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Article HISTORIES OF OUR LODGES. ← Page 2 of 3 Article HISTORIES OF OUR LODGES. Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Histories Of Our Lodges.
when the Lodge of Concord broke up , the members remaining gave the portrait of their first ; Master , Lord Montague , to this Lodge , and it now graces these walls . Tho Lodge of Concord existed as far back , at least , as 1778 , and probably becamo dormant in 1812 , though it remained on tho Masonic Calendar till 1817 , but no vestige of its warrant or books remains .
Referring again to the Royal Gloucester Lodge , Bro . Dunckerley now appears to havo paid it great attention . He attended a Lodge of Emergency , 17 th of September 1792 , and with a warrant of constitution regularly constituted the Lodge . He appointed Bro . Grierson his D . P . G . M ., and made other grand officers of the province , and on his own proposition he and Bro . Grierson becamo members of the
Lodge , a new book of proceedings was ordered , and the Lodge then seemed to have left the ancient body of Freemasons . This , however , was never really done , bnt the brethren thenceforth were sometimes ancient and sometimes modern Masons , and it must bo confessed , in a somewhat stealthy style , for in the ancient book , 24 th of June , it is agreed to hold a Lodge , and that the transaction
shall be entered into the old book , as before ; and on looking to tho Royal Arch Book of proceedings of a corresponding date , it is ordered that the Grand Lodge dues for this ancient society shall be paid out of the Eoyal Arch Chest . The custom in the Lodgo from 1772 to 1792 was invariably to appoint the Master and officers for six months only , and ifc was
probably a general practice , as the minute books of tho Lodgo of Economy , Winchester , show a similar system . Afc this fcjmo tho Master and officers were chosen for tho year , the Lodge , and not tho W . Master , appointing the officers . The Lodge continued to progress very favourably , the lectures wero frequently delivered , and the Lodge sometimes opened as a modern and sometimes as an ancient Lodge . September 22 nd 1795 , Bro . Dr .
Jeans D . P . G . M ., and Master of the Lodge of Concord , attended , and obtained names of all tho members , and delivered a lecture on tho 1 st degree . In 1796 , 23 rd March , Mr . Rice was proposed as a member by the W . Master , but being a Quaker , the ballot was deferred till the opinion of the Grand Lodgo was taken , aud , 13 th April , the Grand Secretary of the Ancient Grand Lodge wrote that he could nob be admitted .
In more modern times Grand Lodgo takes a very different view of things , and , with its entire approval , several members of tho Society of Friends have been initiated in the Eoyal Gloucester Lodge . Ifc seems to havo been tho custom at this time to instal the Wardens as well as tho Masters of tho Locige ; and it is on record that the late Grand Secretary , Bro . W . H . White , stated that ; afc ono time he had
been installed Senior Warden of a Lodge , and took an obligation , 1798 , June 27 th . It was agreed to drop the modern constitution , and not to work under it any more ; and on tho 14 th of October 1799 , a letter is written to tho D . P . G . M . to say that , being all registered in the Ancient Grand Lodgo under the Duke of Athol , they beg to discontinue their modern warrant . This seems not to havo been carried
out , for on the 8 th of September 1802 , two sets of returns are made , and ono sent to each Grand Lodge . On the 24 th of Juno 1803 , the brethren agreed to continue the warrant under the Dake of Athol ; but on the following 14 th of September this was reversed , and the same changeableness seems to have characterized all the proceedings ; and finally , at the union in 1814 , tho brethren renounced their modern
503 warrant , and adopted tho Athol warrant , No . 174 , by which we now celebrate our centenary in 1872 , instead of 1892 , and our ancient brethren remained faithful to their original constitution . It may not be uninteresting to the brethren to be informed that all Lodges in the Masonic Calendar without dates wero originally Ancient or Athol Lodges , and those with dates modern or Sussex Lodges ; and that ,
although this Lodgo appears next to 1763 , it cannot claim an older date than 1772 , though entitled ^ to tho seniority preceding 1764 . The Royal Gloucester Lodge gave its first ball and supper 8 th January 1813 , and in 1814 Colonel Sherborne Stewart , of the Great Salterns , becamo P . G . Master , and in tho same year , to tbe great benefit of tho Masonic fraternity , the two opposing Grand Lodges
became one . Thus was established upon an enduring and lasting basis the United Grand Lodge of England , the most powerful Grancl Lodge in existence , and extending its beneficent sway over the greater portion of the civilized world . Here , in 1814 , tho Lodgo of Concord disappeared , and the Royal Gloucester Lodgo became tho only Masonic body in the town , taking
the new number of 212 , and so matters remained for some fourteen or fifteen years . In 1815 tho Provincial Grand Lodgo assembled afc Southampton . Under Colonel Stewart and Dr . Jeans the Lodge progressed very satisfactorily , many influential residents were initiated , amongst them Sir William •de Crespigny Bart ., Sam Le Feuvre , John Witt , Joseph
Lobb , nowhappily amongst us , and upwards of fifty years a Mason . Sir Wm . Do Crespigny having become W . Master of the Royal Gloucester Lodge , was in 1821 appointed to the office of P . G . M . The Grand Master of England , H . R . H . tho Dnke of Sussex , of blessed memory , came down and initiated him , aud the Lodges of Hampshire assembled in great strength to pay homage to their illustrious chief ,
the Worshipful the Mayor and Corporation gave many facilities , and joined the Masonic body in the procession to church . Shortly after , Abel Rous Dottin , one of tho members for the borough , the Rev . W . Waring , Admiral Bullen , Dr . Shadwell , Wm . J . Le Feuvre , the father of the present immediate Past Master of the Lodge , Thomas White Clement , Stephen Judd , Charles Davis , Charles
Maul , Captain Ranier and others , whose memory is still cherished by many in this town , were initiated into Freemasonry . In 1826 Charles Ewens Deacon , the father of this Lodge and Senior Past Master , was initiated . He is happily present this evening , and long may he live to receive the grateful recognition of his brother Masons . In 1827
Bro . Abraham , the father of our excellent treasurer , became a joining member , and , the numbers increasing , on the 4 th of February 1829 a new Lodge was formed , called tbe Southampton Lodge , and of whom Sir John Millbank became the first Master , and Edward Bryant and Joseph Lobb first Wardens , tho Lodge then meeting at
Histories Of Our Lodges.
Bonwoll s rooms , but now occupying the same premises as tho Royal Gloucester Lodge , the members of both Lodges being on terms of much good feeling and mutual respect . In the years 1835-36 Bro . Deacon occupied the Master's chair , and revived the Lodge from a temporary dullness . Ou leaving the chair he received a very handsome jewel from tho members of tho Lodge , a presentation that had then
very rarely been made to any one . Tho Lodge had removed in 1823 from East . sfcreefc to tho present Masonic Hall , bnt the hall got into private hands , and in 1838 was nearly lost to the brethren by a sale for commercial purposes . Bro , P . M . Deacon , with immense energy , rallied a few of the brethren
around him , and in two or three days succeeded in raising £ 1 , 300 in fif ty-two shares of £ 25 each . The Masonic body now found a home for Masonry , which , though not now sufficient for the increasing numbers , has been a source of great comfort and happiness to tho brethren , and of great advantage to tho Lodge .
Bro . Stebbing having folded up tho paper from which he had read tho foregoing , proceeded to say : Leaving the hasty sketch of the Lodge ' s history now brought down to times within the memory of many then present , and which would probably be more completely given to tho Craft afc an early day , ho had but to glance afc a few interesting points in conclusion , and especially at the names of several
brethren amongst them whose families , in various relations , had been members of the Royal Gloucester Lodge . Three of tho Le Feuvre family were amongst tho number , and one , Bro . J . E . Le Feuvre , their present well-skilled immediate Past Master , was now on tho dais . Two of the Lobb family , father aud son—to the former of whom ho had before had tho pleasure of referring—and one caso of
especial interest , that of Bro . Abraham Abraham , formerly Sheriff of Southampton , and the first gentleman of the Jewish persuasion who ever held that office in any town in England , and who , with the worthy Treasurer of the Lodge , Bro . Henry Abraham , then on his right hand , afforded , ho believed , tho only instance in tho Royal Gloucester Lodgo where both father and son served tho honourable
office of Master . The father of the present W . Master was a member of the Lodge , aud Past Master of another , affording a somewhat similar , but not the interesting instance of both father and son being Masters of one and tho same Lodge . Three brothers of the Perkins family were members of the Lodge , all men of mark and energy in the town , and two of them wero present that dav , Bro . Georgo Perkins , who was
excellent in office , and Bro . Frederick Perkins , who not only served more than onco as Master of tho Lodgo , but had been four or fivo times Mayor of Southampton , to the great advantage of the munici . palifcy . Both J . R . and A . H . Weston had also been Masters of tho Lodge , full of usefulness and thorough men of business—tho pleasure of the company of the former was much dimmed by the absence and
serious illness of the latter . He referred with pleasure to his amiable friend Bro . Edward Coxwell , having been Master of the Lodgo , and his eldest son , Captain Coxwell , one of the members ; and lastly aud sadly to say , another Pasb Master , who had worked so well in preparation for that celebration , and who stood so high in the province as Grand Secretary , was , with his eldest son , also a Mason , now
sorrowing over the remains of their much-loved son and brother , who only forty-eighfc hours since had been , in very early manhood , called to another and a better world . The portraits of some of tho present and many of the former Masonic worthies now adorned that hall , and some of the public acts of the Masons of the town and county were a part of tho history of Southampton . He had alluded to their layin «
tho foundation-stone of All Saints' Church , and they formed an important portion of the Masonic body that assisted Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis in a similar work at the commencement of the Southampton Docks , now one of the most successful commercial undertakings in the town ; and tho W . Master of the Royal Gloucester Lodge , Bro . Trew , had in olden time , accompanied by its members , laid the
foundation-stoue of tho Royal South Hants Infirmary—an institution devoted to purposes so entirely akiu to Freemasonry , and flourishing in tbe blessed work of diminishing human suffering and soothin" - the afflictions of their neighbours ancl fellow-townsmen . He had but to refer onco more to the centenary of that Lodge , to the long and peaceful course that ifc had had . There had been no cessation to its
meetings for a hundred years—customarily every month , but frequently much oftener ; and that day ifc commenced a second centenary , with the highest hopes and under tho brightest auspices , graced , as tho presiding genius , with the Sovereign of the Order , and surrounded by the brethren of every grade in Masonry . Long , long in the memory of those present would livo the distinguished visit of the Marquis of
Ripon and the kindness of the Mayor , the reception of the Corporation , and his Lordship's most courteous bearing and eloquent address , tho brilliant array of Grand Officers that surrounded him ; and the presence of the much-loved Provincial Grand Master , Bro . Beach , and his officers , would , in their recollection in the future , be almost aa dazzling as to-day . The hundreds of Masons in their various Lodges
now eourteously present would long be gratefully remembered , whilst the crowd of brethren of the Gloucester Lodgo , to swell tho pleasin » picture of Masonic rejoicing , would ever and anon be tho thome ol congratulation . Their visiting brethren that day would not soon forget the architectural beauty of the hall in which they were assembled , bearing a reasonable comparison with that magnificent hall
in the metropolis , the Home of Freemasonry , and probably the finest room in England . The splendid decorations of tho place in which they were assembled , so fairy-like , so elegant , so Masonically appropriate , the richly-clothed brethren—the gold , the purple , the jewels , and the rich and varied paraphernalia of the Order—would , in years to come , be often talked of and seem to be but of a few years since ; but let him be pardoned for saying that the visit of these distinguished
Masons , however noble in rank or great in virtue , would afc some distant time be less remembered , and the brilliancy of the scene gradually fade away . The highly wrought jewellery , the gay tinsel , the rich purple , and the fine linen , would succumb to the destroying hand of time , but the principles of Masonry faithfully applied would live for ever , and the gorgeous character of the scene and the happy proceedings of the day did nob take his mind captive from the con .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Histories Of Our Lodges.
when the Lodge of Concord broke up , the members remaining gave the portrait of their first ; Master , Lord Montague , to this Lodge , and it now graces these walls . Tho Lodge of Concord existed as far back , at least , as 1778 , and probably becamo dormant in 1812 , though it remained on tho Masonic Calendar till 1817 , but no vestige of its warrant or books remains .
Referring again to the Royal Gloucester Lodge , Bro . Dunckerley now appears to havo paid it great attention . He attended a Lodge of Emergency , 17 th of September 1792 , and with a warrant of constitution regularly constituted the Lodge . He appointed Bro . Grierson his D . P . G . M ., and made other grand officers of the province , and on his own proposition he and Bro . Grierson becamo members of the
Lodge , a new book of proceedings was ordered , and the Lodge then seemed to have left the ancient body of Freemasons . This , however , was never really done , bnt the brethren thenceforth were sometimes ancient and sometimes modern Masons , and it must bo confessed , in a somewhat stealthy style , for in the ancient book , 24 th of June , it is agreed to hold a Lodge , and that the transaction
shall be entered into the old book , as before ; and on looking to tho Royal Arch Book of proceedings of a corresponding date , it is ordered that the Grand Lodge dues for this ancient society shall be paid out of the Eoyal Arch Chest . The custom in the Lodgo from 1772 to 1792 was invariably to appoint the Master and officers for six months only , and ifc was
probably a general practice , as the minute books of tho Lodgo of Economy , Winchester , show a similar system . Afc this fcjmo tho Master and officers were chosen for tho year , the Lodge , and not tho W . Master , appointing the officers . The Lodge continued to progress very favourably , the lectures wero frequently delivered , and the Lodge sometimes opened as a modern and sometimes as an ancient Lodge . September 22 nd 1795 , Bro . Dr .
Jeans D . P . G . M ., and Master of the Lodge of Concord , attended , and obtained names of all tho members , and delivered a lecture on tho 1 st degree . In 1796 , 23 rd March , Mr . Rice was proposed as a member by the W . Master , but being a Quaker , the ballot was deferred till the opinion of the Grand Lodgo was taken , aud , 13 th April , the Grand Secretary of the Ancient Grand Lodge wrote that he could nob be admitted .
In more modern times Grand Lodgo takes a very different view of things , and , with its entire approval , several members of tho Society of Friends have been initiated in the Eoyal Gloucester Lodge . Ifc seems to havo been tho custom at this time to instal the Wardens as well as tho Masters of tho Locige ; and it is on record that the late Grand Secretary , Bro . W . H . White , stated that ; afc ono time he had
been installed Senior Warden of a Lodge , and took an obligation , 1798 , June 27 th . It was agreed to drop the modern constitution , and not to work under it any more ; and on tho 14 th of October 1799 , a letter is written to tho D . P . G . M . to say that , being all registered in the Ancient Grand Lodgo under the Duke of Athol , they beg to discontinue their modern warrant . This seems not to havo been carried
out , for on the 8 th of September 1802 , two sets of returns are made , and ono sent to each Grand Lodge . On the 24 th of Juno 1803 , the brethren agreed to continue the warrant under the Dake of Athol ; but on the following 14 th of September this was reversed , and the same changeableness seems to have characterized all the proceedings ; and finally , at the union in 1814 , tho brethren renounced their modern
503 warrant , and adopted tho Athol warrant , No . 174 , by which we now celebrate our centenary in 1872 , instead of 1892 , and our ancient brethren remained faithful to their original constitution . It may not be uninteresting to the brethren to be informed that all Lodges in the Masonic Calendar without dates wero originally Ancient or Athol Lodges , and those with dates modern or Sussex Lodges ; and that ,
although this Lodgo appears next to 1763 , it cannot claim an older date than 1772 , though entitled ^ to tho seniority preceding 1764 . The Royal Gloucester Lodge gave its first ball and supper 8 th January 1813 , and in 1814 Colonel Sherborne Stewart , of the Great Salterns , becamo P . G . Master , and in tho same year , to tbe great benefit of tho Masonic fraternity , the two opposing Grand Lodges
became one . Thus was established upon an enduring and lasting basis the United Grand Lodge of England , the most powerful Grancl Lodge in existence , and extending its beneficent sway over the greater portion of the civilized world . Here , in 1814 , tho Lodgo of Concord disappeared , and the Royal Gloucester Lodgo became tho only Masonic body in the town , taking
the new number of 212 , and so matters remained for some fourteen or fifteen years . In 1815 tho Provincial Grand Lodgo assembled afc Southampton . Under Colonel Stewart and Dr . Jeans the Lodge progressed very satisfactorily , many influential residents were initiated , amongst them Sir William •de Crespigny Bart ., Sam Le Feuvre , John Witt , Joseph
Lobb , nowhappily amongst us , and upwards of fifty years a Mason . Sir Wm . Do Crespigny having become W . Master of the Royal Gloucester Lodge , was in 1821 appointed to the office of P . G . M . The Grand Master of England , H . R . H . tho Dnke of Sussex , of blessed memory , came down and initiated him , aud the Lodges of Hampshire assembled in great strength to pay homage to their illustrious chief ,
the Worshipful the Mayor and Corporation gave many facilities , and joined the Masonic body in the procession to church . Shortly after , Abel Rous Dottin , one of tho members for the borough , the Rev . W . Waring , Admiral Bullen , Dr . Shadwell , Wm . J . Le Feuvre , the father of the present immediate Past Master of the Lodge , Thomas White Clement , Stephen Judd , Charles Davis , Charles
Maul , Captain Ranier and others , whose memory is still cherished by many in this town , were initiated into Freemasonry . In 1826 Charles Ewens Deacon , the father of this Lodge and Senior Past Master , was initiated . He is happily present this evening , and long may he live to receive the grateful recognition of his brother Masons . In 1827
Bro . Abraham , the father of our excellent treasurer , became a joining member , and , the numbers increasing , on the 4 th of February 1829 a new Lodge was formed , called tbe Southampton Lodge , and of whom Sir John Millbank became the first Master , and Edward Bryant and Joseph Lobb first Wardens , tho Lodge then meeting at
Histories Of Our Lodges.
Bonwoll s rooms , but now occupying the same premises as tho Royal Gloucester Lodge , the members of both Lodges being on terms of much good feeling and mutual respect . In the years 1835-36 Bro . Deacon occupied the Master's chair , and revived the Lodge from a temporary dullness . Ou leaving the chair he received a very handsome jewel from tho members of tho Lodge , a presentation that had then
very rarely been made to any one . Tho Lodge had removed in 1823 from East . sfcreefc to tho present Masonic Hall , bnt the hall got into private hands , and in 1838 was nearly lost to the brethren by a sale for commercial purposes . Bro , P . M . Deacon , with immense energy , rallied a few of the brethren
around him , and in two or three days succeeded in raising £ 1 , 300 in fif ty-two shares of £ 25 each . The Masonic body now found a home for Masonry , which , though not now sufficient for the increasing numbers , has been a source of great comfort and happiness to tho brethren , and of great advantage to tho Lodge .
Bro . Stebbing having folded up tho paper from which he had read tho foregoing , proceeded to say : Leaving the hasty sketch of the Lodge ' s history now brought down to times within the memory of many then present , and which would probably be more completely given to tho Craft afc an early day , ho had but to glance afc a few interesting points in conclusion , and especially at the names of several
brethren amongst them whose families , in various relations , had been members of the Royal Gloucester Lodge . Three of tho Le Feuvre family were amongst tho number , and one , Bro . J . E . Le Feuvre , their present well-skilled immediate Past Master , was now on tho dais . Two of the Lobb family , father aud son—to the former of whom ho had before had tho pleasure of referring—and one caso of
especial interest , that of Bro . Abraham Abraham , formerly Sheriff of Southampton , and the first gentleman of the Jewish persuasion who ever held that office in any town in England , and who , with the worthy Treasurer of the Lodge , Bro . Henry Abraham , then on his right hand , afforded , ho believed , tho only instance in tho Royal Gloucester Lodgo where both father and son served tho honourable
office of Master . The father of the present W . Master was a member of the Lodge , aud Past Master of another , affording a somewhat similar , but not the interesting instance of both father and son being Masters of one and tho same Lodge . Three brothers of the Perkins family were members of the Lodge , all men of mark and energy in the town , and two of them wero present that dav , Bro . Georgo Perkins , who was
excellent in office , and Bro . Frederick Perkins , who not only served more than onco as Master of tho Lodgo , but had been four or fivo times Mayor of Southampton , to the great advantage of the munici . palifcy . Both J . R . and A . H . Weston had also been Masters of tho Lodge , full of usefulness and thorough men of business—tho pleasure of the company of the former was much dimmed by the absence and
serious illness of the latter . He referred with pleasure to his amiable friend Bro . Edward Coxwell , having been Master of the Lodgo , and his eldest son , Captain Coxwell , one of the members ; and lastly aud sadly to say , another Pasb Master , who had worked so well in preparation for that celebration , and who stood so high in the province as Grand Secretary , was , with his eldest son , also a Mason , now
sorrowing over the remains of their much-loved son and brother , who only forty-eighfc hours since had been , in very early manhood , called to another and a better world . The portraits of some of tho present and many of the former Masonic worthies now adorned that hall , and some of the public acts of the Masons of the town and county were a part of tho history of Southampton . He had alluded to their layin «
tho foundation-stone of All Saints' Church , and they formed an important portion of the Masonic body that assisted Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis in a similar work at the commencement of the Southampton Docks , now one of the most successful commercial undertakings in the town ; and tho W . Master of the Royal Gloucester Lodge , Bro . Trew , had in olden time , accompanied by its members , laid the
foundation-stoue of tho Royal South Hants Infirmary—an institution devoted to purposes so entirely akiu to Freemasonry , and flourishing in tbe blessed work of diminishing human suffering and soothin" - the afflictions of their neighbours ancl fellow-townsmen . He had but to refer onco more to the centenary of that Lodge , to the long and peaceful course that ifc had had . There had been no cessation to its
meetings for a hundred years—customarily every month , but frequently much oftener ; and that day ifc commenced a second centenary , with the highest hopes and under tho brightest auspices , graced , as tho presiding genius , with the Sovereign of the Order , and surrounded by the brethren of every grade in Masonry . Long , long in the memory of those present would livo the distinguished visit of the Marquis of
Ripon and the kindness of the Mayor , the reception of the Corporation , and his Lordship's most courteous bearing and eloquent address , tho brilliant array of Grand Officers that surrounded him ; and the presence of the much-loved Provincial Grand Master , Bro . Beach , and his officers , would , in their recollection in the future , be almost aa dazzling as to-day . The hundreds of Masons in their various Lodges
now eourteously present would long be gratefully remembered , whilst the crowd of brethren of the Gloucester Lodgo , to swell tho pleasin » picture of Masonic rejoicing , would ever and anon be tho thome ol congratulation . Their visiting brethren that day would not soon forget the architectural beauty of the hall in which they were assembled , bearing a reasonable comparison with that magnificent hall
in the metropolis , the Home of Freemasonry , and probably the finest room in England . The splendid decorations of tho place in which they were assembled , so fairy-like , so elegant , so Masonically appropriate , the richly-clothed brethren—the gold , the purple , the jewels , and the rich and varied paraphernalia of the Order—would , in years to come , be often talked of and seem to be but of a few years since ; but let him be pardoned for saying that the visit of these distinguished
Masons , however noble in rank or great in virtue , would afc some distant time be less remembered , and the brilliancy of the scene gradually fade away . The highly wrought jewellery , the gay tinsel , the rich purple , and the fine linen , would succumb to the destroying hand of time , but the principles of Masonry faithfully applied would live for ever , and the gorgeous character of the scene and the happy proceedings of the day did nob take his mind captive from the con .