The Somerset Records Office provided the following information regarding Friendly Societies in Rode in response to a query by Sidney Fussell in 2001 whilst undertaking research for “A History of Brewing in Rode”:
Road Friendly Society of Tradesmen and others held at the George Inn (established 1790); Easter 1794
Road Company of Tradesmen and others held at the Cross Keys Inn (established 1784); Easter 1794
Road Female Friendly Society (established 1772); Easter 1794
Road Friendly Society of Tradesmen and others held at the George Inn (established 1794); Epiphany 1812
Road Peace and Union Society held at the Cross Keys Inn (established 1814); Midsummer 1815
Road Female Union held at the house of Mary Short (established 1816); Midsummer 1816
Road Female Union (amendments and alterations) (established 1820); Epiphany 1821
Road Church Union (established 1827); Midsummer 1827
Extract from A History of Brewing in Rode:
Clubs and Societies: Thrift, Slate and Christmas Clubs have long been a feature of the English Pub and Club Scene and Fussells encouraged their Pub Managers and Tenants and many other organisations to form such groups and to deposit their weekly or monthly collections with the Brewery, to which the Company added the appropriate amount of interest at Christmas time, or whenever the deposit was scheduled to mature. As an example in the early Years after World War II there were some 40 of these Pub clubs and the total amounts posited were as follows:
1948 – £5,969, 1949 – £5,725, 1950 – £5,977, 1951 – £6,234, 1952 – £7,985, 1953 – £9,180, 1954 – £11,183, 1955 – £12,860, 1956 – £14,788. 1957 – £13,997. 1958 – £16,375, 1959 – £15,492 and 1960 – £19,225.
There were also a substantial number of other Societies involved, e.g. various Conservative, Labour and Liberal Clubs and Police Club, which maintained regular ordinary accounts with Fussells.