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| St
John Book Shop is a dog-friendly shop |
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| About the Order of St John |
The origins of the
Order of St John can be traced to an 11th century hospital
- the Hospital of St John in Jerusalem.
In 1113 the people who administered this hospital were formed
into a religious Order. Soon after, they took on military
duties and became known as Knights Hospitallers.
That Order, which exists today, is now commonly called the
Order of Malta. It recruited members and owned property throughout
Western Europe. |
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Order of St.John of Jerusalem (Hospitallers) |
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The first property
in Scotland was established at Torphichen in West Lothian.
Acquired during the reign of David I, King of Scots (1124
- 1153), it became, and remained until the 16th century, the
Order's administrative centre in Scotland. it is the village
of Torphichen, 20 miles west of Edinburgh, a mile off the
A706.
Being Roman Catholic, the Order ceased to function in the
British Isles at the time of the Reformation.
In the first half of the 19th century a group of people set
out to revive the Order of Malta in the United Kingdom and
ultimately formed themselves into a separate organisation
which they called the Order of St John. In 1877 they founded
the St John Ambulance Association, whose role was to provide
training in first aid and similar activities.
In its early years, the Order of St John operated throughout
the United Kingdom providing training in first aid and an
ambulance service. However, St Andrew's Ambulance Association
was formed later and began similar activities activities,
both in Scotland and England. In 1908 it was agreed that St
Andrew's would handle first aid training north of the border
and St John south of it.
By the 1940s, some of the Scottish members of St John felt
there was scope for the Order to undertake a variety of public
services in Scotland. In 1947, the Scottish Priory was formed
and since then, from a standing start, it has achieved remarkable
success in meeting a wide diversity of need.
Each year a festival is held in a different place in Scotland
where Priory members who have shown exceptional commitment
to the work of St John are invested as new or promoted members
of the Order in recognition of their work. |
| The Chancery of the Priory of Scotland |
The Chancery, or headquarters,
of the Priory of Scotland is at St John's House, Edinburgh.
This early eighteenth-century house lies off the Royal Mile
a little below the site of St John's Cross in the Canongate.
It was built for the Wemyss family and generously gifted to
the Order in 1971 by the late James Watt KStJ.
Visit
the official St. John, Scotland website > |
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Scottish
Charity
SC000262 |
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