8 l^illape Chihs and Associations. 



The village womeirs friendly society movement must not 

 be overlooked. There have been many obscure societies for 

 insuring women against sickness, and their record of failm'e is 

 somewhat worse than that of those organised for men, doubtless 

 due to the fact that a much smaller number were registered 

 and placed on a sound basis of management and finance. But 

 a few registered societies have accomplished their objects. The 

 Baschurch (Shropshire) Female Friendly Society, founded in 

 1802, had eighty-seven members and a surplus of 1,481Z. over 

 estimated liabilities in 1909. The Mitcham (Surrey) Friendly 

 Society for Women had fifty-four members and an estimated 

 surplus of 1.300?. in the same year. 



County Societies. 



Village associations might be classified as patronised or 

 non-patronised as the idea of or impetus for organisation 

 originated amongst the higher or lower social classes of the 

 inhabitants of the countryside. The village clubs would be 

 almost evenly divided between the two classes, although most 

 of the earliest would be non-patronised. But the county 

 societies would all be i)laced in the first class. They were 

 somewhat centralised bodies, organised for activities within 

 a county, a poor law imion, a hundred, or some such division. 

 Branches were formed in outlying villages, mostly with some 

 local autonomy, the amount varying in different societies. In 

 some counties the branches had practically no power, being 

 merely collecting and paying stations, but in no case did they 

 possess as much power as the autonomous village clubs, or even 

 as the branches of the great affiliated societies. 



The original impetus for the formation of several of these 

 societies came from the county justices sitting in Quarter 

 Sessions, and they were intended to be a substitute for relief 

 from the poor rates. During the period 1790 — 1832 many 

 proposals for the establishment of compulsory parochial or 

 national benefit societies were made in parliament and in the 

 country, and the one practical outcome was the formation of 

 the county societies. During this period the justices in Quarter 

 Sessions became conversant with friendly society rules and 

 methods of organisation when acting in their official capacity 

 as registrars under the Friendly Society Act of 1793. 



The village societies were generally managed by a committee 

 of •' benefit " members, sometimes under the presidency of the 

 vicar or a large farmer, with the local schoolmaster or a tradesman 

 as secretary. The trustee and treasurer were generally well-to- 

 do people of the neighbourhood, and whether the committee 

 were elected or served by rotation the society was truly self- 

 governed. But many of the county societies were governed 



