While researching burial clubs and friendly societies, one historical sidenote popped up over and over again. Treatises and pamphlets from the late 1800s about running a burial club repeatedly mention “the Ratcliffe Tables” whilst discussing financial responsibility and billing subscribers. So here is some background on the Ratcliffe tables and how it could be used in games:
Henry Ratcliffe was born in 1808 in Tyldesley. When he was 25, Ratcliffe joined “The Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity”, a faction of the Oddfellow fraternal order. The Oddfellows operated their own friendly societies, caring for their injured, sick, or retired members, along with the families of deceased members. Henry rose through their ranks to become the Secretary of Manchester Unity in1848. His brother, William, previously held that position but his membership was suspended for embezzling £425 meant to aid the victims of famine in Ireland. During his time as Secretary, Henry balanced the order’s books, cleaned the hierarchy of corruption, and abetted legislation holding friendly societies accountable to their clientele.
Ratcliffe’s most famous contributions to the Oddfellows are his three sets of actuarial tables he meticulously researched and wrote in 1846-48, 1856-60, and the last in 1866-70. “Observations on the Rate of Mortality and Sickness Existing Amongst Friendly Societies” detailed the statistics and probabilities of death and illness among the population of Manchester from birth to 70 years of age. The appendices listing the amount of weekly payment required to adequately cover the claims of subscribers from various ages and backgrounds became known as “the Ratcliffe Tables. After he published the first study in 1850, friendly societies all across England revolutionized their fees and subscriptions according to his figures, making their organizations more dependable, secure, and successful.
While a book filled with columns of figures and prudent financial instruction may not seem like a potent source for gaming, the Ratcliffe Tables are an intensive study of death and loss. They could make a terrific plot hook, background detail, or treasure.
Adventure Ideas
The Guild suppressed the original work by Ratcliffe because it’s an accidental but dangerous Necromantic Tome. Necromancers can gain temporary power or reduce the difficulty of their rituals by looking up their subject’s age and demographics in the Ratcliffe Tables. The knowledge of how much longer they could have lived and how much their lives were worth holds great magical significance.
If anyone memorizes the Ratcliffe Tables they will learn the exact time and date of their death, or be able to make an educated guess about the time and date of death for anyone they spend a few minutes observing. They may also be able to foresee and avoid small accidents or transform them into much larger disasters.
The banality of page after page of actuarial tables makes a potent trap. Falling asleep or daydreaming while reading the Ratcliffe Tables pulls the reader’s consciousness out of their body and into the land of the dead. If they do not return to their bodies in a short while, they will literally be bored to death.
Finally, Ratcliff intensely researched for his “Observations”. During his research, he spent up to 17 hours a day pouring though Civil Registry records and conducting interviews all over Manchester. He also hired clerks and investigators to compile and fill the gaps in his data. All sorts of strange rumors and suspicions could be uncovered by this sort of research.
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