This organisation is one for those people who feel alcohol is a bad thing. It was founded in 1851 in America although the organisations name really came when the first British group was set up in Birmingham in 1868. The movement spread rapidly – and Market Lavington was not left out. There was a substantial local group. The name has changed but the organisation still exists as The International Order of Good Templars.
Today we show a picture of them although the location is not entirely clear.
A meeting of the Independent Order of Good templars - a photo at Market Lavington Museum
There we see a group of some 80 people of all ages. We can name just two of the people in the photograph.
George and Mary Ann Pike
These two people are Mr and Mrs Pike. George Pike was born in 1877 in Trowbridge. Mary Ann came from Warminster and was a little older. The couple had married in 1899 and in 1901 they lived in Market Lavington with their first child, Lilian. George was a butcher’s salesman but later he acquired his own butchery business. Descendants of the couple still live in Market Lavington to this day.
from the ages of George and Mary Ann, we think the picture dates fronm the early years of the twentieth century.
Of course, we’d love to know who the others on the photo are. Can you help with that?
Tags: Easterton, Fiddington, Market Lavington, Museum, temperance
Market Lavington Museum 
July 28, 2012 at 5:07 am |
[…] Temple of the Independent Order of Good Templars. You can read more about this organisation here. Sarah Gye of Market Lavington is initiated into the Independent Order of Good Templars in […]