Odd Fellowship Is One Of The Oldest Fraternities In The World.

1748 – The earliest record of any of these societies available is that of Aristarchus Lodge No. 9 of the Order of Odd Fellows, which met in 1748 at the Globe Tavern, London. There were many orders of Odd Fellows in England at the beginning of the nineteenth century, of which the Imperial Odd Fellows of Nottingham; the Ancient Noble Odd Fellows, Bolton; the Grand United Odd Fellows, Sheffield; Economical Odd Fellows, Leeds; National Odd Fellows, Salford; and the London United Odd Fellows were the principal ones. Between these there were no official or friendly relations existing.

The enactment of severe laws by the English Parliament against secret associations in the last years of the eighteenth century tended to retard the progress of friendly societies, and the Odd Fellows accordingly suspended public operations.

1803 – The London Union Odd Fellows Society was organized by some of the city lodges under the title of the Grand Lodge of England, and it succeeded in establishing its authority over the greater part of the Odd Fellow societies in the United Kingdom.

1809 – A member of one of the city lodges had meantime removed to Manchester, and, having received a dispensation to form a lodge in the latter city, the first Victory Lodge was created and it immediately declared its independence of the Grand Lodge of England. This was the beginning of the movement for independence.

1816 – The adoption of a funeral fund system was part of the work of the annual session. The question of adopting degrees into the order was also discussed, the degrees of White, Royal Blue, and Scarlet being established. The Patriarchal, the Covenant, and Remembrance degrees were added later.

1819 – The question of a site for the central government of the order was settled by the establishment of a movable committee to hold annual sessions at points agreed upon at a preceding session.

1820 – In Liverpool considerable discord marked the early operations of the various Odd Fellow lodges until about 1820, when they came under the authority of the Manchester Unity. The order was also introduced into Wales that year.

1822 – The first grand movable committee convened; it was composed of past and present officers of districts and lodges, and had the power to adopt or reject laws proposed by districts. In the same year the Loyal Saint Olive's Lodge, in affiliation with the Manchester Unity, was opened in London.

1838 – The order was also introduced into Scotland.

1840 & 1845 – The formation of lodges in Ireland, Germany, and Australia was effected in 1840, and the following year in the Isle of Man.