Oddfellows friendly society

Catalogue record

Notes

This publication charts the rise and fall of the friendly society, whose principal aim was to provide social security to working families through mutual aid. A main centre of odd-fellowship in Britain was the industrial city of Manchester. Ironically, the movement's success was also the cause of its obsolescence for, in paving the way to the establishment of the Welfare State, the need for mutual support ceased.
Reproduced here are the Odd fellows' magazine as well as the directories published by the Manchester Unity Friendly Society, which together invite exploration of over a hundred years of the evolution and dynamics of welfare provision, not only in England but worldwide. This important resource for social scientists, genealogists, medical, economic, business and social historians alike is introduced by Malcolm Bee, Oxford Brookes University.
Summary of contents: Reels 1-40: Odd fellows' magazine (1829-1950). Reels 41-55: Directories (1841-1941).