As a Catholic order, the Hospitallers in England were dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540. The Order was briefly revived in 1553 by Henry’s Catholic daughter Mary I. Following her death in 1558, England reverted to Protestantism, and the Order’s properties were confiscated.
In the late 1820s émigré knights from France joined in a plan to found a non-Catholic branch of the Order in England; this was not recognised in Rome. Nevertheless, it continued to grow propelled by the medieval Hospitallers’ traditional mission to care for the sick and injured. By the 1860s it was well established and had attracted some attention from The Royal Family.
Recognising the need for medical assistance for civilian victims of accidents, the St John Ambulance Association was launched by the Order in 1877, organising training and the distribution of first aid kits and stretchers. A decade later, the St John Ambulance Brigade was formed as a uniformed volunteer organisation.
Visit St John Ambulance England’s website