Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows when referencing the Grand United Order of Oddfellows or some British-based fraternities; also Odd Fellowship or Oddfellowship) is an international fraternity consisting of lodges first documented in 1730 in London. Odd Fellows promote philanthropy, the ethic of reciprocity and charity; some grand lodges imply a Judeo-Christian affiliation. The American-based Independent Order of Odd Fellows enrolls some 600,000 members divided into approximately 10,000 lodges in thirty countries, and is interfraternally recognised by the British-based Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity.IOOF International Network (), keyinvest.com.au/ioofsa; accessed 1 November 2016. In total, members of all international branches combined are estimated in the millions worldwide.
The first known lodge was called Loyal Aristarcus Lodge No. 9, suggesting there were earlier ones in the 18th century. Notwithstanding, convivial meetings were held "in much revelry and, often as not, the calling of the Watch to restore order." Names of several British pubs today suggest past Odd Fellows affiliations. In the mid-18th century, following the Jacobite risings, the fraternity split into the rivaling Order of Patriotic Oddfellows in southern England, favouring William III of England, and the Ancient Order of Oddfellows in northern England and Scotland, favouring the House of Stuart.
Odd Fellows from that time include John Wilkes (1725–1797) and Sir George Savile, 8th Baronet of Thornton (1726–1784), advocating civil liberties and reliefs, including Catholic emancipation. Political repressions, such as the Unlawful Oaths Act (1797) and the Unlawful Societies Act (1799), resulted in neutral amalgamation of the Grand United Order of Oddfellows in 1798. Since then, the fraternity has remained religiously and politically independent. George IV of the United Kingdom, admitted in 1780 while he was Prince of Wales, was the first documented of many Odd Fellows to also attend freemasonry, although the societies remain mutually independent.
In 1810, further instigations led to the establishment of the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity in England. Odd Fellows spread overseas, including formally chartering the fraternity in the United States in 1819. In 1842, due to British authorities intervening in the customs and ceremonies of British Odd Fellows and in light of post-colonial American sovereignty, the American Odd Fellows became independent as the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (always written as Odd Fellows, not Oddfellows like other orders) under British-American Thomas Wildey (1782–1861), soon constituting the largest sovereign grand lodge. The Daughters of Rebekah, now known as the International Association of Rebekah Assemblies, was established in 1851 as a women's auxiliary organization to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Likewise, by the mid-19th century, the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity had become the largest and richest fraternal organisation in the United Kingdom.
In 1843, rejected from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows due to race, Peter Ogden petitioned the Grand United Order of Oddfellows for a charter and was granted it forming the Philomathean Lodge, No. 646, in New York City. The women's auxiliary organization, Household of Ruth, was established in 1858.
Name Several theories aim to explain the etymological background of the name "Odd Fellows," often rendered "Oddfellows" in British English. In 18th-century United Kingdom, major trades were organised in guilds or other forms of syndicates, but smaller trades did not have equivalent social or financial security. One theory has it that "odd fellows", people who exercised unusual, miscellaneous "odd trades", eventually joined together to form a larger group of "odd fellows."
Another theory suggests that in the beginning of odd fellowship in the 18th century, at the time of the early era of industrialisation, it was rather odd to find people who followed noble values such as fraternalism, benevolence, and charity.Müller, Stephanie (2008): The name Odd Fellows, from Concept and contents of Odd Fellowship , Chapter 4 of Visit the Sick, Relieve the Distressed, Bury the Dead and Educate the Orphan: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows. A scientific work in the field of cultural studies, vol. 10 of the "Cultural Studies in the Heartland of America" project, Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Trier, Germany; ; retrieved 14 October 2009. The name was supposedly adopted at a time when the severance into sects and classes was so wide that persons aiming at social union and mutual help were a marked exception to the general rule. Possibly, it met a mixed reaction from the upper classes, who may have seen them as a source of revenue by taxes, but also as a threat to their authority.Weinbren, Daniel (2010) The Oddfellows 1810–2010: Two Hundred Years of Making Friends and Helping People Lancaster: Carnegie Publishing;
Any suggestion of history before the 18th century is considered mere speculation.Burkley M. Gray (n.d.) Fraternalism in America (1860–1920), phoenixmasonry.org; accessed 1 November 2016.
History
Background The Odd Fellows are one of the earliest and oldest fraternal societies, but their early history is obscure and largely undocumented.
Traditions tracing the fraternity's origins back to Roman emperors Nero and Titus are considered dubious. The evolution of the society from medieval guilds, however, is more reliably documented.
By the 13th century, tradesmen's guilds had become established and prosperous. During the 14th century, guild masters moved to protect their power and wealth by restricting access to the guilds. In response, the less experienced and less wealthy fellows established their rival guilds.History and Traditions , oddfellows.co.uk; retrieved 11 November 2009., ,
When Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church, he viewed the guilds as supporting the pope, and in 1545 he confiscated all material property of the guilds. Elizabeth I stripped the guilds of the responsibility for training apprentices, and by the end of her reign, most guilds had been suppressed.
Foundation There were numerous Oddfellow organizations in England in the 1700s.Most statements here can be found in Weinbren, D. (2010). "The Oddfellows: 200 years of making friends and helping people". United Kingdom: Carnegie Publishing One Edwardian Oddfellow history argued that in 1710 there was a 'Loyal Lintot of Oddfellows' in London.Birdely, G. "The origin, rise and progress of Oddfellowship", Manx Quarterly, 7, 1909. The first Oddfellows group in South Yorkshire, England, dates from 1730.History: Manchester Unity , oddfellows.org.uk; accessed 1 November 2016. The earliest surviving documented evidence of an “Oddfellows” lodge is the minutes of Loyal Aristarchus Oddfellow Lodge no. 9 in England, dated 12 March 1748. By it being lodge number 9, this connotes that there were older Oddfellows lodges that existed before this date.About the Odd Fellows Fraternity, ioofphilippines.yolasite.com; accessed 1 November 2016.
After the failure of Bonnie Prince Charlie's uprising in 1745, in 1789, these two Orders formed a partial amalgamation as the Grand United Order of Oddfellows. These days they are more commonly known as "The Grand United Order of Oddfellows Friendly Society" (GUOOFS),Grand United Order of Oddfellows Friendly Society (U.K.), guoofs.com; accessed 1 November 2016. abandoning all political and religious disputes and committing itself to promoting the harmony and welfare of its members. Some books mention that there was a lodge of the 'Union Order of Oddfellows' in London in 1750, and one in Derby in 1775.Oddfellows Magazine, October 1838, pg. 171
The Oddfellows Magazine of 1888 included a picture of a medal presented to the secretary of a lodge of the Grand Independent Order of Oddfellows in 1796. In a magazine review of a 1798 sermon preached in the Sheffield Parish Church, the "Oddfellows appear to be very numerous with about thirty-nine lodges of them in London and its vicinity, two at Sheffield, and one at each of the following places: Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Shrewsbury, Windsor, Wandsworth, Canterbury, Liverpool, Richmond in Surrey and Lewes".From a review of '"A Sermon, delivered in the Parish Church of Sheffield, to the Original United Order of Oddfellows", on Monday, 9 July 1798, by George Smith MA, curate of the said Church, and late of Trinity College, Cambridge' in Gentleman's Magazine, September 1798, pp. 785–786. This suggested that the "Original United Order of Oddfellows" consisted of a total of 50 lodges at that time.
In 1810, various lodges of the Union or United Order in the Manchester area declared themselves as an "Independent Order", and organized the "Manchester Unity of Oddfellows", which chartered the Odd Fellows in North America in 1819.Mark A. Tabbert (2003) The Odd Fellows, Masonic Papers, first published Dec. 2003, "The Northern Light", Scottish Rite Freemasonry, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, USA."The Oddfellows (Manchester Unity), were established in 1810 and celebrated their bicentenary in 2010" , oddfellows.co.uk; accessed 1 November 2016.
International evolution United Kingdom 1748: Earliest surviving records of an oddfellows lodge is the manuscript of the rules, dated 1748, of the Loyal Aristarcus Lodge No. 9 which met in the Oakley Arms in Southwark, the Globe Tavern in Hatton Garden and the Boar's Head in Smithfield, London. mid-18th century: Order of Patriotic Oddfellows mid-18th century: Ancient Order of Oddfellows 1798: Grand United Order of Oddfellows 1810: The Independent Order – Manchester Unity 1810: Nottingham Ancient Imperial Order of Oddfellows 1820: Improved Independent Order of Oddfellows (South London) 1827: Caledonian Lodge of Oddfellows, based in Newburgh, Fife, is the only lodge of Oddfellows left in Scotland 1832: Ancient and Noble (Bolton Unity) split from the Grand United Order in 1832, dissolved in 1962 1832: Ancient National Order of Oddfellows (Bolton) 1832: Nottingham Odd Fellows, split from the Manchester Unity in 1832. 1834: Leeds United Order of Oddfellows 1840: Independent Order of Oddfellows (Kingston) 1845: National Independent Order of Oddfellows 1849: Independent Order of Oddfellows (Norfolk & Norwich Unity) 1850: Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity Friendly Society 1853: Improved Independent Order of Oddfellows (London) 1858: Free and Independent Order of Oddfellows 1861: Ancient Independent Order of Oddfellows (Kent) 1867: British United Order of Oddfellows 1883: Scottish Order of Oddfellows 1900: National Independent Order of Oddfellows 1910: Caledonian Order of United Oddfellows
Other Ancient and Noble Order of United Oddfellows Independent Order of Oddfellows Bolton Unity Friendly Society Independent Order of Oddfellows Kingston Unity Friendly Society Independent Order of Oddlittlefellows Madison Unity Friendly Society
United States
1819: Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) formed in 1819 in Baltimore by Thomas Wildey, chartered by the British Manchester Unity, separated in 1842, today with lodges in approximately 29 countries. 1843: The American Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (GUOOF) formed in 1843, receiving its charter from the British Grand United Order of Oddfellows (rather than the American IOOF).
Catholic opposition The Catholic Church in the 19th and early 20th centuries condemned secretive societies such as the Freemasons, deemed "pseudo-religious", but also addressed other organisations, including expressing suspicions against the stated religious neutrality and independence of Oddfellows.