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Freehold Land Societies were a type of building society that flourished in England in the late 1840s and early 1850s, although new societies continued to be established for several more decades and some were still operating in the early 20th century. Their original purpose was to acquire land and divide it into plots or allotments of a size that would entitle the (male) owner to a vote. The key stimulus was the Reform Act 1832 which, under the county franchise, gave the vote to "Forty-shilling freeholders" - men in possession of land worth 40 shillings a year.
The National Freehold Land Society movement was founded by James Taylor in Birmingham in 1847, with the principal aim of enabling the common man to buy land to enable him to vote. The voting criteria was such that it only permitted men who owned a freehold property with a minimum value of forty shillings.
The National Freehold Land Society was the more common name of the National Permanent Mutual Benefit Society. It was founded in 1849 by, among others, Richard Cobden, Samuel Morley and John Bright. Its purpose was to enable men of small means to acquire freehold property, thereby gaining the vote.
https://www.suffolkbuildingsociety.co.uk/blog/forty-shilling-freeholders/
https://www.banburymuseum.org/Cake%20and%20Cockhorse/VOL_17.3/17.3.84.pdf
http://www.thepotteries.org/offices/freehold_land.htm
https://www.academia.edu/20200246/Exploring_the_Facade_of_Freehold_Land_Societies
https://banking-history.org.uk/record/national-freehold-land-building-society/
https://www.santander.co.uk/about-santander/our-history
https://search.lma.gov.uk/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/LMA_OPAC/web_detail/REFD+LMA~2F4575?SESSIONSEARCH
https://www.lancastercivicsociety.uk/2021/08/14/weekend-walk-freehold-lancaster/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freehold_Land_Societies