Friendly Societies were established in Australia in the 1830s and were traditionally founded on mutual self-help ideals. Societies grew as ordinary Australians – labourers, miners, carpenters, bricklayers, stonemasons, blacksmiths, shop workers, railwaymen and others banded together to provide, by their own exertions and from their own slender resources, some of the medical and other essential … Continue reading What is a Friendly Society?