The Orange Order in the Twentieth Century A

The Orange Order in the Twentieth Century: A Comparative Perspective from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Newfoundland Ontario

The Orange Order • Formed 1795 in Northern Ireland • Stands for loyalty to British Crown & Protestantism • Associative cornerstone of British dominant ethnicity in Canada, N. I. , west-central Scotland • Rapidly spread internationally

Lord Nelson Loyal Orange Lodge #149 in Woody Point, Bonne Bay, St. Barbe

Political Influence in N. Ireland • Helped found Ulster Unionist Party • Guaranteed 15% of seats on Ulster Unionist Council • Virtually all Official Unionist MPs are, and have been, Orange members • Orange Order an influential lobby

Social & Political Influence. Canada • • • Politically influential by 1867 Many Tory MPs and several PMs were members Involved in most national issues 1/3 of Ontario legislature was Orange in 1915 50% of Newfoundland Protestant MLAs Orange in 1885 • 1/3 of Ontario males were members at some point in their lifetime during 1870 -1920 • Hundreds of thousands in the wider Orange fraternity as late as the 1950's

Orange Political Influence: Scotland • • 1870 s – WC Scotland Tory links First MP, Wm Whitelaw, 1892 Tories appear at Orange rallies, 1890 s Orange MPs generally follow party line in twentieth century and fail to shape Tory party policy

International Orange Strength • Newfoundland the strongest Orange jurisdiction, similar to Ulster border counties • Belfast area and Ontario similar • WC Scotland NW England much weaker

20 th c. International Orange Membership Trends • Ontario declines first, 1920 • Newfoundland Northern Ireland decline after 1960, though faster in NF • Scotland declines from 1982, but from smaller base

Orange Order Lodges, Northern Ireland, 1991

Male Orange Density, N. I. , 1971

Orange Order Density 1991

Scottish Orange Lodges, 2001

Roman Catholic Percentage, Scottish Counties, 1961

Masonic Lodges, Scotland, 2001

Male Orange Density Scotland, 1961

Male Orange Lodges, Southern Ontario, c. 1975

Causes of Orange Membership Change • Ethnic and Religious changes key (%Irish Protestants, %Catholics, %Established Church) • Economic change less important, though urbanization has a role in Northern Ireland Ontario • Events lie in between cultural shifts and economic changes in importance

Orangeism & Masonry: Class Basis, Scotland, 2002

Order 'goes native' in Canada but less so in Scotland • In 1881, 3/4 of 256 lodge masters in Scotland are Irish-born; Thought of as an Irish organisation into the 1930 s • In 1901, just 7% of Ontario sample of 340 masters and few Newfoundland members are Irish-born • Numerical success and class profile higher in Canada • Irish Methodists vastly overrepresented in Ontario: a new world adaptation

Political Influence: Northern Ireland • Generally ensure Protestant advantage in education, housing, electoral system, marching • Dungiven controversy, 1953 -4: exposes UUP vs Independent Unionist rifts • O’ Neill, Faulkner, Trimble: Reform is resisted, often successfully, except under Direct Rule • Orange vote divides between UUP and DUP. No strong pattern in recent research to indicate one or the other

Orange Victories: Canada • Refusal to yield to Prince of Wales’ desire for no Orange demonstration, Kingston, 1860 • Manitoba Schools Question, 1890 • Orange incorporation, 1891 • Overturning of Hepburn’s Ontario Separate School bill, 1936

Orange Division: Canada • Orange-Green-Bleu alliance, 1830 s-1890 s, inc. Ogle Gowan. No Orange incorporation. • Jesuit Estates Act. 1888. Conservatives fail to disallow act. • Mackenzie Bowell, and ‘Nest of Traitors’, Manitoba Separate School Board, 1890 • Newfoundland Confederation Vote, 1948 • Leslie Frost and Ontario Separate School Funding, 1960

The 'Orange Letter' Incident • 1948 'Orange Letter' warns of Catholic conspiracy, driven by Catholic paper, 'The Monitor' • Resolution was first proposed by men's and women's lodges in Little Catalina: – 'We. . have come to the conclusion that the Roman Catholic Church is endeavouring to dominate Newfoundland. We have reached this conclusion after careful consideration of the results of votes from the various RC settlements during the National Referendum' (1948 report of proceedings)

Political Division: Scotland • Sir John Gilmour, Secretary of State for Scotland in 1920 s. Opposed Presbyterian clergy over the restriction of Irish immigration • Fail to stop Orange Incorporation, 1878, despite success of Orange candidates in Glasgow school board elections • Generally do not affect policy

Conclusion: Political Influence • Order influence tied to membership, but only loosely (can lead or lag) • Order most 'liberal' in Newfoundland, conservative elsewhere • Orange vote is hard to mobilise behind one party – especially in party systems with cross-cutting cleavages • Politicians and parties ‘use’ the Order and their Orange membership far more than the reverse (esp. Scotland Canada, less so N. Ireland)

Conclusion: An Adaptive Organization • Irish diaspora ‘ethnicity’ more important than anti-Catholicism in explaining membership patterns in Canada and Scotland • Convivial, dominant-ethnic, religious and political roles • Adapts most successfully in Newfoundland, followed by Ontario, Liverpool and then Scotland

Newfoundland Male Orange Lodges, 1961