| Administrative History | Friendly societies such as the Stanton by Dale Odd Fellows Society are non-profit organisations, owned by their members. They were set up to provide financial help for subscribing members, in the event of sickness or death.
This particular society was founded in 1785, according to the society's published rules. The earliest records in the collection refer to the ''Stanton Club'', rather than Odd Fellows, and it was still called by that name at least as late as 1827. By 1831, a set of rules (see D2773) was published under the name of the ''Stanton Friendly Sick Society''. Despite the change of name, this was the same organisation: the officers named are the same as indicated in the members' registers. By 1853, the minutes refer to the organisation as ''Stanton by Dale, Stanhope Lodge, No 1000 [later 1099], Grand United Order of Odd Fellows''. The lodge was part of the Ilkeston District of the Order.
There was evidently some distinction within the lodge between men's and women's clubs. However, the records in this collection do not appear to indicate the nature of their relationship, either with each other or with the Order of Oddfellows as a whole. Bagshaw's 1846 directory recalls that the club room was erected in 1789 "for the male and female benefit societies of the town" and an article in the Derby Mercury on 26 June 1878 states that both the men's and women's clubs were ''old-established" - yet the 1831 rules do not mention a women's club at all. These records appear to have been generated only by the men's activities, with the exception of some of the loose items (D7004/6/2). The first two receipts and payment books, as well as the register of sickness payments, are marked ''Stanton Men's Club''. |
| Custodial History | These records were deposited in Derbyshire Record Office in September 2008 |