Hi there,
I have just had to clear out my late parents' house and discovered Robert Johnson's indenture into the Oddfellows in the loft. I have absolutely no idea if he was an ancestor of my mother or father, but cannot think of any other reason why we should have it in the loft!
The framed certificate is approx. 58cm x 45cm and the wording is as follows.
"To the Grand Master, the Directors and the Order in general. This is to certify that our well-beloved Brother, Robert Johnson, was admitted a member of the Loyal "Victory" Lodge No. 305, , in the Hull (sic.) [Hulme?] District of the Manchester Unity of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows on the Fifth day of February, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty Six."
Three names appear at the bottom, James Ward; NG, Thomas Burnett; VG and Gibson Clapham; Secy.
Judging by the information on the web, this is definitely your ancestor. I would love to know how we ended up with it in our family! I don't even known which side of the family to look at. My late father was a freemason, so perhaps there is a conection there, even though the Odd Fellows were a seperate movement and the Independent Manchester Unity was, I believe, a breakaway from them. RJ was both an Odd Fellow and a Freemason, apparently.
Have you traced Robert Johnson's descendents at all? I would be interested to know if any of them lead to my grandparents, who were all born in the 1880s, family names Ware, Manning, Powell and Owen.
Incidentally, are you also, or do you know, "Milly" of nmfhssouthport.myfreeforum.org North Meols (Southport) Family History Society? She is also asking similar questions about Robert Johnson?
