Welcome

Gathering the Jewels features over 30,000 images of objects, books, letters, aerial photographs and other items from museums, archives and libraries throughout Wales.

Search the map

Thumbnail image of Wales,

New to Gathering the Jewels is G.I.S. A geographical search facility that will enable searching by location and place name.

Topics

Home » Health, Welfare and Charity » Societies » Mutual benefit societies

Displaying results 1 to 6 out of 6

Page 1

  • The Ivorites were a benefit or mutual aid society which prospered during the middle decades of the nineteenth century and was uniquely Welsh in many of its aims and attitudes, including its promotion of the Welsh language.
Booklet produced by the Philanthropic Order of True Ivorites, iillustrating the 'Signs and Grips of the Order' [front cover, image 1 of 5]
  • 'The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes' was one of the many benefit or mutual aid societies which gained popularity in Wales during the nineteenth century. Most, such as the Independent Order of Oddfellows and the 'Buffaloes', had their origins in England but some, most notably the 'Philanthropic Order of True Ivorites' were uniqely Welsh in their aims and attitudes. These societies provided insurance benefits of various kinds for their largely working-class membership. This particular certificiate reads: 'Certificate of Membership. Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, Grand Lodge of England. This is to certify that brother C. Arnold was initiated a member of the Sir Thomas Meyrick Lodge. No. 898 in the town of Pembroke Dock the 29th day of July 1919.' The document is signed by three officials of the lodge. This certificate was discovered amongst the personal papers of Able Seaman Arthur Charles Arnold of King Street, Pembroke Dock.
Buffaloes Benefit Society, Pembroke Dock (membership card), 1919
Rules and regulations of a Carmarthen Funeral Society, April 1841, frontispiece [image 1 of 8]
  • Photographer: S. G. Griffiths of Haverfordwest and Milford Haven.
Unidentified (Benefit Society?) procession, Pembrokeshire, c. 1900
  • The ambulance provided by the Cardiff Lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB), photographed in St. Mary Street, Cardiff.
Ambulance provided by the Cardiff Lodge of the RAOB, 1914-18
  • Thomas Martyn describes Cowbridge, its houses, and mentions seeing members of a female benefit club.
A Tour to South Wales, 1801, page 75