The Orange Order in the Twentieth Century: A

Comparative Perspective from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Newfoundland and 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

• 1870s – WC Scotland Tory links

• First MP, Wm Whitelaw, 1892

• Tories appear at Orange rallies, 1890s

• Orange MPs generally follow party line in twentieth century and fail to shape Tory party policy

International Orange Membership, 1912-1994

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1912 1929 1937 1955 1994

Other

Canada

Scotland

England

Ireland

Orange Density, International, 1920

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Nfld Ont Scotland N. Ireland

International Orange Strength

• Newfoundland the strongest Orange jurisdiction, similar to Ulster border counties

• Belfast area and Ontario similar

• WC Scotland and NW England much weaker

Orange Male Membership, Ontario West, 1901-1995

c. 1

901

1915

1921

1927

1933

1939

1945

1951

1957

1963

1969

1975

1981

1987

1993

Orange Male Membership, Newfoundland, 1901-2001

1901

1908

1915

1922

1929

1936

1943

1950

1957

1964

1971

1978

1985

1992

1999

Orange membership, Scotland, per 1000 males

0123456

1860

1870

1880

1890

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

20th c. International Orange Membership Trends

• Ontario declines first, 1920

• Newfoundland and 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

Orange Lodge Masters' Ethnicity (N = 340), Ontario, 1901

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

English Irish Scottish

LOI

Ont

Predictors of Orange Male Density, Ontario, 1891-1961

(TSCS; N = 224, R sq = .74)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Irish Protestant(1931 base) % [+]

French-Catholic[+]

ConservativeProtestant [+]

ScottishProtestant (1931

base) [-]

Rural [+]

Predictor

Imp

ac

t (Z

sc

ore

)

Predictors of Scottish Orange Male Density, 1860-1991

(TSCS; N = 1202; R sq = .115

02468

1012141618

IrishProtestantIndicator

(1901 base)[+]

Wartime [-] PolicyLosses [-]

ThreateningEvents [+]

Social &Political

Stimuli [+]

% Catholic[+]

% inAgriculture

[-]

Predictors

Imp

act

(Z s

core

)

Predictors of Orange Density, N.I. 1971 (TSCS; N = 100; R-sq = .99 )

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Protestant % (negative) COI/Protestant (positive) 1971 Generation (negative)

Predictor Variable

Imp

act

of

Va

ria

ble

(Z

sco

re)

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 and Ontario

• Events lie in between cultural shifts and economic changes in importance

Orangeism & Masonry: Class Basis, Scotland, 2002

Proportions of Scottish Lodge Masters/Secretaries in Top Lifestyle Classes, 2002

2.66% 3.80%

19.37%

11.79%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

A B

Orange

Masons

Class Basis of Scottish Orangeism, 1881 & 1991

0.4%4.4%

40.6%

50.2%

6.0% 8.0%

42.0% 44.0%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Prof Bourgeois Skill Unskill

1881

c. 1991

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 1930s

• 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, 1830s-1890s, 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)

Predictors of Confederation Vote, 1948

00.5

11.5

22.5

3

Orange density Avg income % Catholic

Predictor

Sig

nif

ican

ce (

t-st

at)

Political Division: Scotland

• Sir John Gilmour, Secretary of State for Scotland in 1920s. 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 and 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