The History of the

Orange Order in England

The change was undertaken under the pressure of a Roman Catholic terrorist campaign, which caused the Orangemen to adopt a tighter and more cohesive organisational structure. When the continuing unrest led to open rebellion in 1798, the Orangemen enrolled in the Yeomanry almost to a man and played a major part in the defeat of the rebels.

Army units from Great Britain also saw service in Ireland during the rebellion and fought alongside the Yeomen. By these means they became aware of the Orange lodges, and soon joined the Order themselves. The 1st Regiment Lancashire Militia formed Loyal Orange Lodge No.220, and the 2nd Battalion Manchester and Salford Volunteers had warrant No. 1128. When these units returned to Manchester they took the lodges with them and they continued to operate in and around Manchester.

Other regiments followed and soon lodges existed in Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan and Ashton -under - Lyne. Even when the soldiers were demobbed the lodges continued to function.

Orangemen from Ireland were moving to England at this time, seeking work in areas where the industrial revolution was creating jobs, and English Protestants began to join the Orange Order. Many of these groups held warrants issued by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, but some were unofficial. The lack of central organisation was a potential problem.

On July 12,1807, a number of friendly societies paraded to the Collegiate Church in Manchester and Orangemen took part. On their way home they were violently attacked by gangs of Irish Roman Catholics. The military was called out and a number of arrests were made. This event prompted the English Orangemen to develop a better organisation, and a County Grand Lodge was formed for Lancashire. New lodges were formed in Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, York, Bradford and London.

There were determined efforts to found a Grand Orange Lodge of England. This was achieved in May 1808, at an inaugural meeting at the Star Hotel in Manchester. The prime mover was a Rev. R. Nixon, who secured the approval of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, and who was elected the first Grand Secretary.

The first Grand Master was Colonel Samuel Taylor of Moston; Aged 36, he was a magistrate, and had raised and financed the Manchester and Salford Regiment for service in the Irish rebellion. The Deputy Grand Master was Colonel Ralph Fletcher of Bolton, whose family had acquired wealth through the coal industry. Fletcher was a magistrate, colonel of the Bolton Volunteers, a strong Anglican, and a founder member of the Bolton Church and King Club. The Grand Treasurer was W A. Woodbourne, a solicitor who also acted as legal adviser.

Many lodges continued to exist as military lodge's within army regiments. This was a point of attack for the Orange Order's enemies who claimed to see something sinister in Orangemen being members of the armed forces. There were several attempts, before 1820 to start a scare on this subject, but the military lodges clung on with tenacity, and there was no organised attempt by the Army high command to have lodges wound-up.

Radical political elements were antagonistic to Orangemen. They feared the potential of the Orange Order to act as a bulwark against their revolutionary ambitions, and they had good cause.

In Ireland the Orangemen had dealt the death-blow to the United Irishmen, and in England the Orangemen very often enrolled as special constables in areas of political and social unrest. Orangemen were present as special constables at the "Peterloo" disturbances in 1819.

Another line of attack used by the Radicals was to accuse the Orangemen of being a secret, oath-bound society which was contrary to the laws at that time, and in this they had some success.

The history of the Orange Order at this time can seem like a minute book of a rules-revision committee in permanent session. The Orange leadership was constantly revising their rules in an attempt to fend off the accusations of their enemies. This was a largely fruitless exercise, as the radicals would never have been satisfied with anything less than the destruction of Orangeism. Perhaps the Orange leadership could have been criticised for merely responding to an agenda set by their enemies.

The Orangemen were also confronted by their traditional enemies, the Irish Roman Catholics who were eager to employ in England the tactics they had used in Ireland, i.e. mob violence. In 1819, an Orange parade took place in Liverpool. In the city at this time there was only one lodge and the parade needed the support of the Manchester brethren. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholics launched a vicious attack on the parade in the hope of intimidating the Protestants into passiveness. As so often their plans backfired and thuggery brought Protestants into the Orange Order. This was the beginning of the Orange expansion in Liverpool that would eventually lead to the city becoming England's major Orange stronghold.

In 1820 the Grand Master, Colonel Taylor, died. On the suggestion of a Dublin Orangeman, C. E. Chetwood, an invitation was extended to The Duke of York to become Grand Master. There is conflicting evidence about whether the Duke was already a member of the Orange Order as this time, although he was certainly a member of The Loyal Order of the Orange and Blue, which was composed of Army officers.

The Duke considered his position for a while and then, on February 8, 1821 wrote to the Grand Secretary William Woodbourne, "I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th, and to acquaint you, that Mr. Eustace communicated to me the resolution entered into by members of the Loyal Orange Institution, appointing me their Grand Master, and with which I felt much gratified, and I am sorry that my acquiescence should not have been communicated to you".

The Duke's acceptance of the position of Grand Master marked the start of a period of Royal leadership and patronage for the Orange Order. It also indicated that in a few years the Orange Order had proved capable of uniting Protestants of all classes, from the demobilised soldiery of 1798 to Princes of the Royal house.

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