concerned only with information inimical to their interest, ie, anything which might get passed around without their knowledge or anything that persons 'of interest' might be passing from 'lodge' to 'lodge' out of government sight. In other words, what scared officialdom the most were networks outside their ken and impossible to control.
Government officials probably did not know that 'tramping networks' were as much a key part of historical fraternalism, as the oaths, the passwords, rites and regalia. Tramping paths linking the strongest societies the length and breadth of Britain became the basis of the federated structures of all major fraternals, including Freemasonry in the late-19th and early 20th centuries.
During the 19th century, however, governments went from being seriously worried about what we now call federated structures to regarding them more positively. Governments discovered that repressive methods did not work, were counter-productive and cripplingly expensive, and that there was a better way. The 'modern' managerial approach involving registration, statistical survey and legislation allowed governments to record, observe and control much more effectively than the old methods: local magistrates, 'fizz gigs' (informers) and penalties such as hanging, the lash or transportation.
The death-knell of fraternals, especially 'friendly societies' has been sounded numerous times, and is itself an important part of the story. The complete story will note that fraternalism was already ill when it arrived in Australia, if we compare it to the original, and that there was little or no 'folk memory' to make good the deficiencies. On the contrary, the forces at work eroding the original model, were enthusiastically welcomed by most people as progressive, inevitable and necessary.
The overwhelming concentration in official fraternal reporting on finances is evidence for these assertions. In other words, what most authors have taken as the indicators of strength and importance of 19th century 'fraternalism', I'm pointing to as evidence of a cancer already present.
The full story will show that the theory and the practice of fraternalism were in conflict, the various pragmatists and idealists being among the competing voices who produced partisan histories, and were, therefore, substantial drivers of their own loss of focus and thus their decline. This is spelt out in They Call Each Other Brother, 2010.
The fraternal surge, in Australia and, incidentally, in every European-colonised part of the world, has not yet fully died away, but it has been shaped and coloured by the requirements of a 'developing' economy, and consequently the fraternal theory has been undermined and its practice hollowed out to leave only a husk.
The period of innovation and cataclysmic change we now call the 'industrial revolution', from which many historians have dated the emergence of 'trade unions' and 'friendly societies', was actually a time of loss, a time when the glue holding the five functions of fraternal societies together in an integrated whole was dissolving.
Industrialisation increased peoples' need for that peculiar mix of mutual aid and self-help, but made its actualisation more difficult by making an integrated approach to the issues involved less likely.
lodge - originally the building on a mediaeval work site in which stonemasons and other artisans kept their tools and belongings;
black balled - a term used to describe someone denied entry to a fraternal society by a member's use of the black ball in casting his/her vote, rather than the white ball;
charter or dispensation - the certificate issued by the controlling body of a fraternal association legitimating the activities of the 'lodge'. Originally, the 'Charter' was provided only by 'Grand Lodge' or 'Head Office' and a 'Dispensation' was an interim measure issued by a provincial or 'sub' lodge. When a 'lodge' was 'working' the Charter was displayed. When the lodge was closed, the Charter was covered or put away. Lodges have at times carried their Charter in parades.
house of call - a term used for a fraternal refuge, often a pub or tavern, looked for by unemployed workers 'on the tramp'. The 'House' kept messages of employers looking for the particular line of worker in which that 'House' specialised. Thus, you had 'The Freemasons Arms' or 'The Odd Fellows Arms' or 'The Bricklayers Arms'.
on the box - a colloquialism used about a fraternal member in receipt of serial benefits from 'his' society, such as those for sickness, to cover an accident or for being otherwise unemployed;
speculative vs operative freemason - Freemasonry, it has generally been believed, grew out of operative stonemasonry, the artisans of which trade had their own rites of association and methods of distinguishing apprentices and craftsmen from frauds. Some accounts allow the operatives 3 degrees, some only allow 2 and argue all others now known as 'Speculative' were created after 1717. Because they also operated behind closed doors and had secret signs, passwords and knowledge which initiates swore an oath not to reveal, 18th and early 19th century Freemasonry was suspected of seditious intentions almost as much as 'trade unions' and 'friendly societies.' In very recent times, much of the 'transition theory' of Freemasonry is being re-appraised.
friendly society - was in use in the UK before 1793 but in that year the UK Government used the term to separate 'good' from 'bad' combinations of working people. One particular Act said that being a 'friendly society' was fine, but an organisation wanting to be labelled as such had to register in a particular way and have its Rules and Constitution approved. Choosing not to register or including in the Rules non-approved activities could mean being prosecuted as an illegal 'combination'. Throughout the 19th century, the number of registered societies fell far short of the numbers known to be in existence.
The term 'friendly society' gradually became the label for organisations which would not trouble the government because their activities, at least as their published Rules had it, were purely benefit-oriented, and did not involve 'bad' benefits, ie payments for workers on strike, or for fleeing surveillance because of non-approved activities.
There was much ambiguity in Europe about the terms, something which continued into the colonies. The same 'combination' could be referred to as a 'trade union', a 'friendly society', and a 'club' in the same sentence. In 1861 NSW's Registrar of Friendly Societies reported to the Parliament that:
It appears that the number of Societies established in the Colony does not exceed five,
viz:
1st. The Ancient Order of Foresters, numbering 830 members;
2nd. The Grand United Order of Oddfellows, numbering 989 members;
3rd. The Australian Mutual Benefits Society, numbering 130 members;
4th. The St Patrick's Total Abstinence Society, numbering 64 members; and
5th. The United Shipwrights Society, numbering 34 members.
This is a totally inadequate list of either extant societies or memberships and shows only those 'lodges' that had bothered to register in accordance with an 1853 Act. But it does illustrate one way in which 'Friendly Society' was used by a significant official. The same official's Report presented to Parliament in 1869 listed 149 entities as 'Friendly Society', including the 'Sydney Land and Benefit Building Society', the 'Brisbane Co-operative Society' and the 'Sydney Operative Painters' Society.'
The ambiguity of terms has been a major factor in my searching for, and finally isolating a more useful determinant of ancestry and practice, viz, 'fraternal society'.
Over the period 1750-1915, the term 'trade union' gradually came to mean just those combinations of workers which were trade-oriented. They still operated benefit systems but because protection of their funds meant protection of the working conditions providing those funds, their activities were politically sensitive, where assisting the lame, the blind and the halt whatever their occupation, were not as clearly so. Throughout the 19th and well into the 20th century, stopping work in support of colleagues, wages or working conditions was easily characterised as anti-trade, and any closed meeting as a conspiracy to bring down the government.
Before 1793, Government ministers knew that all fraternals used oaths, passwords, rites and regalia, but were concerned only with information inimical to their interest, ie, anything which might get passed around without their knowledge or anything that persons 'of interest' might be passing from 'lodge' to 'lodge' out of government sight. In other words, what scared officialdom the most were networks outside their ken and impossible to control.
Government officials probably did not know that 'tramping networks' were as much a key part of historical fraternalism, as the oaths, the passwords, rites and regalia. Tramping paths linking the strongest societies the length and breadth of Britain became the basis of the federated structures of all major fraternals, including Freemasonry in the late-19th and early 20th centuries.
During the 19th century, however, governments went from being seriously worried about what we now call federated structures to regarding them more positively. Governments discovered that repressive methods did not work, were counter-productive and cripplingly expensive, and that there was a better way. The 'modern' managerial approach involving registration, statistical survey and legislation allowed governments to record, observe and control much more effectively than the old methods: local magistrates, 'fizz gigs' (informers) and penalties such as hanging, the lash or transportation.
The death-knell of fraternals, especially 'friendly societies' has been sounded numerous times, and is itself an important part of the story. The complete story will note that fraternalism was already ill when it arrived in Australia, if we compare it to the original, and that there was little or no 'folk memory' to make good the deficiencies. On the contrary, the forces at work eroding the original model, were enthusiastically welcomed by most people as progressive, inevitable and necessary.
The overwhelming concentration in official fraternal reporting on finances is evidence for these assertions. In other words, what most authors have taken as the indicators of strength and importance of 19th century 'fraternalism', I'm pointing to as evidence of a cancer already present.
The full story will show that the theory and the practice of fraternalism were in conflict, the various pragmatists and idealists being among the competing voices who produced partisan histories, and were, therefore, substantial drivers of their own loss of focus and thus their decline. This is spelt out in They Call Each Other Brother, 2010.
The fraternal surge, in Australia and, incidentally, in every European-colonised part of the world, has not yet fully died away, but it has been shaped and coloured by the requirements of a 'developing' economy, and consequently the fraternal theory has been undermined and its practice hollowed out to leave only a husk.
The period of innovation and cataclysmic change we now call the 'industrial revolution', from which many historians have dated the emergence of 'trade unions' and 'friendly societies', was actually a time of loss, a time when the glue holding the five functions of fraternal societies together in an integrated whole was dissolving.
Industrialisation increased peoples' need for that peculiar mix of mutual aid and self-help, but made its actualisation more difficult by making an integrated approach to the issues involved less likely.
Introduction to the Codes of Fraternalism
1. The codes of fraternalism are not confined to the Freemasons; and
2. Generalisations and unexamined assumptions are of little use to a serious researcher.
In London, protests broke out immediately the verdict was announced. One of the largest demonstrations in support of the transportees assembled at Copenhagen Fields (London) on 21 April, 1834. The Times reported the assembling instructions, provided by the 'Central Committee of the Trades Unions', as follows:
Each 'unionist' was to gather behind the banner showing
'the initials of his trade' as follows:
1.Gold Beaters' [initials given as OGB
2.United Metal Trades UOMT
3.Gold & Silversmiths & Jewellers OGSJ
4.Wood Sawyers OW
5.Tailors UOT
6. Garment Dyers, Calico Glazers and
Calenderers ODGC
7.Rope-makers ORM
8.Tin-plate Workers OTPW
9.Wood-turners OWT
10.Scale-makers OSM
11.Saddlers OSHC
12.Cabinet and Chairmakers OCCM
13.Cordwainers OC
14.Horsehair Cutters OHHC
15.Silk Skein Dyers OSSD
16.Silk Weavers UOW
17.Builders FSOB
18.Smiths OS
19.Silk Hatters OSH
These initials obviously stand for 'United Order of...', 'Friendly Society of...', or 'Order of...'. The abbreviations can stand in for the full name of the society, for the executive positions within a society, or for federations of societies, such as today's 'ACTU'[Australian C of Trade Unions'], 'UGL'[United Grand Lodge] or'AFSA'[Australian Friendly Societies Association].
Family historians come across fraternal abbreviations on tombstones, in funeral notices
and on objects such as regalia. For example:
IN MEMORIAM: The funeral of ... will leave...
At 3.00pm today, Monday,
For xxxxxx Cemetery
Brethren of Lodge Travellers Home 731, GUOOF
are requested to attend in due order.
By Order PNG.
In this case, '731' is the number of the particular lodge, 'Travellers Home', as registered on its establishment in the records of the Order. 'GUOOF' is 'Grand United Order of Odd Fellows'. 'PNG' is a lodge position, 'Past Noble Grand', ie the lodge master for the time period previous to the last ballot when her/his successor took over as 'NG' or 'Noble Grand'.
Numbers of lodges changed as circumstances changed, including with the attainment of independence by Australian jurisdictions from 'Home'. Numbers of members and of lodges rose and fell and the whole numbering system was re-arranged periodically.
The term 'in due order' means in line with lodge and Order by-laws, and is an instruction as to whether regalia was to be worn or not, and what other conditions were to apply.
The symbols are the next level of fraternal code, the most common one today found in newspapers being the square and compass. This is the standard symbol for Freemasonry, indicating that this person was a 'brother.' There are other symbols for other parts of the Freemason 'family', and there are symbols common to Freemasonry and other societies. For example, the seven stars around a crescent moon, the eye of Providence or God, the triangle and the temple formation appear in many fraternal certificates and banners.
Some symbols, such as the handshake, are used generally for 'fraternalism' as an idea, though from time to time particular societies or 'strands', such as the 'trade unions' have claimed it as their own.
Some symbols are used more or less definitively by certain societies, such as the 3-links of a chain which in Australia indicates the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In the USA the 3-links also indicates the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows.
In Australia, GUOOF is normally indicated by the heart in the hand symbol, the Buffaloes (Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, or RAOB) by a whole buffalo or just the horns, the Protestant Alliance (Protestant Alliance Friendly Society or PAFS) by a crown on a bible and the Druids (UAOD) by the head of a hooded, bearded man. The Loyal Orange Institute is often represented by the image of King William on a prancing horse.
There are variations within the common symbols which can assist in 'deciphering' the codes. For example, the various Orders of 'Free Gardeners' added a pruning knife to the square and compass. Their aprons are often much longer than those of other societies, while their use of 3 interlocking triangles is more often than not indicative of GUOFG.
The common symbols show the presence of common attitudes and a range of shared 'fraternal' ideas, which can be traced back to the founders of a society or the designers of its emblem. Claims that 'friendly societies', for example, borrowed their symbols from Freemasonry
often take root here.
Where Will We Find Fraternalism?
In the 20th century, popular perceptions of the societies here under review have centred on the provision of benefit payments - to cover a death within the member's family, an accident or ill-health, unexpected medical bills, loss of employment, or loss of tools - or on works of charity, or on wages and conditions, that is, they have centred on money. This 'modern', outsiders' perception of 'fraternals' as (only) financial institutions, has been strengthened since 1989 in the case of the friendly societies by Federal legislation which has brought them under 'Financial Institutions' regulations. The older perception was that 'fraternals' were politically dangerous, secretive and immoral.Nancy Renfree, writing about 'friendly societies' in 19th century Castlemaine, Victoria, reported:
In the final analysis their influence must be seen as encompassing all aspects
of the lives of the generation which provided the stable basis for Victoria's
future social and cultural development.1
A member of a major fraternal association, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Manchester Unity, has described his society as:
A means of moral instruction, speeding the principles of philanthropy and manly
independence.2
Note that these two authors were referring to Victoria. There are no known published titles which focus on NSW's fraternal associations and their social context. Only two titles are known which background any NSW 'friendly society' and these, on the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows and 'the Hibernians', were produced in-house, ie, by a committed supporter, and only from minutes and other official records. That is, they lacked social context. There is only one title which attempts a general coverage of Australian 'friendly societies', that by Cromwell and Green referred to in the Preface. So-called histories of 'trade-oriented' and Masonic societies leave a great deal to be desired.
Published Rules and Bye-laws for the various societies are quite explicit about a broad, positive role, eg, one has:
The Lodge is always considered as sacred ground; and no sooner do those, who in any other place might meet together as enemies, enter into its precincts, then their bad feelings seem to vanish as if by magic, and in their stead the desire to promote the well-being and happiness of all reigns predominant...there must be some powerful and virtuous influence connected with the Order, which neither the slanders of the malicious, the arguments of the prejudiced, nor the sneers of the ignorant, can prevent from having a vast and beneficial effect upon the destinies of mankind.3
In general, the fraternal goal has been to educate initiates in the values of mutual aid, benevolence and self-development within a supportive collective, and in a belief system which begins with a Supreme Being who sees and knows all. Despite a gradual erosion of the original 'model', fraternal associations remained at the end of the 19th century, at least, simultaneously religious societies, secret societies, convivial societies and industrial societies, each aspect important and needing to be understood in its own right, and each assisting in the formation of the fifth element, which was the community - building element. It has been on the basis of that integrated package that the health insurance system by which 'friendlies' are popularly known today, when known at all, has been built.
Yet the heritage of fraternalism goes far beyond the numbers of societies and their memberships, their contributions or benefits paid, which are impressive enough. It goes beyond the collective impacts of fraternal organisations applying their weight to particular issues. As just one perhaps illustrative of this example, it was observed in 1888 by an overseas visitor that:
(The Sons & Daughters of Temperance) exercises a very powerful political influence, and it is ever ready to use it in support of candidates for parliamentary honours who are prepared to favour temperance legislation.4
At high and low social levels, fraternalism was uniquely placed to be a means of social, political and economic advancement, and thus provide the sinews of what we now call social capital. In summary, despite internal tensions and external pressures, fraternal associations have:
* made possible the establishment, maintenance and development of communities through enforced savings, community investments and life-emergency payments;
* provided the impulse for the provision of actual health services and systems of welfare;
* given initiates emotional grounding necessary for the raising of families and for the carrying out of other, more public activities;
* provided training in such skills as book-keeping and public speaking; and
* acted as a major transmission belt for the fraternal world-view, and the symbolic representations embodying those values, throughout Australia.
* been players in all major, and many minor social developments over 200 years.
The key involvement of fraternal associations, especially 'friendly societies', in the 19th and early 20th century provision of health practices, professionals and infrastructure has dropped completely from 'modern' sight. An incomplete list of other crucial areas of fraternal involvement would include political lobbying, drug and alcohol prohibition and education, working conditions, trade and industrial issues, community infrastructure, sport and leisure events. Numerous retirement, nursing and holiday villages have been fraternal initiatives while many children have been assisted through school and university by fraternal scholarships and dowries.
At the micro level, the nature of fraternalism and the demands placed on its representatives have resulted in its being present at many core personal, family and community activities - funerals, farewells and celebrations - over a very long period.
In practice, different fraternal associations have emphasised different elements of the package at different times since 1788. For example, some have emphasised religion, some emphasised the secret society element, and some the community-building element, and so on. Each element was capable of individual interpretation and thus fraternals 'built' communities in their own particular way, the contributions of each productive of the result.
Collectively, the common symbols and values carried by every 'lodge' member and established in every corner of the continent meant that the sense of community permeating the continent was fraternal in general, and in detail.
There are a number of reasons for the apparently contradictory situation wherein fraternals as a type are invisible yet have been of enormous significance:
a) Their ubiquity meant many past commentators took them for granted and did not report them adequately;
b) most participants did not know their own history or its significance, and did comparatively little proselytising;
c) the societies were complex and multi-faceted and not easy to explain, nor easily generalised about with accuracy; and
d) being in competition for members, for financial and other resources, fraternal societies have produced selective, partisan history which has been of little general use.
Issues of substance where 'the Odd Fellows' disputed with 'the BMA', the 'Protestant Alliance Friendly Society' fought the 'United Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons', or 'the Carpenters and Joiners Provident Society' conflicted with the 'Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes' were rarely, if ever, public knowledge, since they were too complex and considered too esoteric for newspapers to report.
Scholars with slight or no personal connection have found fraternalism a difficult world in which to make useful linkages, and have settled for partial observations or have retreated in confusion. An analogous situation in North America has been recently addressed this way:
Over centuries of European and American history, fraternalism exerted a persistent appeal, forming the basis for guilds, workers' organisations, political societies, and social groups. For the most part, these organisations have been treated separately and without regard to their fraternal character...
The author, Clawson went on to the neglect by US scholars:
This lack of awareness is most pronounced in the study of nineteenth-century American society, where a Masonic-type of fraternalism served as the organisational model for trade unions, agricultural societies, nativist organisations and political movements of every conceivable ideological stripe, as well as for literally hundreds of social organisations.5
Compared to even the US-situation where a market, albeit ill-informed, exists for fraternal memorabilia and where there is therefore some interest in collection and preservation, the records and associated paraphenalia of Australia's fraternal associations are still considered of marginal significance and of little value.
Understanding of the fraternal context will require four things:
* a knowledge of the relevant UK 'baggage' carried to Australia;
* a lot of local primary research, especially in the neglected area of newspapers;
* a willingness to critically examine established 'wisdoms';
* a willingness to link ideas not usually treated together.
For example, these ideas:
the tramping, nomadic worker;
corporate governance;
life assurance/insurance;
the Reformation and Counter-Reformation;
colonial medical frontiers; and
the centralising forces of modernism.
'Fraternal Associations' in the period 1788 to the 20th century, include:
* benefit paying organisations, (eg, the 'friendly societies' and 'trade unions')
* non-benefit paying combinations, some of which used to pay benefits in the usually-accepted sense and now no longer do, (eg, the Freemasons); and
* a last group which falls totally outside popular understandings of Freemasonry, trade unionism and/or 'friendly societies' but which, because of their historical lineage, contain the essential elements of the 'fraternal approach'.
For example, the Loyal Orange Institution. Similarly, the St John's Ambulance Brigade, the Girl Guides and the Boy Scouts are important associations for whom 'fraternalism' has been a key ingredient.
Aside from terminology which is dealt with elsewhere, understanding of all groups is complicated by the question of affiliation. The largest and longest surviving fraternals resulted either from the gathering up into a single Order or Federation, numbers of local units, or from a local lodge defining itself as a 'Grand Lodge' and establishing numbers of local units which then paid it allegiance.
All 3 major 'strands' of fraternalism have produced networks of allegiance in these ways, from the 18th century English Grand Lodge of the Freemasons, to the Amalgamated Miners Association and the Australian Labor Party both of the late 19th century. The title 'Affiliated' is most often, albeit selectively, applied to certain 'Friendly Societies' such as the relatively-well known IOOF,MU,('Manchester Unity'), GUOOF, ('Grand United'), the IOR, ('the Rechabites'), Druids, and so on.
But even here account has to be taken of a large number of other societies, 'lodges', seceding from the larger 'Orders' and attempting but generally failing to establish a new Order, and
* many 'one-offs', societies which stood entirely alone, making no attempt to establish networks or to spawn sub-branches.
Local administrative independence, once established, has not been given up lightly. Rather than cede control to a modernising 'head office' group, or to a breakaway group determined to replace 'Head Office' with its own power-structure, 'lodges' have folded, switched to another 'Order' or established their own 'Order'. Tensions between the local 'lodge' and 'head office' have ranged from regional/rural communities versus Capital City-based administration, to conflicts between this country and 'home', usually, but not always Britain.
If a 'Head Office' decision was not agreed with, and membership refused to forward contributions or to collect special levies on members, a 'lodge' might be declared 'neutral' or expelled from the Order altogether. Being 'neutral' or 'independent' did not mean the lodge ceased to exist. The members continued, used the same ritual, and some time later re-considered their position.
Other internal tensions to which fraternalism was subject resulted from differing opinions over
* secrecy and openness;
* conviviality and fiduciary prudence;
* membership stability and the need to seek work;
* the hierarchical and the egalitarian perceptions of democracy;
* social divisions, eg, race, class and religion, and lodge unity; and
* fraternal rivalries.
An example of seceding members establishing their own Order is the miners of Wallsend and Lambton leaving the 'Grand United Order of Odd Fellows' [GUOOF] and creating the 'Australian Odd Fellows' Union' [AOU]. As the name is the key signifier here, and given that elsewhere miners were setting up 'friendly societies' as their 'union', it's worth emphasising that this was designated a 'Union', not a 'friendly society'. It was duly registered with a unique emblem and Rules, and collected, quite legitimately, a full range of contributions, before its surviving members returned to the GU fold more than a decade later.
Another breakaway was the 'Progressive Order of Good Templars' [POGT], of which No 1 Progress Lodge, at North Sydney, established the 'Dawn of Hope' lodge at Glen Innes, and others at Narrabri and Wollongong. A breakaway from the 'Independent Order of Good Templars' [IOGT], the principles of the smaller, reformist Order were said to be 'liberal, democratic and humanitarian'.6 Another was the 'Protestant Alliance Friendly Society's' [PAFS] No 1 Lodge which seceded and established itself as the 'Protestant Alliance No 1 Friendly Society' in Sydney.
The name, 'Fraternity of Mutual Imps', may suggest someone's idea of a joke, and that this Order's proceedings may be disregarded. What documentation exists argues the reverse. Composed of actors, artists and musicians its rituals of initiations, and installations of Grand Officers, in their case the 'Arch Fiend', Tylers, Stewards, etc were seriously choreographed and featured professional singers and designers. Their Instructions to officers included:
The emblems, regalia and paraphenalia, etc, shall be removed into safe keeping at the rising of the lodge by Office Bearers.7
'The Imps' began in New Zealand in 1882 and established lodges in Sydney and a number of other Australian population centres. Another of singular importance is the 'Independent Order of Free Thinkers' for which at present only news reports exist. These indicate members were initiated into 'courts' and worked degrees which advocated temperance as well as free thought. The Order appears to have existed only in Newcastle, where the first 'Hall of Science' or Free Thinkers' Assembly Hall in Australia was built.8
An even more shadowy example, but which was widespread overseas and almost certainly had representation in NSW is the 'Order of United Commercial Travellers', known to have had ritual, secret signs and regalia.
A 'stand alone' example was the 'Clarence River German Club'. In 1870 it 'inaugurated' its own banner, said to be the first created by German citizens in the colony, in a celebration which took in the whole Grafton community.9 The presentation ceremony was under the patronage of the local MP and the Mayor of Grafton. A description includes:
The banner is an oil painting on silk, seven feet by five feet, edged by the newly adopted German tri-color - red, white and black...designed and painted by our townsman Mr Conrad Wagner...The central figure Germania (represented by a female) seated with the right arm resting on a lion, the symbol of strength.. [etc, etc, in very great detail] ..The back of the banner is a pure white ground, with two figures in the centre, intended to represent...a sick person being supported by a brother in his affliction and time of need, emblematic of the benefits conferred by the Club on its members.
Its Rules were quite clear:
The Society was formed for the purpose of mutual benefit and co-operation among German residents of the District.
Later many members joined English-speaking Orders such as IOOFMU.
Fraternal associations which remained 'local' in operation, were probably most vulnerable to other undermining factors, such as legislative fiat, membership decline and accounting weaknesses, but they may turn out to be the associations most protective of 'their' records and memorabilia.
REFERENCES
1 N Renfree, Migrants and Cultural Transference: English Friendly Societies in a Victorian Goldfield Town, PhD, La Trobe University, 1983, p.iii.
2 J Howlett Ross, A History of the Manchester Unity, Independent Order of Odd Fellows Friendly Society in Victoria, Melb, 1911, p.5
3 Laws for the Government of NSW Independent Order of Odd Fellows in connection with the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows Friendly Society, Sydney, 1865, np (Preface).
4 Temperance in Australia, 1888, p.29.
5 M. Clawson, Constructing Brotherhood, Princeton, 1989, p.5.
6 Glen Innes Examiner, 23 Dec, 1890.
7 NSW SL (ML) Collection Q792/F.
8 N Sinnott, 'Free Thought Halls in Australia and New Zealand', The Recorder, March, 1999, p.6; NMH, 20 June, 1 Aug, 1885.
9 Quoted in The German Lutheran Church, Source Material, Grafton 1875-1921, prepared by Clarence River Historical Society Inc, nd, np. See also S Hearfield, 'German Immigration to Grafton, 1849-1859', Grafton, 1992. Other non-English speaking 'fraternals' existed in NSW.
Why the Masonic 'model' Idea is So Misleading.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, claims by Europeans of borrowings by 'secret societies' from the Freemasons were common, the 'friendly societies' often being described as 'poor man's freemasonry'. Similarities between certain terms, lodge essentials and certain items of regalia have suggested to persons more familiar with Speculative Freemasonry (SF) than any other fraternal association that "Freemasonry' was the ultimate source for all such trappings. There are certain instances where borrowings have been acknowledged or appear likely from the fact that the person most closely associated with the introduction or the re-writing of a certain Degree, was known to be an enthusiastic Freemason. Even where anecdotally this appears most possible, with regard to North America's late-19th century plethora of fraternal associations, it seems to this observer that the artisanal fraternities mobilised much earlier are a more likely source for what I'm setting out as the essentials of fraternalism.
The 'Royal Arch' series of degrees is the site of the firmest 'borrowing' evidence. One example: a breakaway or dissident group of Orangemen established a 'Royal Arch Purple Degree' in Ireland around the turn of the 18th century. It was never accepted as a legitimate 'Orange' creation. The Rules of the Degree reportedly acknowledge:
In light of the evidence available it would appear that the degree given today evolved from certain practices which had their origin in the Masonic Order, together with some innovations which had been introduced by those brethren conferring the degree in different areas being added to the original theme of the pre-1800 degrees to form a ritual.1
No hard evidence supporting claims of a specific borrowing by a specific Order in Australia has come to light. Yet, these are still early days. The Grand United Order of Free Gardeners (GUOFG) is another 'friendly' Order which did have a 'Royal Arch' element.
To briefly re-cap, common to the 'fraternal model' are:
* An oath of belonging and identification;
* A rite or rites of passage from 'outsider' to 'insider' status;
* A hierarchical structure based on levels of knowledge; and
* Actual and symbolic 'reminders' of an insider's value, duties and responsibilities.
All of these, and the common terms, derive from the model's mediaeval origins. In the 18th century they constituted what was meant by the word 'freemasonry', not to the specifics of the actual 'Order' known as 'the Craft' or Speculative Freemasonry, but to the notion of 'brotherhood', what I would today call 'fraternalism'. Thus, the description 'masonic' in the early literature is unhelpful. (see my Craft, Trade or Mystery for supportive material)
A small but growing number of, mainly overseas, scholars is today working on the interpretation of similarities across the three strands, some of which can be used to generalise about fraternalism's common history and some of which, eg the blackballing of candidates, only come to light with an informed and close examination. The most common of all, of course, regalia/costume as position/status marker, does not derive from organised, i.e. Speculative, Freemasonry but has a much older heritage.
In this section, some detail of basic SFreemasonry, [the 'Craft'], and of the Ancient Order of Foresters [AOF] as an exemplar 'Affiliated Friendly Society', will illustrate just how unlikely it is that the one was borrowed from the other.
Ancient Order of Foresters:
The AOF has located its origins in the 'Royal Order of Foresters' from which the AOF broke away in 1834, during uncertainty caused by the sentencing of the Tolpuddle Martyrs to transportation to Australia for swearing an illegal friendly society oath. The origins of the ROF are uncertain but may be with the long-standing occupational group, estate gardeners, game-keepers and husbandmen.
The AOF's first 'Court' meetings in this country appear to have been in Sydney in 1844 when the Eden Court was established, followed 3 years later by Court Royal Plant.
The AOF, like most other 'friendly' Orders, has a 3-tiered structure:- Local 'Court', District Court and Grand or High Court. Its rules and lectures emphasise the opportunity within the structure for any member to rise from the lowliest position to the highest, without fear or favour.
The Executive Officers of a Court are:
Chief Ranger CR These identifying initials appear on regalia etc.
Sub Chief Ranger SCR
Secretary S
Treasurer T
Senior Woodman SW
Junior Woodman JW
Senior Beadle SB
Junior Beadle JB
Trustees T
Past Chief Ruler PCR
After 1897 when women were admitted to AOF and encouraged to form all-female Courts, the official Forester emblem of two males in feathered hats and green 'bowmen' clothing was dramatically altered to show a male and female figure.
'Masonic-type' aprons were worn by Foresters in the 18th and 19th centuries, but probably not in Australia. They were probably made, in a similar style to basic 'Craft' aprons, of white material edged in green and bearing the Foresters' emblem. Surviving regalia, here, is of the long sash or collar type. The basic item is predominantly 'lincoln green' in colour, in keeping with the Order's claimed association with the occupation of forester, a claim which may well have a basis in truth.
Colour variations and stripes on the sash or collar distinguish the executive positions with no fringe from one another and lower from higher levels of the organisation, as follows:
* High Court...green with gold stripe & gilt fringe
* District… 'pearl white' edge stripes & silver fringe
* Past Chief Ruler...red with narrow green edge stripe and central white stripe & appropriate fringe
* Courts… various colours, with letters, metal or embroidered, to indicate officer position.
* Ordinary members...green, no stripe, but with emblem
A neck ribbon (or small collar), introduced in 1834, was an alternative. When originally produced, it was found that the makers had reversed the colours for the officers of a Court, and had made the regalia red with green stripes. This 'error' was not officially corrected until 1939 when the colours were reversed back to the intended green with red stripes. This means that both kinds can still be found.
Specifically Foresters' lodge furniture included double-edged axes, hunting horns and imagery featuring forest scenes.
Speculative Freemasonry:
Speculative Freemasonry for example under the United Grand Lodge of NSW consists, at its simplest level, of three 'Blue' or 'Craft' Degrees that of the Entered Apprentice, Worthy Craftsman, and Master Mason. These degrees almost certainly derive directly from the occupation of stonemasonry.
The regalia of a Craft initiate begins with a plain white leather apron to which are added blue edge ribboning and rosettes as the second and third degrees are achieved, until all rosettes are replaced with 3 metal 'taus' which resemble stonemason's levels.
For each Degree, there are lectures and ritual drawn from biblical stories largely related to the building of Solomon's Temple. These are today usually delivered by way of 'tracing boards', flat surfaces on which symbolic representations have been prepared.
Regalia size, shape and format, laid down by London's Grand Lodge, are identical in jurisdictions regarding that Lodge as the 'Mother Lodge' which is the case now with the United Grand Lodge (UGL) of NSW. Differences in quality of finish and/or materials used may occur from manufacturer to manufacturer. Uniformity only dates, however, from the early 19th century when London's Grand Lodge stipulated exactly what was appropriate for jurisdictions aligned with it. Before that time, and for some time after, individuals could design and create their own aprons, etc.
The titles of lodge officers, in general terms, are: Worshipful Master, Senior Warden & Junior Warden.
There are various supplementary, or non-Craft Orders:
Three Other 'Chivalric' Orders
* Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine
* Knight of St John
* Knight of the Holy Sepulchre
Four Cryptic Degrees
* Most Excellent Master
* Royal Master
* Select Master
* Super Excellent Master
The Ancient and Accepted Rite: (ie, after the three 'Craft') there are Degrees known as
* Secret Master
* Perfect Master
* Intimate Secretary
* Provost and Judge
* Intendant of the Buildings
* Elect of Nine
* Elect of Fifteen
* Sublime Elect
* etc, etc up to
* the 33rd Degree, which is Sovereign Grand Inspector General.
Royal Order of Scotland:
* Harodim
* The Rosy Cross
Order of the Secret Monitor:
* Two Degrees and A Chair Degree
Societas Rosicruciana:
* Nine Grades in three 'orders'
Ancient & Primitive Rite, and the Rites of Memphis and Mizraim, each consisting of a multiplicity of degrees.
There are others including some specifically for women for which readers are referred to J Ward's Higher Degrees Handbook. Comparisons can be made with Hannah's Darkness Visible, Augustine Press, 1952.
REFERENCES
1 From an Internet site detailing Orange history, 2004.
The 'Royal Arch' series of degrees is the site of the firmest 'borrowing' evidence. One example: a breakaway or dissident group of Orangemen established a 'Royal Arch Purple Degree' in Ireland around the turn of the 18th century. It was never accepted as a legitimate 'Orange' creation. The Rules of the Degree reportedly acknowledge:
In light of the evidence available it would appear that the degree given today evolved from certain practices which had their origin in the Masonic Order, together with some innovations which had been introduced by those brethren conferring the degree in different areas being added to the original theme of the pre-1800 degrees to form a ritual.1
No hard evidence supporting claims of a specific borrowing by a specific Order in Australia has come to light. Yet, these are still early days. The Grand United Order of Free Gardeners (GUOFG) is another 'friendly' Order which did have a 'Royal Arch' element.
To briefly re-cap, common to the 'fraternal model' are:
* An oath of belonging and identification;
* A rite or rites of passage from 'outsider' to 'insider' status;
* A hierarchical structure based on levels of knowledge; and
* Actual and symbolic 'reminders' of an insider's value, duties and responsibilities.
All of these, and the common terms, derive from the model's mediaeval origins. In the 18th century they constituted what was meant by the word 'freemasonry', not to the specifics of the actual 'Order' known as 'the Craft' or Speculative Freemasonry, but to the notion of 'brotherhood', what I would today call 'fraternalism'. Thus, the description 'masonic' in the early literature is unhelpful. (see my Craft, Trade or Mystery for supportive material)
A small but growing number of, mainly overseas, scholars is today working on the interpretation of similarities across the three strands, some of which can be used to generalise about fraternalism's common history and some of which, eg the blackballing of candidates, only come to light with an informed and close examination. The most common of all, of course, regalia/costume as position/status marker, does not derive from organised, i.e. Speculative, Freemasonry but has a much older heritage.
In this section, some detail of basic SFreemasonry, [the 'Craft'], and of the Ancient Order of Foresters [AOF] as an exemplar 'Affiliated Friendly Society', will illustrate just how unlikely it is that the one was borrowed from the other.
Ancient Order of Foresters:
The AOF has located its origins in the 'Royal Order of Foresters' from which the AOF broke away in 1834, during uncertainty caused by the sentencing of the Tolpuddle Martyrs to transportation to Australia for swearing an illegal friendly society oath. The origins of the ROF are uncertain but may be with the long-standing occupational group, estate gardeners, game-keepers and husbandmen.
The AOF's first 'Court' meetings in this country appear to have been in Sydney in 1844 when the Eden Court was established, followed 3 years later by Court Royal Plant.
The AOF, like most other 'friendly' Orders, has a 3-tiered structure:- Local 'Court', District Court and Grand or High Court. Its rules and lectures emphasise the opportunity within the structure for any member to rise from the lowliest position to the highest, without fear or favour.
The Executive Officers of a Court are:
Chief Ranger CR These identifying initials appear on regalia etc.
Sub Chief Ranger SCR
Secretary S
Treasurer T
Senior Woodman SW
Junior Woodman JW
Senior Beadle SB
Junior Beadle JB
Trustees T
Past Chief Ruler PCR
After 1897 when women were admitted to AOF and encouraged to form all-female Courts, the official Forester emblem of two males in feathered hats and green 'bowmen' clothing was dramatically altered to show a male and female figure.
'Masonic-type' aprons were worn by Foresters in the 18th and 19th centuries, but probably not in Australia. They were probably made, in a similar style to basic 'Craft' aprons, of white material edged in green and bearing the Foresters' emblem. Surviving regalia, here, is of the long sash or collar type. The basic item is predominantly 'lincoln green' in colour, in keeping with the Order's claimed association with the occupation of forester, a claim which may well have a basis in truth.
Colour variations and stripes on the sash or collar distinguish the executive positions with no fringe from one another and lower from higher levels of the organisation, as follows:
* High Court...green with gold stripe & gilt fringe
* District… 'pearl white' edge stripes & silver fringe
* Past Chief Ruler...red with narrow green edge stripe and central white stripe & appropriate fringe
* Courts… various colours, with letters, metal or embroidered, to indicate officer position.
* Ordinary members...green, no stripe, but with emblem
A neck ribbon (or small collar), introduced in 1834, was an alternative. When originally produced, it was found that the makers had reversed the colours for the officers of a Court, and had made the regalia red with green stripes. This 'error' was not officially corrected until 1939 when the colours were reversed back to the intended green with red stripes. This means that both kinds can still be found.
Specifically Foresters' lodge furniture included double-edged axes, hunting horns and imagery featuring forest scenes.
Speculative Freemasonry:
Speculative Freemasonry for example under the United Grand Lodge of NSW consists, at its simplest level, of three 'Blue' or 'Craft' Degrees that of the Entered Apprentice, Worthy Craftsman, and Master Mason. These degrees almost certainly derive directly from the occupation of stonemasonry.
The regalia of a Craft initiate begins with a plain white leather apron to which are added blue edge ribboning and rosettes as the second and third degrees are achieved, until all rosettes are replaced with 3 metal 'taus' which resemble stonemason's levels.
For each Degree, there are lectures and ritual drawn from biblical stories largely related to the building of Solomon's Temple. These are today usually delivered by way of 'tracing boards', flat surfaces on which symbolic representations have been prepared.
Regalia size, shape and format, laid down by London's Grand Lodge, are identical in jurisdictions regarding that Lodge as the 'Mother Lodge' which is the case now with the United Grand Lodge (UGL) of NSW. Differences in quality of finish and/or materials used may occur from manufacturer to manufacturer. Uniformity only dates, however, from the early 19th century when London's Grand Lodge stipulated exactly what was appropriate for jurisdictions aligned with it. Before that time, and for some time after, individuals could design and create their own aprons, etc.
The titles of lodge officers, in general terms, are: Worshipful Master, Senior Warden & Junior Warden.
There are various supplementary, or non-Craft Orders:
Three Other 'Chivalric' Orders
* Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine
* Knight of St John
* Knight of the Holy Sepulchre
Four Cryptic Degrees
* Most Excellent Master
* Royal Master
* Select Master
* Super Excellent Master
The Ancient and Accepted Rite: (ie, after the three 'Craft') there are Degrees known as
* Secret Master
* Perfect Master
* Intimate Secretary
* Provost and Judge
* Intendant of the Buildings
* Elect of Nine
* Elect of Fifteen
* Sublime Elect
* etc, etc up to
* the 33rd Degree, which is Sovereign Grand Inspector General.
Royal Order of Scotland:
* Harodim
* The Rosy Cross
Order of the Secret Monitor:
* Two Degrees and A Chair Degree
Societas Rosicruciana:
* Nine Grades in three 'orders'
Ancient & Primitive Rite, and the Rites of Memphis and Mizraim, each consisting of a multiplicity of degrees.
There are others including some specifically for women for which readers are referred to J Ward's Higher Degrees Handbook. Comparisons can be made with Hannah's Darkness Visible, Augustine Press, 1952.
REFERENCES
1 From an Internet site detailing Orange history, 2004.
Fraternal societies have a religious, secretive, convivial, industrial, community-building or benefit system heritage.
The fraternal approach may be visible in such practices as:
* the 'lodge' rites and the conviviality, certain, allocated tasks within 'lodge'; and
* in public acts of 'lodge' benevolence towards individuals, and/or in 'public spiritedness' within the community.
The fraternal approach is also embodied in such material goods as:
* regalia, including jewels, ribbons, etc, used to distinguish insiders (initiated 'brothers' or 'sisters') from outsiders (those not initiated), to distinguish degrees or levels of achievement from one another;
* artefacts, including buildings, which have been created to physically represent the spiritual/religious dimension; and
* even artefacts used for less profound purposes, such as public display, eg, banners, drum & fife bands, floats, games & sports; or
* such artefacts as secular/business materials, eg ballot, boxes, signs & plaques, office equipment, paper records.
Relevant memorabilia includes:
RELIGIOUS
- Bibles
- Iconographic representations such as tracing boards
- Some lodge furniture and/or personal items
- Lectures or 'Charges.'
* a 'tracing board' is a physical representation of the spiritual dimension relative to a particular Order or Degree. Done in various media, it contained symbols which were explained in lodge to impart specific knowledge to initiates.
SECRET SOCIETY
- Ritual & Code Books
- Passwords & Signs
- Regalia, including jewels & awards, charters, certificates
- Signs of office
- Some lodge furniture, eg, 'altar' cloths, teaching aids
- Buildings & structures.
* some ritual books were written wholly in code while others had words wholly or partly missing.
* secret signs, codes and passwords were of course likely to excite government suspicions and were rarely published or made easily available. Examples are thus rare. New passwords were still being issued in some cases as this text was being written.
* 'Jewels' were usually in the form of a medal, with ribbon/s and a metallic 'token', which were presented with ceremony. They were usually worn on regalia such as a collar or sash. The metal used varied as did the quality and the amount of engraving.
* 'Signs of Office' ranged from items such as a 'wand' or staff held in the hand, to embroidered initials on regalia, to ornate and quite specific costumes, to the location of one's position in the lodge marked with specific furniture/artefacts.
* There was nothing in a lodge room which did not have a specified purpose. All colours, all wall 'decorations', all the furnishings had symbolic or functional meaning, and most had both.
CONVIVIAL
- Plates, glasses, etc
- Song books
- Social & entertainment equipment, including musical instruments
- Sporting equipment
- Trophies
- Records, books & photos
* Freemasons refer to the location of conviviality as 'the South'. When not 'in the South' lodges are either 'working' or closed.
* social events had their own rites and devices, eg, 'Kentish Fire' or 'Foresters Fire', etc, referring to how toasts were given and celebrated by smashing the glasses, stamping of feet, etc.
INDUSTRIAL/POLITICAL
- Records relating to trade protection, material generated for issues lobbying eg, temperance, liquor trading, child protection, prostitution, federation, land conservation, industrial relations, graft & corruption, health & welfare.
COMMUNITY BUILDING
- Records & items relating to health support, eg, 'Hospital Sunday'
- Sports
- Education
- Leadership
- Displays
- Buildings, some lodge furniture, eg, Honour Boards.
BENEFIT/FINANCIAL
- All records of Funds, eg members' registers, money boxes
- Seals
- Records relating to health provision, eg, agreements with doctors.
A number of 'Orders' had separate Female and Male 'lodges', and therefore there can be female and male versions. See below for further references to gender issues.
* Where there was a Juvenile Order, a training ground for the adult 'lodge', a modified ritual was used with a plainer, smaller-sized regalia. However, 'lodge' rites were taken seriously and adult 'Superintendents' taught special rules, ceremonies, etc. Always difficult to staff and keep going, nevertheless in the 20th century a further surge in interest, among established churches led to children's 'lodges' as adjuncts to 'Sunday schools' again with secret signs, passwords and regalia.
* The local Masonic temple was not only used for Freemasonry events, and a 'Foresters Hall' or an 'Odd Fellows Hall' did not just host activities of that particular 'Order'. Thus some buildings are more important than others. Some hotels, some schools, some community halls, and some chemists, also functioned as long-term 'lodge' headquarters and need consideration for heritage significance on these grounds. Many buildings have disappeared and many items have been sent to the tip or have mouldered away. However, my experience says that many others remain to be found, and that at least some of these will be the most historically significant.
* Metropolitan Loyal Orange Lodges held their annual march and meeting in Sydney Town Hall for a number of years, thus it's not inconceivable that memorabilia is held within Sydney Council records. The Australian Natives Association (ANA) lobbied governments on many issues, including Federation in the push for which it played a major role. Thus I would expect significant material to be held in Parliamentary Libraries, Departmental Archives, etc. I have located important banners in presbytery broom cupboards, behind Trades Hall doors, and in sheds far from their expected locations.
An unknown percentage of regalia, Rule Books, Charters and Dispensations was produced outside NSW in the 19th and the 20th centuries. Some locally-produced material reproduced the overseas materials exactly, and some did not. At present, I have the names of only a few local professional producers, so remain doubtful about how many local producers there were, or the details of their manufacturing processes. Nor do I know what might distinguish their productions from those overseas items, if anything.
Local production and local 'badging' was driven to some extent by 'Orders' breaking away from 'Head Office', the 'Buffaloes' being a case in point:
The RAOB, GSB (Grand Surrey Banner) seem to have been the first manifestation of the 'Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes' to appear in NSW, with a 'Bulletin Lodge' in Sydney in 1882. A rival 'Order' the RAOB, GLE (Grand Lodge of England) established the 'Shakespeare (Mother) Lodge' in 1884. By 1889 there were also Sydney lodges representing
the Grand Marine Banner,
the Grand Independent Banner,
the Grand Executive (1 Lodge), and
the GLE Ltd.
Amalgamation talks started in 1913, and in 1914 the RAOB, GAB (Grand Australasian Banner) was formed, incorporating the GSB, the GIB, and the GMB. The GLE and GLE Ltd refused to align themselves but later some of their lodges did join.
Items procured recently through Ebay, the US on-line auction site, are of local relevance and importance because so much has already been lost here, and because many of these overseas-bought items are indistinguishable from what would have been used in this country, having been made for universal distribution. Further research is needed in this area.
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PERSONALITIES AND PRANKSTERS
PERSONALITIES AND PRANKSTERS