It was formed in Salford for men in 1835, and one year later, women were admitted. It is now known as the Rechabite Friendly Society, and is based again in Manchester. It now has a membership of 20,000, down from 180,000 during WW1, but membership is slowly increasing. I believe that some 18% of the adult population of Britain is teetotal, so it has room for growth. There are branches in the States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and no doubt elsewhere in the world, particularly wherever the Brits saw the sun go down with a G & T. David. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jon Baker" <jon@vectis10w.freeserve.co.uk> To: <HAMPSHIRE-LIFE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 2:24 PM Subject: Re: [HantsLife] Rechabites or Reckabites --- Insurance ??? > Pam > The Independent Order of Rechabites was a friendly and temperance society > formed by a group of Manchester Methodists in the 1830s. It was much like > other friendly societies except that they did not meet in public houses. > Before one could benefit from the Friendly Society you had to sign a > declaration of temperance. > > The Order went into rapid decline after WW1 and again after WW2, but was > certainly still in existence in the late 1960s. I was a member (it was easy > to be a member of a temperance society when you were only 12 or 13 - I've > made amends since!!!) but I took part in athletics championships in the > south of England and still have medals from these (I probably still hold the > 60 yards dash record!!). > > The link below is one of many to provide a brief history. > http://home.clara.net/tirbach/HelpPagepearls4.html#Rechabites > > Its very difficult to determine if the Order still exists, I suspect it may > have disappeared finally in the last 10 years or so with some of the > financial institution changes that have also resulted in many building > societies becoming banks. There is certainly evident that the Rechabites > were still going in 1984. > > > Jon Baker > Calne, Wiltshire, UK > > Family History: www.vectis10w.freeserve.co.uk > Calne & District Skittles League: www.calneskittles.org.uk > > Researching: RYALL (Isle of Wight/South Africa), DOWNTON (Dorset/IOW/NZ), > KEEN > (Gloucs/IOW), WALKER (Oxford/Nova Scotia), JOHNSON (Gloucs), BAKER > (London/Hampshire), HAYTER (Hampshire), HUGHES (Co Armagh), STEWART (Co > Down) > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <Pmc248@cs.com> > To: <HAMPSHIRE-LIFE-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: 10 June 2003 08:41 > Subject: [HantsLife] Rechabites or Reckabites --- Insurance ??? > > > > When I was a small child at Aldershot, Hants. in the 1930s and 1940s, my > > Mother would send me weekly ? to pay the Rechabites, have no idea what > that was. > > That could be an incorrect spelling, was it some type of insurance, if > not > > does anyone know what it was ? > > It seems to me that about the mid- 1940s I didn't have to go pay it > > anymore. > > > > Regards, Pam [ RENNEY ] McKinley, now in > Arizona. > > My names :- ROGERS - REEVES - MALT - CROOK - Hampshire. > > RENNEY - County Durham and anywhere. > > > > > > ______________________________ > > > ==== HAMPSHIRE-LIFE Mailing List ==== > Chris and Caroline Hayles, Eastleigh, Hampshire > List Administrators: HAMPSHIRE-LIFE-L@rootsweb.com > Home of SOUTHERN LIFE(UK) > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~villages > EMAIL: chris@chayles.freeserve.co.uk > > FAMILY WEBSITE: http://www.chayles.freeserve.co.uk > Over 1,600 villages in HAMPSHIRE, BERKSHIRE, DORSET > ISLE OF WIGHT, SURREY, WEST SUSSEX,and WILTSHIRE village history,parish church history, village photographs, and other useful information for genealogy. Lots of links to other useful sites > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >