Ancient Order of Foresters

The Ancient Order of Foresters is a friendly society which was formed in 1834. The society is now known as Foresters Friendly Society, and has approximately 70,000 members.[1] Its head office is in Southampton, and the current Chief Executive is Kevin Dann, who was appointed in September 2008.

Contents

History

The Society was formed in Rochdale in August 1834, when over 300 branches of the Royal Foresters society (established in the 18th century) formed the new Ancient Order of Foresters.[2]

In 1874 the American and Canadian Foresters seceded from the Ancient Order of Foresters and set up the Independent Order of Foresters (IOF).[3] The IOF's UK operation is now called Forester Life, based in Bromley, Greater London.[4]

The society became incorporated on the 1st January 2003, in accordance with the provisions of The Friendly Societies Act 1992, and since this date they have taken over two smaller Friendly Societies, the first being the Tunstall Assurance Society, the second being Leek Friendly Society.

The society's local branches were termed Courts, rather than "lodges" as in other friendly societies. They were named after the law courts of the royal forests, and performed the Ancient Ritual of the Society.[5] The most famous was Court LUD No. 10,100, which was formed in 1947, by members of the London District Management Committee. However, owing to lack of members, this Court was closed in 2004.[6]

The society has its own magazine called The Forester[7] which began in the Winter of 2008, and now incorporates the previous magazine Foresters Miscellany[7] which ran from 1862 to 2008. The editor of the magazine is Mrs Janet Clements, who is based in Upminster, Greater London, and it is published by Specialist Publications Ltd who are based in Bristol.

Products

The society provides its members with insurance policies against sickness and death. There are also policies for children, including an Ethical Child Savings Plan, Child Tax Exempt Savings Plan and Ethical Child Trust Fund. In addition to this, it is also the provider of group insurance to several Police forces in the United Kingdom, the Police Service of Northern Ireland being one of the largest.

The society is regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

See also

References

  1. ^ The Forester Magazine for members. Retrieved 2010-06-02
  2. ^ Our history on Foresters Friendly Society website
  3. ^ Solt-Dennis, V., Discovering Friendly and Fraternal Societies: their badges and regalia, p.118 (Princes Risborough:Shire Publications Ltd, 2005) ISBN 0-7478-0628-4.
  4. ^ The Square:The Independent Magazine for Freemasons, Vol. 34, No.3, September 2007, p.61.
  5. ^ Solt-Dennis, Victoria, Discovering Friendly and Fraternal Societies, Shire Publications, 2005. ISBN 978-0747806288. Pages 114-123
  6. ^ Quigley-Ferriday, M., A Short History of the Ancient Order of Foresters, pp. 31-32, The Square:The Independent Magazine for Freemasons, Vol. 32, No.1, March 2006.
  7. ^ a b Library and Museum of Freemasonry, catalogue ref: 1522 FOR fol

External links