Lodge Htstories.

LODGE HTSTORIES .

In accordance with a policy wc havo uniforml y followed , of utilising whatever information relating to the rise anil progress of individual Lodges conies in onr way , we have great p leasure in reproducing from tho columns of the Newcastle IlVc /// // Ohrmiiclr a very neatl y and artisticall y

written sketch of the St . Hilda ' s Lodge , No . 210 , Shields , which in tho course of tho present year has had the good fortune to celebrate the Centenary Anniversary of its

constitution . Wc congratulate our brethren of that Lodge on so auspicious an event , and likewise on having found so able an exponent of its history as the writer of the articles in our Newcastle contemporary .

CENTENARY OF ST . HILDA'S LODGE , No . 240 .

THE brethren of tho " mystic tie" connected with St . Hildas Lodge , No . 210 , of South Shields ' , of tho Grand Lodge of England , recently celebrated their festival in honour of completing the Centenary of their Lodgo . Tn connection with tho event it may

be interesting to the many members of tho Craft to peruse a few extracts from tho Minute-Books of tho Lodge—which have been carefully preserved—as showing tho progress of Freemasonry in South Shields and the immediate district , aud as illustrating the intimate connection between Freemasonry and many important local events .

On what is marked as page 4 of the first Minute-Book of St . Hilda ' s Lodge , or , as it was then called , St . Hild's Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons , is the following modest record of tho constitntion of the Lodgo ono hundred years ago : - " South Shields , Mar . 19 th 1780 . This day tho Bight Worshipfnll Francis Peacock , Master of St . John ' s Lodgo of Newcastle , No . . " 84 , constituted tho undernamed brethren

into a regular Lodgo , by tho name of St . Ifild s , INO . 521 : —Richard Forrest W . M ., Jas . Pletts S . W ., Wm . Bolam J . W ., Treasurer ; Roger Whitfield , Secretary , Edward Giles , John Smith , Stewards . " The only addition to this all-important inauguration aro the following names of thoso who were present-: —James Simpson , William Tate , Thomas Stephenson , Roger Todd , and James Harrison ;

and the following who ns visitors graced tho ceremony : —Francis Peacock , Samuel Wilson , William Anderson , and Ralph Brown , from St . John ' s Lodge . Such is the brief and bald chronicle which is handed clown to us of what , according to tho ritual and requirements of the present age , is a beautiful , imposing , and strikingly suggestive ceremonial . Tho severe curtuoss of tho first Secretary ( Roger

Whitfield ) of St . Hilda's Lodge leaves us entirely free to picture to ourselves , according as onr respective imaginations may direct , the nature , extent , and meaning of the ceremony which oue hundred years ago was duly performed in the furtherance and spread of the tenets of the ancient Brotherhood . If it must be accepted as a truism , that " brevity is the soul of wit , " then Roger Whitfield and

his immediate successors in the Secretaryship of St . Hilda ' s Lodge must have been endowed with a moro than ordinary share of that brilliant faculty . Anything more brief than the early minutes of the Lodge it would be difficult to produce . For example , ifc is recorded on the top of tho following page that an extra night was held on 22 nd March 1780 , at which Richard Forrest the W . M . and

the before-mentioned Officers , with three other brethren , wero present . Tho bnsiness of this extra meeting is quaintly described as follows : — " By the order of the Worshipful Master we havo met this evening , when Matthew Hepple was proposed , and unanimously agreed upon by the brethren present to make the said Matthew Hepple free gratis for Tyler , which is accordingly done . "

On April 5 th , ono hundred years ago , was held the first General Lodge , at which James Forrest , the first " poor candidate " —after Hepple , the Tyler—was balloted for , and duly admitted as a fit person to he made a Mason . The simple entry of Forrest ' s admittance is closed up by the significant note : —Accordingly , ten shillings and sixpence deposited . " On April 19 th was held a Masters' Lodge , at which , by

order of the Worshipfnl Master , it was agreed— " as our Tyler was not passed and raised and ( therefore was appointed a night previous to pass and raise ) being our first meeting and nofc a convenient to pass and raise him that night . " This entry is somewhat confusing , but by tho minutes of an extra Lodge , held on 23 rd April , it is clear that it was not convenient to mako Heppel a Master Mason on the

19 th , and accordingly he was pased and raised to a Master Mason on the 23 rd . According to these old minutes , ifc is evident that the Officers constituting the Lodge were not so numerous as in the present time , for wo find no mention made of the Deacons or Inner Guard , to say nothing of the I . P . M ., Chaplain , D . of C , or Organist . The List merely comprised the W . M ., Senior and Junior Wardens , the

Secretary and Stewards . The Stewards were evidently more important officials in the times of our forefathers than now , and must have occupied the position and enjoyed the powers of present Deacons : for we find them carrying out the commands of the W . M . when indecorum was manifested by some of the brethren . On the 7 th of June , Cuthbert Dawson was put to tho ballot for admission , " but was not

thought a fit person to be made—three balls against him . " Why Cuthbert Dawson was deemed unworthy is , of course , not mentioned , but the entry shows that the ancient brethren were very circumspect , and were not afraid to act independently , for the candidate was nominated by no loss a person than the W . M . Richard Forrest . Tho

Lodge on the 9 th of June was an important meeting , and must have been constituted the annual Lodge , for we find that on this ni ght it was unanimously agreed aud thought fit to meet on every Wednesday in the month , to have tho benefit of a lecture . This is apracticefrom which many Masons would benefit at the present clay . Then comes the following interesting initiate : — " Also agreeable to our Bye-Laws

Lodge Htstories.

a Master was balloted for . Tho Worshipfnl Master put up Bro . James Pletts accordingly . Ho was balloted for—2 for him and 6 against him . Also Bro . William Bolam was put up by Bro . James Pletts and balloted for , when not ono voto was fountl for him . Also Bro . Wm . Tate , put up by Wm . Bolam wifch tho consent of the brethren , was balloted for , aud a majority of 7 to 1 was found in his

favour . Ho was appointed Master for tho ensuing year . This would indicate that in thoso early days thoro was nofc that perfect " lovo and harmony " prevailing whioh should always characterise Masonic gatherings , but tho somewhat disagreeable impressions caused by the balloting aro dispelled on turning to tho subsequent minutes , where wo find Bros . Pletts and Bolam remaining in their

chairs , respectively as Senior aud Junior Wardens . On the 21 sfc March 17 '' 1 , the first anniversary of the Lodge , an unfortunate occurrence is recorded . This night's minutes aro written—as were those for two or three nights previously—by Bro . Thomas Bowman , as Deputy Secretary . At the close of the record for the night is the line -. — " Brother Roger Whitfield suspended for indecorum . "

What is termed the " dedication of St . Hilda ' s Lodge took place on 17 th April 1781—Wm . Tate W . M . This must have been regarded as a high festival , for in addition to- a long muster roll of members present there were numbers of brethren visiting from the Industry Lodge , Swalwell , No . 48 ; the Golden Lion Lodge , No . 169 ; the St . John ' s Lodgo , No . 181 ; brethren of the 10 th Regiment , No . 299 ; St .

Nicolas' Lodge , No . 313 ; Sea Captains' Lodge ; and the Syon Lodge , No 314 . As a visitor that night from the Syon Lodge appears the namo of Brother Roddam—a name which is now so well known in connection with the Lodges of South Shields , North Shields , and Jarrow . At a Masters' Lodge on the night of 20 th June 1781 , we find this entry : — " By the desire and consent of the members present , a

committee was chosen to add a clause to the Bye Laws , to authorise this Lodge to agree with some brother of abilities to attend the General and Master Lodge nights for the benefits of the lectures . " The early membera of the Lodge were manifestly anxious about becoming fully conversant with the precepts and tho manifold beauties of the Craft . This committee reported at the following general

Lodge , hold on 4 th July , when the required Bye Law , authorising the Lodge to obtain a lecturing master to attend tho Lodge occasionally , was " laid before the present brethren for , and which met with , their approbation . " This notification is immediately followed by another equally quaintly worded : — " By a commete it was agreed to propose to Brother Cook of Sunderland , our intention and agree ( if willing )

with him for the above purpose . " On 1 st August we find mention made of a Bro . Henry Bleaber , of Sfc . Bede's Lodgo , as a visitor . This was a Lodge named after the Venerable Bede , and was held in the parish of Jarrow , South Shields ; but ifc seems thafc soon after this mention , the Lodge of St . Bede's ceased to exist in South Shields . Subsequently , about 13 or 14 years ago , a new Sfc . Bede ' s Lodge was

established afc Jarrow , aud is now in a flourishing condition . In the minutes of the Masters' Lodge night , held 19 th September 1781 , there is an entry which now seems strange tons . It is : — " Brother Monkman , by his own desire , stands candidate for the Herodian Degree . " This degree , it seems , was intermediate between a Fellow Craft and a M . M . During the mouths over which the minutes from

which these extracts are made extended , the attendance at the Lodges slowly increased , until at the beginning of 1782 the number of brethren present varies from 10 to 11 . The attendance , however , at the Festival Commemoration on 2 nd April 1782—at which only 17 brethren supported the then W . M ., Brother Robert Todd—seems ofc have been far from satisfactory . In addition to the record of those

present at the festival is appended this entry : — " Resolved , that the sense of ye brethren be taken on ye nexfc general Lodge night , to appoint some regular mode for fining brethren absent on festival days . " The subject of the fines is resumed in the following month , 1 st May , in this way : — " This night a commitee of ye following brethren were appointed to draw up a By Law for a more satisfactory mode of

asserting a legal method of collecting fines on absent brethren on festival days , to limit the expense of tickets , and also the time of absent brethren not appearing in the Lodge entitled to summons without being excluded . " Here follow the names of the committee . So far as tho minutes of the meeting show , the matter would seem to drop here , but by a cash statement afc the end of the first book o £

minutes fining for absence from the Lodge as well as festivals appears to have been a regular practice , the fines varying from 9 d to 3 d , according to tho status of tho brother . From the accounts referred to there is evidence likewise that the brethren , after transacting their business in the Lodge , devoted the remainder of the evening to refreshments , which were paid for out of a common fund

contributed to by the members , and to which the fines were devoted . If the money in hand was not sufficient to meet the refreshment account , each member present was ' called upon to " buck up" until the required amount was realised . On the nig ht of 19 th June 1782 , the harmony in the lodge seems to have been seriously disturbed : " This night Bro . Shepherd ' s behaviour was of such a nature as to

require admonishment from ye the then present Master , but he refusing to make such restitution for such offence , he still stands censurable for ye same nntill his nexfc appearance in ye Lodge . " Bro . Shepherd was not penitent until 8 th October 1782 , when " a Lodge was called ys night to rectify some disputes relative to an occurrence of 19 th June 1782 , when due restitution was made by Bro .

Jas . Shepherd , & c , & c . " The " & c , & c . " may be taken to imply forgiveness of the W . M . and brethren , for , on the 16 th of October Bro . Jas . Shepherd appears as one of the Stewards . A side note to the minutes of 4 th June 1783 gives us a glimpse into the inner life of the Lodges of the past century : — " This 4 th of June 1783 , by general consent , it was agreed thafc the expense of Lodgo night shall in

future not exceed 6 cl to each brother . Absent brethren fined as follows : —W . M ., being absent 30 minutes after the time mentioned in his summons 6 d , and absent ye whole night Is ; Wardens , lining absent 30 minutes after ye time of their summons 3 d , if ye whole night , 6 d ; all other brethren being absent 30 minutes after ye time mentioned in their summons 3 d , if ye whole night 3 d .