| The Priory of Clerkenwell | St. John Baptist Day | Dissolution And Restoration | The British Order In The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries | Royal Charters |

The Priory of Clerkenwell
For purposes of administration the vast estates and possessions of the Order in the countries of Western Europe were divided into Priories and Commanderies, which helped to provide the funds and supplies needed for the defence of the Holy Land, and later of Rhodes and Malta. About 1144, the English Branch of the Order was granted some land at Clerkenwell on the outskirts of the city of London, and there, the Knights built the Priory which was their headquarters in this country throughout the Middle Ages. The Gate House of the Priory, rebuilt in 1504, is still standing and is today the chancery of the Order of St John in the British Realm.
 
Subordinate to the Grand Priory of England there was also a Grand Priory (head of a religious house) of Ireland and a Priory of Scotland.

St. John Baptist Day
The St. John Baptist Day falls on June 24 of every year.

Dissolution And Restoration
At the time of the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII the Grand Priory of England was also dissolved, and the rich estates of the Order were confiscated. Under Queen Mary England temporarily returned to the church of Rome, and in 1557, the Queen issued letters reviving the Order and restoring its estates. Those letters were never revoked, but Elizabeth I again confiscated the estates, and nearly for three centuries, the Order remained titular.
 
In 1831, though the good officers of a group of Knights, the Order was revived and the English committee elected the Reverend Sir Robert Peat to be the Prior of the Tongue of England. Because of religious differences, however, despite prolonged negotiation, the revived English Tongue was refused recogition by the parent body, the Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta in Rome, and therefore developed independently.
 
The British Order In The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
In the later parts of the nineteenth century, the order of St. John in England was very active in the development of Ambulance, First Aid and Nursing work both in war and peace, and also played a leading part in the foundation of the British Red Cross society.
 
In 1874, the life-saving medal of the Order was instituted, while in 1877 the St. John Association was founded, and ten years later, the St. John Ambulance; meanwhile, in 1882, the Ophthalmic Hospital had been established in Jerusalem. The first division of the St. John Ambulance overseas was formed at Dunedin in New Zealand in 1892, followed by division at Cape Town and Rondebosch, South Africa, the following year.
 
During the twentieth century, these charitable activities of the Order increased tenfold and have been extended to every part of the Commonwealth.
 
Royal Charters
The Order first came under royal patronage when H.R.H. the Princes of Wales, later Queen Alexandra, became a lady of Justice. A few years later, in 1888, Queen Victoria granted the first royal charter. The Queen became the sovereign head of the Order and the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII was appointed the Grand Prior. Since that time, the reigning monarch has always been the sovereign head, and the Grand Prior has always been a member of the royal family.
 
In 1907, King Edward VII granted a supplementary charter to enable the Order to establish priories within the Empire, while later King George V granted a new Royal charter by which the title of, "Grand Priory of England" was changed to that of "Grand Priory in the British Realm", and at the same time, as an outward sign of its ancient origin, the honourable prefix of "Venerable" (deserving of respect) was added to the title.
 
The Order is governed in accordance with powers granted by the charters and the provisions of statutes made by virtue of such powers.

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