National Friendly is the trading name of National Deposit Friendly Society, a British

friendly society A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolent society, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutual org ...

providing financial products and services. It was formed in 1868 as the Surrey Deposit Friendly Society. National Friendly is located at

Queen Square, Bristol Queen Square is a Georgian square in the centre of Bristol, England. Following the 1831 riot, Queen Square declined through the latter part of the 19th century, was threatened with a main line railway station, but then bisected by a dual carri ...

History

The Society was founded in 1868 by the Rev. George Raymond Portal to provide sickness cover for the poor. Portal was born in 1827 and educated at Rugby School. After ordination, Portal worked in London where his exposure to the appalling level of poverty was the impetus for the establishment of the friendly society. In 1858 Portal was appointed Rector of Albury, near

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

; ten years later he started the Surrey County Deposit Benefit Club.Roper and Harrison, ''The First Hundred Years 1868-1968'', The deposit system was first conceived in 1831 by Rev. Samuel Best, Rector of

Abbots Ann Abbotts Ann is a village in the parish of the same name, approximately south-west of Andover, Hampshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census, including Little Ann and Red Post Bridge, was 2,566. History The village nam ...

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

. In essence, the deposit principle was, that part of the contribution was for the benefit of the individual, and part for the common pool. Portal's Society was unusual in that it admitted women and children, By the end of 1869 the Society had around 200 members and It began to spread into the surrounding villages and then

where it had a small office with a general secretary. In 1871, Portal was appointed to the living of Burghclere in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

at the instigation of his friend Lord Caernarvon. Portal proposed a move into other counties. To facilitate that expansion, a new organisational structure was established and the name changed to the National Deposit Friendly Society. The first moves were into

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

and

. At the time of George Portal death in 1889, the National Deposit's membership was approaching 7,000. In 1897, London became the new headquarters. Two years later there were 36,000 members and by 1930, the membership reached one million. By providing state benefits, the 1911 National Insurance Act had the potential to threaten the voluntary principle of the friendly society system. However, the administrative systems of the friendly societies were necessary to implement the State scheme and the National Deposit was the first friendly society to become an approved administrator under the act and membership subsequently increased. At the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, National Deposit Friendly Society established its own convalescent home, which offered support to injured soldiers. The establishment of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

posed similar threats to the Society, and it lost 278,000 members in 1949. The Society responded by issuing a range of new policies during the 1950s and 1960s, such as variations in the length of sickness coverage. In 1982, the Society moved to Bristol. In 2011, National Friendly stopped writing new health insurance policies due to capital inadequacy issues. Later it resumed again in 2016.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web , url = https://nationalfriendly.co.uk/about-us/ , title = About Us , website = nationalfriendly.co.uk , language = en , access-date = 15 July 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180725122857/https://nationalfriendly.co.uk/about-us/ , archive-date = 25 July 2018 , url-status = live {{cite journal , last1 = BMA , author-link = British Medical Association , title = Regulations For Medical Benefit. Text Of The New Draft Regulations , journal =

The British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origina ...

, date = 1913 , volume = 2 , issue = 2759 , pages = 401–420 , jstor = 25307868 {{cite web , url = https://schoolshistory.org.uk/topics/british-history/modern-britain/liberal-reforms/national-insurance-act-1911/ , title = National Insurance Act 1911 , author = Dan Moorehouse , website = schoolhistory.org.uk , access-date = 15 July 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191102105546/https://schoolshistory.org.uk/topics/british-history/modern-britain/liberal-reforms/national-insurance-act-1911/ , archive-date = 2 November 2019 , url-status = live {{cite book , last = Cordery , first = Simon , title = British friendly societies, 1750-1914 , publisher = Palgrave Macmillan , location = Basingstoke , date = 2003 , oclc = 1205395891 , isbn = 9780230598041 {{cite book , last = Beveridge , first = William H. , title = Voluntary Action: A Report on Methods of Social Advance , publisher = Routledge , location = London , date = 2015 , oclc = 897376725 , isbn = 9781317572992 {{cite web , url = http://catalogue.stmargaretshistory.org.uk/collections/show/78 , website = St. Margaret's Village Archive , title = Portal House , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200114225216/http://catalogue.stmargaretshistory.org.uk/collections/show/78 , archive-date = 14 January 2020 , url-status = dead {{cite web , url = http://www.capitolsignsbristol.co.uk/europes-largest-georgian-square-becomes-new-home-for-national-friendly/ , title = Europe's largest Georgian Square becomes new home for National Friendly , website = capitolsignsbristol.co.uk , date = 2 August 2019 , access-date = 16 July 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200928035944/https://capitolsignsbristol.co.uk/europes-largest-georgian-square-becomes-new-home-for-national-friendly/ , archive-date = 28 September 2020 , url-status = live {{cite web , last = Walker , first = Peter , url = https://www.ftadviser.com/2016/06/20/insurance/national-friendly-returns-to-intermediary-market-j6CWuWBg7TVGQr1BXB9oKP/article.html , date = 20 June 2016 , website = FT Adviser , title = National Friendly returns to intermediary market , access-date = 16 July 2021 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160621130725/http://www.ftadviser.com/2016/06/20/insurance/national-friendly-returns-to-intermediary-market-j6CWuWBg7TVGQr1BXB9oKP/article.html , archive-date = 21 June 2016 , url-status = live Financial services companies established in 1868 Friendly societies of the United Kingdom Organisations based in Bristol Organizations established in 1868