Catalogue Number
NMLH.2024.57
Object Name
banner
Title
'Rational Sick and Burial Association. Established Jan 1st 1837. Branch No 301. Whitchurch. Cast me not away in the time of sickness. Forsake me not when my strength faileth me. Friendship, Love, Justice, Charity, Truth.'
Place
Bridge Street, Manchester, Whitchurch
People
Rational Sick and Burial Association, Henry Waite (banner maker)
Description
A silk banner with imagery of angels and women symbolising the virtues (Justice, Truth, Faith, Hope and Charity). The main imagery is evocative of a grave monument, with cherubs holding scroll banners naming the Rational Sick and Burial Association, and with the mottos 'Cast me not away in the time of sickness' and 'Forsake me not when my strength faileth me'. There are inset images of a sickbed scene, and a funeral scene. The reverse shows a woman and child in mourning clothes beside a grave, and is captioned 'We provide for the widow & orphans'.
This banner is estimated to be from the 1850s or 1860s, based on the clothes the figures are wearing, and was made by Henry Waites. It was made for the Rational Sick and Burial Association, founded in 1837. The Association changed itâs name to Rational Friendly Society in 1898, by which point there were over 800 branches and over 100,000 members. The Society was among the early campaigners for a national old age pension scheme. This banner is unusual for the time, as it depicts disabled people, not just widows and orphans. Many jobs in the Victorian era were dangerous enough to cause disablement, but this isn't often represented in society banners of the time.
Friendly societies like this one provided an early type of sickness, old age, and life insurance - members would pay in each month, and if they became ill or too old to work, a weekly sum would be paid to them. If the person died, their surviving spouse could claim for funeral expenses and would be paid a pension to make up for the loss of their spouse's income into the home. Both the Association and Waites had their offices on Bridge Street, Manchester, only a few feet from the current site of the People's History Museum.
Multimedia
