ABSTRACT
Clubs of one sort or another have been around at least in Europe since antiquity, though in ancient Athens and Rome they were usually highly informal; dining clubs and drinking clubs would in fact be more like a group of friends eating at each other’s expense or organising rounds of drinks. This was a tradition that continued into the seventeenth century and beyond as successors of the clubs, sodalities, or societies of the Middle Ages. However, alongside these developments, there were more formal organisations. Some of these, also claiming ancient ancestry, are rather different from most clubs, the Freemasons being the most obvious example. Again, there have been bodies commonly referred to as ‘clubs’, but which have more in common with benefit clubs, or friendly societies – especially ancient Roman burial clubs, from which the Oddfellows among other bodies sometimes claim descent. In fact the Oddfellows can only be traced with any reliability back to the late eighteenth century. Female participation in these organisations may have been problematic; it certainly was for a long time among the Oddfellows, despite the fact that as early as the 1830s one of the objects of the Grand United Order of Oddfellows was stated to be:
for insuring a sum of money to be paid on death of a member to the widow, or widower of a member, as the case may be or to the child or children, or to the executors, administrators or assigns of such member or members; or for defraying the expenses of the burial of a member or members, or of the husband, wife, child or kindred of a member or members.
