For International Women's Day I have previously written about individuals, or family groups - like Gertrude Mary Hutton, and Avery and Ida Woodward - but for IWD 2024, I'm writing about a Loughborough women's group from the mid-1800s!
On 13th June
1842, the Loughborough Druidesses group was created. The event was reported in
the ‘Leicestershire Mercury’ of 18th June 1842, and explains what the
purpose of the group was:
“United
Ancient Order of Druids. A Society of Druidesses was formed on Monday
evening, at a private room at Mr Remington’s Mundy Arms [2], Loughborough,
called the Victoria Lodge, under the superintendence of Lodge 116 of the above
ancient order, when nearly 90 members enrolled, ‘with every prospect (says a
correspondent) of becoming a very extensive and respectable lodge, whose study
will be to promote the happiness, and better the condition of their fellow
curates by strictly adhering to the principles of friendship and benevolence.
The [women] were very much enamoured with those new and modernised system of
social [interaction] and separated with full spirits in anticipation of ‘A
feast of reason and flow of soul’ over a good dish of tea in their lodge room,
to commemorate the opening of so laudable an institution.’”
 |
| The Mundy Arms, now Fat Sam's, was demolished and rebuilt in 1935. Pictured here in 2021 |
On 26th June
1843 the Royal Victoria Lodge of Druidesses, held their first anniversary meeting
at Remington’s Mundy Arms. The ‘Nottingham Review’, of June 30th, 1843
had this to say:
“A goodly
number of the fair members partook of tea together, after which, they tripped
it on the light fantastic toe, and were highly entertained by the performances
of the Loughborough band. The joyous hilarity of the evening was prolonged to a
very late hour, and the company separated highly gratified. The lodge now
consists of about 120 members.”
Sadly, by 3rd
September 1843, Mary Brand, one of the members of the Druidesses, had died, and
members of the lodge processed to her funeral, as reported in the ‘Nottingham
Review’ of September 8th, 1843:
“… about
forty members of the ‘Royal Victoria Order of Druidesses’ Lodge, which has
recently been opened at Mrs Remington’s the Mundy Arms, Loughborough, attended
the funeral of a deceased member, Mary Brand. The procession had a very solemn
and imposing appearance, and was beheld by a large concourse of spectators.”
On 24th June
1844, 150 members of the Royal Victoria Lodge of Druidesses had a tea meeting
at the house of host Remington’s Mundy Arms, where everything was of the best
quality.
Although
quoted as the fourth-anniversary meeting, the meeting which took place on 23rd June
1845, was actually the third-anniversary meeting. This is what the ‘Leicester
Journal and Midland Counties General Advertiser’ of 27th June 1845 reported:
“LOUGHBOROUGH
– On Monday evening last, the fourth anniversary [i.e. the third] meeting of
the Loyal [Royal] Victoria Lodge of Druidesses was held at the lodge house, the
Mundy Arms Inn, Loughborough, when, after the usual routine business was
concluded, upwards of 70 sat down to tea. The lodge now numbers 153 members,
and under the judicious management of the President, Mr E. Wilkinson,
(Vice-President, Mr J. Goode, and Secretary, Mr A. W. Clarke [2] the funds are rapidly increasing. The
members, to testify their respect for, and a due appreciation of, that
gentleman’s services, presented to him a handsome teapot, and massive but glass
cream jug, and a similar present to Mr Goode in due form. This, the most
interesting part of the ceremony of the evening, having been concluded, music
and dancing lent their charms till chanticleer proclaimed the dawn of the day.
The members, we understand, have voluntarily subscribed a sufficient sum, to
make a similar present to those made to the President and Vice-President, to
the Secretary.”
The
anniversary meeting which took place on 23rd June 1846 was also held in the
Mundy Arms, although the establishment is now run by Mr Kennington. The ‘Leicester
Journal’ on June 26th, 1846, reported as follows:
“The members
took tea together in the afternoon, and in the evening the annual business was
transacted. The President, Vice-President, and Secretary, Messrs. Wilkinsons,
Goode, and A. M. Clarke [3],
continue to conduct the affairs of the lodge, in the most economical and
creditable manner, and an increased number of members, and flourishing state of
the funds is the result. The present number of members is 166. After the
business was transacted, the younger members commenced dancing, and kept it up
until a late hour.”
The lodge reached
its 12th anniversary on 13th June 1854, but they have moved away from the
Mundy Arms. Here’s the report from the ‘Leicester Journal’ of 16th June
1854:
“DRUIDESSES’
ANNIVERSARY The twelfth anniversary of the Royal Victoria Lodge of the Druidesses
was held in a room in Moira Street, Loughborough … An excellent tea was
provided on the occasion, to which upwards of ninety of the sisterhood sat
down. After tea the younger members repaired to the Black Boy public house [4] where they ‘tripped it on the light fantastic toe’ for several
hours. Before tea, several alterations were made in the rules, which it is
hoped will prove beneficial to the lodge, which numbers 125 members, and which
there is reason to believe has not been conducted so ably as it might have
been, as the funds in hand do not amount to £70.”
 |
| The Black Boy pub was demolished and rebuilt in 1931. The Blacksmiths pictured in 2021 |
The
Druidesses were still going strong another twelve years later, and it was
reported in the ‘Leicester Journal’ of 16th June, 1865, that the
Druidesses had celebrated their anniversary by taking tea together in the Odd
Fellows’ Hall [5], at which
there was a good attendance.
Of course,
there was also a lodge of Druids, and members of the Hand and Heart Lodge, No.
116 of the United Ancient Order of Druids celebrated their anniversary at the
Cross Keys Inn [6], run by Mr Woodward. The ‘Leicester Journal’
of 21st July 1871 reported thus:
“After the
usual loyal and other toasts had been disposed of, the following were given and
duly honoured: ‘Success to the Hand and Heart Lodge’, ‘The Ladies and
Druidesses’” – and many more!
Not surprisingly,
the Loughborough lodge was not the only one in the area, and there was a lodge
formed around a similar time in Castle Donnington, which met at the
Bricklayer’s Arms Inn, which in 1845 was run by Mr John Cresswell. There was
also a lodge at Walton-on-the-Wolds, called the ‘Temple of Friendship’, which
on its anniversary in 1857 had over 80 members. That anniversary was celebrated
by the members taking tea together, and concluding with a merry dance that went
off in a very satisfactory manner.
In 1859 in
Barrow-on-Soar, the members of the Star of Friendship Lodge, 2,110, Manchester
Unity [of Oddfellows] held an anniversary dinner at the Hammer and Pincers, run
by Mr Swaines. The Loughborough Brass Band attended the event, and:
“The members
attended by the band walked in procession to church, escorting the members of
the Druidesses Lodge … after which they returned in the same order, and
conducted the Druidesses to the Royal Oak Inn, where a substantial dinner was
provided for them by host Barsby. This lodge bears the singular title of the
‘Royal Ichthyosaurus’ out of respect, it is supposed, to Mr Lee, whose
geological museum is rich with fossil specimens of the amphibious animal [7]. The
lodge, though small, is progressing favourably, numbering about 30 members, and
is patrionised by some of the principal inhabitants. After dinner they beguiled
an hour or two in the orchard at the back of the inn, and took tea together
about six o’clock, being joined by a few … [men] … who had received special
invitations. The day’s enjoyment was wound up by a merry dance.” – as reported
to the ‘Leicester Journal’ 24th June 1859.
We also find
that in 1881 there is a lodge of Druidesses in Sileby, which meets periodically
in the Undenominational School, which is also where they held their anniversary
dinner – a tea of beef and ham - in 1882.
Sadly, I have
been unable to establish when the Druidesses ceased to exist, and in reality I have found little information about the group, other than the occasions of their annual meetings. More information about the pubs mentioned can be found in 'Loughborough Pubs'.
____________________________________
Notes
[1] The United Ancient Order of Druids was probably the biggest and most successful of the Druid orders in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was formed in 1833 as a breakaway group from the Ancient Order of Druids, which had itself been formed in London, as early as 1781, and had a similar ethos to that of the Oddfellows - amongst other things, to take subscriptions from all members, which would be used to help members in times of hardship.
[2] Now Fat Sam's
[3] This is probably Augustus William Clarke (1802-1878), who was a grocer and angola hosiery warehouseman.
[4] Now The Blacksmiths
[5] This was on Sparrow Hill, and is now an International Supermarket
[6] Now The Phantom
[7] Some information can be found on the Barrow local history website
____________________________________
Posted by
lynneaboutloughborough
With apologies for
typos which are all mine!
_______________________________________________
Thank you for
reading this blog.
Copyright:
The copyright
© of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to
quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct
citation for this looks as follows:
Dyer, Lynne
(2024). Royal Victoria Order of Druidesses. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2024/03/royal-victoria-order-of-druidesses.html [Accessed 8 March 2024]
Take down
policy:
I post no
pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All
text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or
electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted
something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of
you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address
listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.
External
Links:
By including
links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the
information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date
links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the
responsibility of the reader of the blog.
Blog
archive and tags:
If you are
viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the
blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed
if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'.
Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will
take you to the page you are interested in.
Searching
the blog:
You can
search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the
blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your
usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this
example:
site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor
House”
NOTE – the words you’re actually looking
for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space
Thank you for
reading this blog.
Lynne
.JPG)
