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The St John Historical Society was formed in 1981 for the advancement in learning and understanding of the history of the Order of St John. There are no formal qualifications for membership, other than an interest in the subject. The Society became a branch of the St John Fellowship on 1st January 2022. 

The Society has members not only here in the UK and Ireland but also across the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA. The Society offers an interesting and varied programme of talks throughout the year, in partnership with the Museum, both online and in person at St John’s Gate. Talks are on a wide range of subjects, from the medieval history of the Knights Hospitaller to the humanitarian work carried out by St John Ambulance since its foundation in 1877. 

A highlight of the programme is the annual Jonathan Riley-Smith Memorial Lecture, usually held in the autumn. This is presented by a distinguished speaker on a subject that reflects their particular interest in our shared history. You can find out more about upcoming events, and book tickets, by visiting Eventbrite. 

As part of its core mission, the St John Historical Society has sponsored a number of projects to digitise the Museum’s holdings to make them more accessible to researchers worldwide. These initiatives have included Order of St John Member Rolls, Order of St John Annual Reports (1868-1970) and First Aid Journal. A full list of digitised resources can be found here.

Current subscriptions per annum 

Single £15, two people at the same address £20.

Membership 

The St John Historical Society welcomes applications for membership, which can be made by completing the application form and emailing to the email address shown at the foot of the form. Each application will be acknowledged by an email that will include payment instructions for the initial subscription.

One St John is the international historical journal of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, encompassing history and heritage research from St John Establishments around the world, concerned with all aspects of the history and work of the Order. 

Issues of the One St John Journal can be downloaded from the St John International website.

St John Ambulance is England’s leading First Aid and ambulance charity, providing first aid courses, community services and supplies to businesses and individuals to help save lives and keep communities safe.

To find our more about the work of St John Ambulance, visit the St John Ambulance website.  

St John delivers its charitable activities through local St John organisations, which we call Establishments. They consist of Priories, Associations, and Commanderies. The International Secretariat of the Order – St John International – is the supporting body for all St John Establishments. 

To find out more about the work of St John Establishments worldwide visit the St John International website.

St John opened its first hospital to offer ophthalmic care in Jerusalem in 1882. The Group now offers expert eye care in the Holy Land and has hospitals, clinics, and outreach services in the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem.  

To find out more about the work of The Group visit the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group website. 

Since 1961, the Alliance of the Orders of St John has brought together the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, the Johanniter, the Johanniter Orde in Nederland, and the Johanniterorden Sverige to work as a united front in matters of common concern. 

To learn more about the Alliance of the Orders of St John visit the Alliance of the Orders of St John website.

The Sovereign Order of Malta is active in 120 countries caring for people in need through its medical, social and humanitarian works. Day-to-day, its broad spectrum of social projects provides a constant support for forgotten or excluded members of society.

Find out more about the work of the Order on the Sovereign Order of Malta’s website.

For over 150 years the British Red Cross has been helping those in need.

You can find out more about the work of the British Red Cross by visiting the British Red Cross website.

You can explore the historic links between St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross by visiting the British Red Cross Museum and Archives webpage.

The Malta Study Center at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library in Collegeville, Minnesota, leads an international project to preserve and digitally reconstruct the widely dispersed archives of the Order of St John, much of which was scattered following Napoleon’s invasion of the island in 1798.

The partnership with the Museum of the Order of St John, which began in October 2023, will digitise manuscripts, rare printed books, maps and ephemera from the collection and make these more widely available to scholars and the public. Copies of the digital images will be stored by the Museum, whilst the collection will become available on the HMML Reading Room, fully catalogued and browsable by different categories.

Bearers of the Cross was an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project, running from October 2015 – December 2017, led by Professor William Purkis from the University of Birmingham. Many of the outputs of this project, including an open access database of the Museum’s medieval collections, and research and interpretation, are available on the website. 

Explore the Bearers of the Cross website. 

In May 2024 a podcast series was launched, featuring new research into the history of the Order of St John in the later medieval and early modern periods – when the Order was headquartered on Rhodes and Malta. Each episode begins as we take an item off the shelves in our historic library and explore different aspects of our history that it leads us to investigate.

Our host is Dr Stephen Mossman of the University of Manchester, whose ongoing research into the history of the Order has drawn on the manuscripts and early printed books in our library.

Find out more about the series and download episodes on the Off the Shelves at St John’s Gate podcast project page.

The London Museums of Health and Medicine is a network of over twenty museums, archives, Royal Colleges, and institutions that engage the public with health and medicine and its heritage across London. The website gives details of the collections, events and public engagement activities delivered by these organisations. 

To find out more visit the London Museums of Health and Medicine website.