This arrived today - now I am confused!!! This is how I found a connection: http://www.a2a.org.uk/search/documentxsl.asp?com=1&i=0&nbKey=1&stylesheet=xsl\A2A_com.xsl&keyword=john%20plimmer&properties=0601 I'll keep you posted best wishes > > From: "Roger Logan" <roger.logan@virgin.net> > Date: 2006/04/11 Tue AM 07:53:42 BST > To: <ian.plimmer@ntlworld.com> > Subject: History > > Hello Ian > > Thank you for your e-mail of 10th April 2006 re the above sent to Foresters Head Office which has been passed to me for response. I am one of the Trustees of The Foresters Heritage Trust (FHT), a registered Charity, which deals with matters of an historic or heritage nature relating to the Ancient Order of Foresters (AOF). > > The Ancient Order of Foresters was established in August 1834, so that it was not possible for your ancestor to have been a member during the 1700's. If you have a specific reference relating to, or suggesting, his membership, I could dig deeper to see what I can find. For your information appended below is a brief outline of the history and development of the AOF. > > > From its formation in 1834 up until three years ago, the AOF was, in the UK, > a decentralised sickness and death benefit society. Branches, called Courts, > operated, within the terms of the Friendly Society Acts and the General Laws > of the Order, on a virtually autonomous basis. Each local Court was > responsible for its own administration and financial activities. Members > determined the levels of contributions and benefits to be offered, although > there was increasing uniformity across the country later in the 19th > century. This, it should be noted, was all voluntary, before the > introduction of the first UK state imposed sickness insurance scheme in > 1912. > > The two major changes in the 20th century were the granting of 'approved > society' status to the AOF in the wake of the 1911 National Insurance Act, > and then, just under 40 years later, the advent of the' welfare state' when > the society lost the role of administering the state insurance scheme and > reverted to being entirely voluntary. A strong social spirit was maintained, > but for a wide range of reasons, declining numbers reduced the number of > Courts and the once ubiquitous presence of the Order across the UK. There > are still over 250 Courts, now grouped into 18 Areas. > > Court members elected officers to run the Court from among their fellow > members, so that many local people were, at one time or another, holding > positions of responsibility within a Court. Regrettably there never was a > central membership register for the AOF, so that identifying an individual > name is extremely difficult. However some local records have survived and > are held in our Archive. From these, and from certain centrally issued > publications, such as the Order periodical, the Foresters' Miscellany, and > an annual Directory of all Courts and districts, we can sometimes supply > information. > > I hope that the above is of some interest. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any comments on the above, or any other query. > > Best wishes > > Roger > > Dr Roger Logan BA MA PhD > for The Foresters Heritage Trust > Southampton > England > > ----------------------------------------- Email sent from www.ntlworld.com Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software Visit www.ntlworld.com/security for more information