Aberchirder Oddfellows

Private welfare continued to be necessary until the 1945 Labour Government introduced the welfare state, but even thereafter a number of local schemes continued to operate in Aberchirder. The St Marnan’s Lodge of Oddfellows continued its welfare activities until after World War Two.  Its hall was used until 1934 by the Banffshire Territorial Force Association, and thereafter by the Ex-Service Men’s Club which, after the war, became the Ex-Service and Young Men’s Club. In 1950 the property was bought by W J Rennie Snr who in 1961 converted it into a house attached to his shop at 112 Main Street.

The report of the 1925 AGM mentions that there were 499 members, including Bro. G Youngson, who was elected as an officer. This was the year in which Masonic Lodge Marnoch No. 1325 was formed (see next section) and Bro G Youngson also appears in its inaugural photograph (see next section). So the two organisations were obviously not mutually exclusive.

Reports of Oddfellows AGMs continued until January 1949, when the introduction of the Welfare State in the previous year meant that friendly societies were no longer so vital to working men.

Between 1904 and 1950 the Lodge owned a Hall, formerly a Roman Catholic Chapel, in what is now Rennie’s Lane. The Hall was used before WWI by the Voluntary Company Gordon Highlanders and after the war by the Banffshire Territorial Force Association. From 1934 It was used by the Ex-Service Men’s Club – which after WW2 became the Ex Service and Young Men’s Club – until it disbanded in 1961. W J Rennie, who had purchased the Hall in 1950, converted it in 1962 into a house attached to his shop at 112 Main St.