The Oddfellows is a traditional branch friendly society, i.e. a mutual, non-profit society, run for the benefit of members. In 1810, members of the Oddfellows in the Manchester area broke away from the United Order to form the Independent Order Manchester Unity of Oddfellows. The Oddfellows is organised on a district basis, each containing a number of distinct lodges. The documents have been arranged in order to reflect this.
The Oddfellows became a legal organisation in 1850, and, at that time, was the largest and richest friendly society in Britain. Today, the Oddfellows places an emphasis on social and care provision for members. For further information on the Oddfellows see the following Web site: <http://www.oddfellows.co.uk/>.
The records comprise four separate accessions: numbers 3107, 3543, 4560 and 4883, deposited in 1990, 1992, 1999 and 2001 respectively. Catalogued by R Imeson, October 2003 and Hannah Jones, March 2006.