Bob James

NEW RESOURCES FOR LABOUR HISTORY

'Mateship and Secret Societies in Australia' at the Centre for Fraternal Studies

Funded for its first 12 months of existence by the Grand United Friendly Society (previously the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows) and the Friendly Societies Association of NSW, the Centre for Fraternal Studies was opened on 5 November 2005 by Brother Tony Lauer, Immediate Past Grand Master of the NSW United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Freemasonry.	1
The Centre is a research, conservation and display facility which is already demonstrating capacity for change and expansion. My personal collection stretches back 20 years but very recently extensive amounts of memorabilia have come to me from the Grand United Odd Fellows, the United Ancient Order of Druids and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while closer connections are presently being forged with the Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society, Manchester Unity Odd Fellows, Freemasonry and the Boy Scout movement with a view to making their records accessible.	2
A small number of researchers has begun using the paper records already catalogued and stored. The range is extensive, including minute books, ritual books, business papers and ephemera. Then there are photographs, references of various kinds, regalia, lodge banners and artefacts.	3
The Centre has a website, www.fraternalsecrets.org , and its business hours number is (02) 4961 0479. At present, it is open 2.00pm - 5.00pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It is located in Newcastle within the complex of the Newcastle Regional Museum, which is next to the ABC Studios, on the block bounded by Hunter, Wood and Parry Streets and Stewart Avenue.	4
For many reasons, including my response to what Labor politicians have clung to themselves as 'the tradition of the true believer', the Centre has grown out of a decision I made some years ago to concentrate on what are, at present, little understood or even little recorded elements of Australian history – fraternal societies – and my conclusion that past neglect of them by historians prompts fundamental questions by anyone concerned with our national identity in general and with the notion of 'mateship' in particular.	5
Over 20 years ago, I began looking at the symbols in May Day, Eight Hours and other 'trade union' banners; symbols such as the heart in the hand, the temple and columns, and their use of women as decoration. I began with 'benefit society' as my basic term, moved to 'friendly society' and 'secret society' and, while these names remain relevant, I have settled on 'fraternal society' as the key to unlock the riddle represented by the unarguable historical importance of these societies despite their almost total neglect by historians.	6
Even in labour history's own terms, neglect of the physical evidence of fraternalism's heritage has meant: neglect of the firms and of the workers who produced it; and neglect of the working conditions in which it was produced. However, 'the fraternal story' is much broader than these narrow questions of production.	7
Fraternalism brings into focus the shared history and characteristics of four strands or groups of societies, the first three being what we now call 'trade unions', 'friendly societies' and 'Freemasonry'. The fourth 'strand' is a collection of other societies with seemingly nothing in common, such as the Loyal Orange Institution, the Ku Klux Klan and the Boy Scouts.	8
The history which all four strands have shared has resulted in their also sharing 'fraternal' characteristics, ie, an initiation oath, a degree structure, ceremonial and regalia marking progress from the lowest to the highest levels, and an ideology emphasising personal growth and responsibility to the collective whole – 'mutual aid' or 'mateship'.	9
It was not inevitable that, when set up, these organisations would choose the fraternal ways of being Scouts, Odd Fellows, Freemasons, Operative Shipwrights, and so on. The fact that each chose to build its organisation around these characteristics indicates how widespread and pervasive the idea of fraternalism has been.	10
Fraternalism, for men and women, necessarily involves the idea of a journey – on one level, there is the idea of personal growth and improvement and, on another, of travelling to where work and life conditions might be better. The tramping pastoral worker has a direct connection to the travelling artisan of the medieval world.	11
From medieval guilds to the twenty-first century, fraternal societies have been a tight bundle of five essential elements marking out the territory of a shared culture with both micro and macro implications – religion; community combination based on locale or occupation, sometimes both; conviviality; a discipline based on secrecy; and a practical form of mutuality, what we now call 'benefit funds', or just 'charity'.	12
The overall fraternal idea has declined in importance as these elements have become separated from one another in modern times and taken on independent lives. It is my argument that the 'modern' versions of fraternalism, eg, what we now call 'trade unions', cannot be fully understood without the broader context, but in any event this history is such a rich source of significant meaning for Australian society and Australian citizens that it should be made available, nationally and internationally. The Centre for Fraternal Studies is my attempt to do this.	13
It may well be that 'the labour movement' will prove resistant to considering itself in a larger context. I appreciate that much sustaining mythology is embedded in the narrower philosophy, and I also recognise that, at face value, the idea of labour historians delving into masonic literature appears weird, if not insulting.	14
However, as someone who delves there regularly, and is constantly surprised and educated by doing so, and as someone who has almost as hard a job convincing masonic historians to explore 'labour history', I can only say – take the plunge. There are pitfalls, and there are areas of worthless material which need to be marked and avoided, but there are treasures to be found. The friendly society literature, while much more sparse, is also worth considering. In addition, it needs to be said, that besides what has been published there remains much primary material which has not been plumbed by anyone.	15
Bob James is the Convenor of the Centre for Fraternal Studies, Newcastle.

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