Ancient Order of Foresters

The Ancient Order of Foresters (AOF) was an English fraternal benefit order ("friendly society" under U.K. law), having been formed in 1834 by delegations of the Ancient Order of Royal Foresters, with Subsidiary Courts in the United States and Canada. Each local lodge was a Court, under the administration of a Chief Ranger, and the Forester initiation ritual was based on the legend of Robin Hood.

Structure

 * See our page on Courts of the A.O.F. for index of local courts.

Auxiliaries

 * Knights of Sherwood Forest, a uniformed side activities for Foresters;
 * Companions of the Forest, a "Court" org. for women;
 * Juvenile Forester Society, a youth org. for the sons of Foresters not yet of age.

Successors
In the United Kingdom, the order has become the Foresters Friendly Society, a savings bond and asset management company. In North America, the order has effectively ceased to exist as various High Court jurisdictions dissolved over time; however, a splinter group that broke with the Ancient Order of Foresters in 1874 continued as the Independent Order of Foresters, and today operates as Foresters Financial, a Canadian-based life insurance company that has notably acquired the assets of other dissolved fraternal orders, including the Ontario branches of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Brotherhood of America, and the Order of Scottish Clans.