Name: Marchioness Wellesley Female Tontine Society
Year: 1838
Type: Mutual Aid Tontine
Subscription Cost: 5s. joining fee and 2s. per week
Status: Operational
The Marchioness Wellesley Female Tontine, established in 1838 and named after Ireland's then Vicereine Marianne Wellesley, was a women-only mutual aid society that aimed to 'promote harmony, love, and industry, and support each other in sickness and distress'. While restricted to working women (excluding wives of watchmen, constables, or laborers due to the perceived risks of these occupations), the society required new members to pay a 5s. joining fee plus 6d. for a rule book, followed by weekly subscriptions of 2s.—significantly higher than later mutual aid societies. In return, members received 6s. weekly for the first seven weeks of illness, then 3s. for six more weeks, plus £4 death benefits and additional payments for childbirth. This was one of the earliest mutual aid tontines in Ireland and was one of only two organised by non-temperance societies during the 1830s.
Source: Royal Irish Academy, Charles Haliday Collection HP 1719/6, Rules & orders to be observed by the Marchioness Wellesley female tontine society, (Dublin, 1838). The first nine pages are provided.
Reproduced with permission from the Royal Irish Academy. Please appropriately cite any sources used.
