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.
Initially supporters of the Liberal party were the main promoters of freehold land societies, with the aim of increasing the number of Liberal MPs.
The Conservative party and others took up the idea, and by the early 1850s there were at least 180 societies established.
Many of these early societies were ‘rooted in the working-class ethic of self help’[3] and at least nominally intended to provide the vote and home ownership for working men.