So as I have mentioned before, I am constantly searching for
mentions of our ancestors in the newspapers.
I especially like it when I can find a lengthy obituary for a person. In the obituary, I could find what the person
did, what made him tick and who the mourners were.
Sometimes I get a surprise and find something that I never expected
or even heard of before.
In this particular case I found a funeral recap for William
Anthony Palin in the Cheshire Observer April 17, 1943.
I had never heard of ROAB and went to
look it up. The acronym stands for Royal
Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. According
to Wikipedia it states “The Royal
Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB)
is one of the largest fraternal organisations in the United Kingdom. The order started in 1822 and is known as the Buffs to members. The RAOB organisation aids members, their
families, dependents of former members and other charitable organisations. The Order's motto is "No Man Is At All
Times Wise".”
Not being satisfied,
I went looking for more information and found their home site. There it states that the organization was
formed by stage hands that were not given the same freedom and luxuries that
actors were given in London in 1822.
Being prevented
from attending meetings of the Lushington’s after a number of years enjoyment
of that privilege, the stage hands and theatre staff starting holding their own
exclusive meetings that had ’nuffin to do wit them acter fellas’.
As the
theatre staff moved around the country in pursuance of their profession, Lodges
would have been founded in the various cities, towns and villages.
Pearce
Egan, a well known London Theatre critic of the period attributes the founders
as being Joseph Lisle, a well known eccentric and William Sinnett. In his book
‘The History of Tom and Jerry’ he cites one of the aims as being the promotion
of an hitherto neglected ballad ‘We’ll chase the Buffalo’.
Why
Antediluvian? The Order was founded in 1822, which certainly was not before the
flood, and no satisfactory answer can be found in the records that have
survived the ravages of time. We must remember that the bulk of our members at
that time were involved in one of the theatre professions, and skilled orators
would have written their own ceremonies, often designed to impress the
unenlightened with the great antiquity of the Order.
The
desires of mankind to relieve the poverty of ones fellow have been around since
the earliest ages, and if that is not antediluvian, what is? Certainly the word
has a better ring to it than ‘ancient’. So! Antediluvian we became!
In order
to show to the authorities that the Buffaloes were not subversive to the
interest of the state, the Order decided to describe itself as the Loyal Order
of Buffaloes. It only needs a slip of the tongue for ‘loyal’ to become ‘royal’
and in a very short time Joe Public accepted that the Order was indeed Royal.
The
introduction of the Royal Warrant Act, in the early 1900s, required anyone
using the ‘Royal’ prefix to register with the Lord Chancellors Office and to
stop using the title if permission to continue doing so was not granted. Since
the Buffaloes had been using the title from the 1840s the Lord Chancellor
agreed that no objection would be raised on the our continued use of the title
on the grounds of long usage, provided no act by the Order arose which would
disgrace its use.
In the
early days of the R.A.O.B. it is clear that there must have been members who
were also members of the various Masonic Orders since there is much in R.A.O.B.
ritual and regalia which can be identified as being Masonic in origin as well
as from other societies.
The
R.A.O.B. is a Philanthropic and Charitable body, Lodges and Provinces are at
liberty to undertake whatever activity they consider appropriate for the needs
of the community in which they work and live.
Charitable
funds exist at Lodge, Province and Grand Lodge levels to assist members of the
Order and/or their dependents who are in necessitous circumstances.
Grand
Lodge owns and operates two convalescent homes to provide rest and recuperation
facilities for members, their wives or widows recovering from illness or
medical treatment
The costs
of running these two properties, as well as the benevolent grants for our aged
and necessitous members or widows, and the education grants for dependent children are all funded from the Grand Lodge portion of the membership fees,
voluntary donations and the proceeds from the investment portfolio.
Our basic
desire – Is to defend the weak, to help the unfortunate and render assistance
to those in difficulty or need’. These honorable principles have existed in man
since the earliest ages and in this respect our Order may be regarded as
“ancient – or Antediluvian.”
I absolutely
LOVE google! It is like having a current
encyclopedia to world and almost anything can be found. All you need is as
little patience and a whole lot of time!
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