. Odd Fellows is not a copy of FreemasonryThe Fraternity of Parish Clerks dates back in 1274and they still exist in London today. Shown in photois a Past Master of the Fraternity in hisregalia and livery gown. Fraternal orders did not originate from Freemasonry as usually claimed by over-enthusiastic members but their roots can be traced from the traditions of the craft guilds in England. Sad to say, many over-enthusiastic Freemasons usually have this false misconception that the Freemasons is the oldest fraternity in the world. But contrary to this popular misconception, historical records and scholarly studies prove that it was not only the Masons who protected their trade secrets from others. Prior to the 1700's, there were already hundreds of craft fraternities in existence in England, some are even older than the Freemasons and the Odd Fellows. The Fraternity of Cooks, for example, existed in London as early as 1170. Thereafter until 1438, there is references to the "Masters of the Mysteries" of the Cooks, Pastelers and Piebakers. "Mysteries" suggest that they have mystical initiation rites related to their trade. The Fraternity of Stainers dates back from 1268. The Fraternity of Gardeners, which evolved into the Ancient Order of Free Gardeners, dates back in 1345. They have charters in London dated 1605 and 1659. Almost all of these fraternities mentioned have a "Master" as head along with a "Warden" and "Tyler". When Queen Elizabeth passed the Statute of Apprentices which took the responsibility of apprenticeship away from the guilds, many of these organizations evolved into secular fraternal orders or clubs which opened its membership to people regardless of their trade while others remain exclusive to those belonging to a particular trade. Both Freemasonry and Odd Fellowship trace their roots from the craft guild system in England. To learn more about the roots of fraternal orders, click link: Early Roots of Fraternal Orders prior to the 1700's.It is from the same lineage of the craft guilds system where many similarities among various English fraternal orders can be traced. But while the Odd Fellows and Freemasons may have some similarities, it cannot be denied that there are also huge differences. There is no single author who had given enough evidence to prove that Odd Fellowship is a copy of Freemasonry. Frankly, many of these claims were written by Freemasons themselves at a time when both Fraternal Orders were competitors in terms of membership. Such claims were written in the early-1800's which is at least 50 years after the first Lodges of Odd Fellows were known to exist in England and the United States. Everything is theory and speculation and until now, the so called 'evidences' seem to lack weight and has been called into question by several authors. Within Freemasonry alone, members debate and disagree with each other as to where Freemasonry really originated.