On Female Friendly Societies In 18th- And 19th-Century Britain

The Friendly Society Movement was a mutual-aid movement that was dominated by the working class and subsidized by the middle class and the uppertendom in the modern Europe. The movement has laid a strong ground for the formation of welfare-state and civil society of Britain. However, because of various reasons, the female friendly societies had been long neglected although they were one of the two branches of this movement. Whereas, the author believes that it is necessary to do a research on this topic. And to dig the reason of ignorance of female friendly societies would contribute to a better understanding of female friendly societies and the whole figure of this movement.The movement in Britain emerged at the end of 17th century and the early 18th century; the promulgation of Rose Act marked its rising. After nearly a century’s development, it was suppressed by the legislation of the National Insurance Act of 1911, and gradually, faded from the arena of history afterwards. Friendly society, such a folk mutual-aid organization with modern sense has an ancient origin of idea and form. Some scholars also considered it as the extension of guild. The founders of the Friendly Societies united to construct mutual aid organizations encouraging by worldly sorrows. By paying some fees, when the members of these societies got into troubles unpredictably (eg., disease, unemployment, oldness, disaster, etc.), they can apply for relief and get some essential economic aid.The movement of the Friendly Societies caused a huge influence. At that time, it was hard to find even one labour who did not belong to one specific fraternal order in England. It encouraged many low-down lives. These societies did many dependable jobs to relieve their members’worry about disease, pregnancy, oldness and incapacity, and also ease the burden of burial for their children.The movement of Female Friendly Societies played an important role in the whole movement of the Great Britain. The female one is nearly the same to the male one except for differing in sex, but it seems not as impressive as the male one. However, this is not real face of female friendly societies. Generally, in 18th-and 19th-century England, ordinary working-class families cannot resist risks by only relying on the men’s incomes and allowances, so, it is an indisputable fact that women often worked outside to assist the households. Therefore, women’s incomes and allowances guaranteed the persistence of the Movement of Female Friendly Societies. Nevertheless, the academic research groups usually focused on large male friendly societies. To explore the reasons, it has something to do with the temporal moral, legislative, educational and social dilemma of women.This article applies the methods of literature study and case study, referring to literature to trace the whole movement. The key literature are William Harral Johnson’s The past, present, and future of friendly societies; Abb Landis’s Friendly Societies and Fraternal Orders; Simon Cordery’s "Friendly Societies and the Discourse of Respectability in Britain",1825-1875; E.W. Brabrook’s "Friendly Societies and Similar Institutions"; John Frome Wilkinson’s The Friendly Society Movement:its origin, rise, and growth; its social, moral and education influences; Evelyn Lord’s "The Friendly Society Movement and the Respectability of the Rural Working Class"; W.A. Holdsworth’s The Friendly Society Act 1875. Referring to the related literature to explore the rise, growth, running and influence of female friendly societies, with the hope of enriching the movement; the main literature are Andrea A. Rusnock and Vivien E. Dietz’s "Defining Women’s Sickness and Work:Female Friendly Societies in England,1780-1830"; Evelyn Lord’s "’Weighed in the Balance and Found Wanting’:Female Friendly Societies, Self Help and Economic Virtue in the East Midlands in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries"; Maire Fedelma Cross’s Gender and Fraternal Orders in Europe,1300-2000; Vivienne Richmond’s ’"It Is Not a Society for Human Beings but for Virgins’:The Girls’Friendly Society Membership Eligibility Dispute 1875-1936".This article is divided into three chapters. The first chapter with three sections is about the origin of friendly society, the movement of Friendly Society in the 18 and 19th century and its influence. The second chapter also with three sections introduces the rise, growth, running and influence of female friendly society in detail. The last chapter digs the reasons of the ignorance of female friendly societies with the former two backgrounds. The author believes that this condition is the result of four dilemmas of female friendly societies, in another word, temporal moral, legislative, educational and social dilemma of women. The true reasons are the split of the traditional role definition of women, the utilitarianism and control of unmarried old middle class women, the punishment for violating the mainstream value of middle class women; The limit of obtaining insurance and safeguard through mutual-aid because of the lack of independent property right; Going bankrupt for the lack of precise actuary because of backward education; The dilemma of employment of women and the exclusion of female from male institutions.