Medallion - National Deposit Friendly Society

Reverse

Two women and 3 children

Script: Latin

Lettering: GIVE & IT SHALL BE GIVEN UNTO YOU

Edge

Plain

Comment

The year was 1868. A certain man, Rev. Canon George Raymond Portal, to be precise, had an idea. The Surrey Deposit Friendly Society was the name first coined by Portal at his residence, The Rectory, in Albury, Surrey. The idea stemmed from the fact that at the time, those who were in need of a doctor had to pay for it all by themselves. Families were going hungry when the breadwinner was unwell and were often reliant upon charity to help them through these tough times. In those days, if you died without any means, you were given a pauper’s funeral. Rev Portal felt this was a very unsatisfactory state of affairs.
In 1872 it was resolved that the Society should hereafter be known as the National Friendly Deposit Society.