The Association of Friendly Societies, Year Book 1996‐1997

Looking through the preliminaries to this yearbook, it is amazing to find that the earliest known friendly society dates back to 203ad. Even in relatively modern times, the friendly society has been around for over 200 years, with the first UK Friendly Society Act being introduced in 1793. It is all the more amazing, therefore, to discover that, in 1996, this is the very first yearbook devoted to friendly societies! This may, however, be overstating the situation, as the Association of Friendly Societies is a new body, replacing some older organizations, such as the National Conference of Friendly Societies.

This...