THE 19th century saw fraternal societies founded across Great Britain. Among them had been the Newtown Oddfellows whose history is now being explored by the town history group on behalf of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB). The Buffs, as they are known, were founded as far back as 1822 and one of the oldest groups of its sort in the country.
An RAOB dinner in Newtown in 1910. During the late 1800s the Buffaloes also opened a chapter in Newtown. The Oddfellows met at the Unicorn Inn on Broad Street, now known as the Monty Club, which is known to have hosted a demonstration on October 25, 1876.