The Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR), also known as the Sons and Daughters of Rechab, is a fraternal organisation and friendly society founded in England in 1835 as part of the wider temperance movement to promote total abstinence from alcoholic beverages. Always well connected in upper society and involved in financial matters, it gradually transformed into a financial institution which still exists, and still promotes abstinence. The Order has been active in Australia from 1843, promoting temperance and as a benefit society. A branch was established in the United States in 1842, and also flourished for a time. In the United Kingdom, the Order trades under the name of Healthy Investment.
History
The Independent Order of Rechabites was founded on 25 August 1835 as the Salford Unity of Rechabites, in the city of Salford, Lancashire, England. Their first lodge was ""Tent Ebenezer #1" and soon "tents" were founded for adult females (over the age of 12), boys (aged 12–16), and for children of both sexes (age 5-12), as well as other adult males (age 16 and up.) In describing the heritage of the Independent Order of Rechabites, a circa 1892 newspaper in Leeds said:
The rituals and ceremonies of the Rechabites vary from place to place but the order promoted three degrees, Knight of Temperance, Knight of Fortitude, and Covenanted Knight of Justice. Lodges are called tents because Jehonadab (or Jonadab) commanded the Biblical sons of Rechab to live in tents (Jeremiah 35:6-7) and the governing body, in England at least, was called the Movable Committee, meeting in a different city every two years. Membership remains open to all who would sign a pledge to completely abstain from alcohol except for religious or medical purposes. There were also death and sickness benefits.
From the late 18th century a number of Friendly Societies had been set up to help working-class people with such things as health insurance and death benefits. Generally these societies held their meetings in pubs. In the 1830s a group of Manchester Methodists became concerned that by encouraging working men to attend public houses to pay their friendly society dues, then the societies were harming the men's health and financial situation and threatening their moral welfare, rather than helping them. To counter this they set up a new Friendly Society called the Independent Order of Rechabites, named after the nomadic, abstaining Rechabites of the Old Testament. The IOR were an offshoot of the Calathumpians, then a diverse collection of social reformers of independent religious views. The organization was still active in the middle 20th century; Sir David Cannadine (British historian, born in Birmingham in 1950) described in 2019 attending a Rechabite meeting with his grandparents who were members.
A branch may be known as a "Tent", since the biblical Rechabites lived exclusively in tents. Each Tent is ruled by a High Chief Ruler, assisted by a High Deputy Ruler, Corresponding Secretary, Sick and Tent Stewards, Inside and Outside Guardians, a Levite of the Tent and a number of Elders. Before one could join the Rechabites and benefit from their insurance and saving scheme a document has to be signed swearing that the proposed member and his family would not drink any alcoholic beverages. This document is known as The Pledge and represents a solemn promise. The initials "IOR" on a tombstone may indicate that the deceased was a member of the organisation.
The Victoria District of the Independent Order of Rechabites currently has 17 Tents and 5 Regions, while the Queensland District of The Independent Order of Rechabites currently has four Tents and two social committees.
United States and Canada
In the United States and Canada there were several orders of Rechabites including the Independent Order of Rechabites of North America and the Encamped Knights of Rechab of North America. The most successful, however, was the Independent Order of Rechabites, which was founded in 1842 and was reported to have 990,000 at the beginning of the twentieth century. Like the Order in Britain, its local groups were called Tents. The national structure was the "High Tent" and the order was headquartered in Washington, DC. Membership was open to males aged 16 to 55, females aged twelve and up, and juveniles aged 5-16; the primary tents were composed of males 16–55 years old who believed in a Supreme Being and signed a total abstinence pledge. Individuals over fifty five were admitted as honorary members, and females over twelve and males under sixteen were permitted to form their own Tents. The Order worked three degrees: Knight of Temperance, Knight of Fortitude and Covenanted Knight of Justice.