The Most Venerable Order

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Email: moorep@manx.net

 

Home Page | A Brief History of the Order | The Order in England | The Most Venerable Order | St John Ambulance | Training | Social Care | Our vision - 2001-2006

THE MOST VENERABLE ORDER OF THE

HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM.

At the instigation of the Capitular Commission of

the Sovereign Military Order in France, a move was

made to revive the order in England in 1831. A

period of uncertainty was ended when the British Order

was given independent legal status as an Order of Chivalry,

by Queen Victoria in 1888. This Royal recognition was given

as result of the members' charitable activities. Since then,

The King or The Queen has been the Sovereign Head of the

Order and the Grand Prior has been a member of the Royal

family, with the Lord Prior as his Deputy

These developments followed the growth of the First Aid

movement in the middle of the 19th century and the

establishment of the Red Cross under the Geneva

Convention of 1864. Members of the Order were

committed to developing effective ambulance and nursing

services in wartime, supported by training and practice in

peacetime. They also recognised that it was not just

soldiers who needed First Aid. Ordinary people in factories,

docks and mines, faced dangerous conditions every day of

their working lives. In 1877.theOrderfoundedtheSt.John

Ambulance Association to provide them with training and

equipment and in 1887 they founded the Brigade.

The Order established its second charitable foundation in

Jerusalem in 1882 when The Prince of Wales obtained a

grant of land from the Sultan of Turkey to start a hospital in

the tradition of the Knights. The St. John Eye Hospital

specialises in the treatment of eye diseases, which are

widespread in the Middle East.

"The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of

Jerusalem" now officially shortened to the Order of St. John is

international and gives parity to its Priories in Australia,

Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, USA

and Wales. Western Australia and Ards are Commanderies of

the Order. Since 1999, the members of the Ruling Council

include the Prior or Chancellor of each Priory. St. John's Gate

is the headquarters of the Priory of England and the Islands.