Freemasonry In 1896.

Freemasonry in 1896 .

| g j ^ ~— i ^ ffi R year which a few weeks hence will have run its | p ^^^^| ; course has not been by any means an uneventful I \ \\\ dily I one ' ^ ) tnat > as regards the creation of new If ^^^ il lodges , chapters , and other Masonic bodies , and L * £ fe »» y ; n matters more immediately concerning the organisation of our Society , there is little to be said to which the necessary prominence lias not been given in

previous annual summaries . In respect of our Charitable Institutions , they have fulfilled their appointed duties as satisfactorily , and been as generously supported by the Craft . Still , sundry matters have occurred which have caused no little excitement anions : the brethren . Thus the scheme for the

removal of the Boys' School from its present site at Wood Green to one more commodious and more generally suitable , has given rise to a controversy which has ruffled the tempers of many

amongst its supporters , while a fresh and somewhat furious attack has been made upon Freemasonry by the Romish priesthood , and , for once in the way has found a faint echo , among the members of other Christian communities . Still , tlfese little

contretemps , especially as the Romish Church seems determined not to leave us alone , must be expected , and , on the whole , therefore , we may set down the proceedings of the year 18 9 6 as indicative of a sure and steady progress , if not in the extension of our borders , at all events , in strengthening and confirming the

position to which we had previously . This , we think , will be made manifest to our readers by the following sketch of what has taken place in connection with the several branches and offshoots of our Order in England , as well as in the sister kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland , and in the British Colonies and Possessions abroad .

CRAFT MASONRY . We have many times remarked lhat the prosperity of a Society cannot always be gauged by the number of branches or subordinate members that are established within a given period of time . Were this the case , the present year would compare somewhat unfavourably with sundry that have preceded

it in the domain of Craft Masonry . The number of new lodges for which his Royal Highness the M . W . G . M . has been pleased to grant warrants since the Quarterly Communication of December , 1895 , is only 44 , as against 52 last year , 14 new lodges having been warranted in London , 14 in the Provinces , and 16 abroad ,

while in 1895 13 were added to the London District , 24 to the Provinces , and 15 to the Districts and Stations abroad . In 18 94 , the number warranted was 4 6 , of which eight were established in London , 21 in the Provinces , and 17 abroad ; and in 1893 ,

it was 37 , of which nine were in London , 17 in the Provinces , and n abroad . Of the 14 lodges created during the present year , the Hugh Owen , No . 2593 , with Bro . Rutherglen as its first W . M ., was consecrated by the G . Secretary , and is intended for the benefit of those connected with the administration of the

Poor Law , the name chosen for the lodge being that of a prominent Government official , who has done good service to the State in what is now known as the Local Government Board . The Holloway Lodge , No . 2601 , which has the advantage of being started on its career under the auspices of Bro . James

Terry , P . G . S . B ., Sec . R . M . B . I ., as its lirst Master , was also consecrated by the G . Secretary , and so , too , was the London County Council Lodge , No . 2603 , which , as its title betokens , is intended for members and officers of London ' s Municipal Parliament , and of which , seeing lhat no less influential a Mason than

Bro . the Earl of Onslow , Past G . W . and Prov . G . M . of Surrey , was chosen its lirst Master , il is not unreasonable topredicl a long career of usefulness . The London School Board Lodge , No . 2601 , with Bro . the Rev . A . W . Oxford , P . G . C , to preside over it during the lirst year of its existence , was consecrated by Bro .

the Rev . J . S . Brownrigg , P . G . C , in the unavoidable absence on other duty of the G . Secretary ; while the Navy and Household Brigade Lodges had the honour ot being consecrated b y Bro . the Earl of Lathom , Pro G . M . As regards these lodges , there is little or no difficulty in anticipating for them an exceptional

measure of success—firstly , because they both have an almost unlimited field from which recruits arc certain to come forward , but , above oil , because the Prince of Wales , M . W . G . M ., has graciously accepted in each case the position of first and permanent W . M . As regards the Navy Lodge , No . 2612 , the

brother installed as first Deputy Master was Bro . Rear-Admiral A . II . Markham , District G . M . of Malta , while Bro . Major Lord Skelmersdale , P . G . W . of England , was installed first Deputy Master of the Household Brigade Lodge , No . 2614 . In the case of the latter , it should be added that his Royal Highness did it the further ' Minour of constituting it in person , and subse-

Freemasonry In 1896.

quently presided at the inaugural banquet . The remaining new London lodges are the Engineers , No . 2599 > * -he Zodiac , No . 2615 ; the Cavendish , No . 2620 ; the Military Lodge , No . 2621 ; the Beach Lodge , No . 2622—for those connected with the railway interest , which has for its first W . M . Bro . W . W . B . Beach ,

M . P ., Prov . G . M . of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , and which , therefore , it is needless to say , could hardly have entered upon its career under the auspices of a more distinguished brother or one better calculated to ensure its permanent success —the Guardian Lodge for those connected with the Poor Law

administration in the City of London ; the Leyton Lodge , No . 2626 , and the Byfield Lodge , No . 2032 . It will be seen that the majority of these new lodges are what are known as" Class ' lodges , but as the " Classes " on which they will have chiefly to

rely for their maintenance are both numerous and influential , there is no reason to doubt that recruits of sterling character , such as we are glad to receive into our ranks , will be forthr coming in sufficient numbers to maintain them in a state of efficiency and prosperity .

The 14 Provincial lodges are distributed among 11 of our Provinces , Cheshire and West Lancashire having been fortunate to place each of them two on their lists . The earliest of these in number , and the second in date of constitution , is Lodge St . Mary of the Harbour , No . 259 I , which was consecrated at

Shoreham , in the Province of Sussex , by Bro . the Very Rev . E . R . Currie , D . D ., Dean of Battle , P . G . C ., the principal founder and first W . M . being Bro . the Rev . J . Puttick , P . P . G . C . The second in numerical order , and the first in date of constitution , was the Old Priory Lodge , which was consecrated on the 29 th

January by the G . Secretary , under a special dispensation from the Prov . Grand Master of Nottinghamshire , Bro . the Duke of St . Albans . The Iodge meets in the Masonic Rooms at Beeston , near Nottingham , and Bro . Dr . Wright was installed in the chair as its first W . M . It is some time since any addition has been

made to the roll of lodges in Devonshire , and , as the Province has changed rulers during the year , it is only natural that a special meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge should have been held on the occasion of the consecration , on the [ 3 th October , by Bro . the Hon . Sir Stafford Northcote , M . P ., Prov . Grand

Master , of the Trinity Lodge , No . 2595 , located at Buckfast-J [ eigh , whose first W . M ., Bro . James Willcocks , was installed by the Deputy Prov . Grand Master , Bro . Major G . C . Davie . The St . Sampson ' s Lodge , No . 2598 , was consecrated in June by Bro . Dr . Cockburn , Prov . Grand Master of Guernsey and Alderney ;

while of the three West Lancashire Iodges--the Stanley of Preston , No . 2600 , in the absence of Bro . the Earl of Lathom , Grand Master of the Province , was consecrated b y his colleague of East Lancashire , Bro . Col . Le Gendre N . Starkie , the first W . M . being none other than Bro . the Earl of Derby , Past G . Warden

of England , and Past Deputy Prov . Grand Master of West Lancashire . The second lodge—the Wyreside , No . 2605—was consecrated by Bro . W . Goodacre , P . G . S . B ., Prov . G . Secretary ; the third Iodge being the Commercial Travellers ' , No . 2631 , Liverpool . In Norfolk there has been added to the roll the Baring Lodge , No .

2602 , which was ushered into existence by the Grand Secretary , acting under a special dispensation from the Prov . G . Master , and is located at Cromer . It is onl y the other day that at Treharris , in the Eastern Division of South Wales , Bro .. Lord Llangattock , Prov . G . M ., consecrated the Fforest Lodge , No . 2606 ;

this being the fourth that has been added to to the roll since his lordship ' s installation . In West Yorkshire there has been an increase by the consecration by Bro . W . L . Jackson , M . P ., P . Prov . G . M . of the Headingley Lodge , No . 2608 , and in the adjoining Province of North and East Yorkshire , Bro . Lord Bolton ,

Dep . P . G . M ., in the absence of Bro . the Marquis of Zetland , consecrated the Beresford Peirse Lodge , No . 2610 * Bedale . The new lodges in Cheshire are the Travellers ' , No . 2609 , Chester , and the New Brighton , No . 2619 , at the seaside resort of the same name , and of the former of these the duty of consecration

was entrusted by dispensation to the Grand Secretary , who has thus had the unusual honour of consecrating as many as three Provincial lodges during the present year . The remaining provincial lodge is the Tuihbury Castle , No . 2630 , TaUon . The 16 lodges Abroad are thus distributed : Waliair , No . 2592 ,

Vizagapatam , and the Moore Lodge , No . 2604 , at Bangalore , in the District of Madras ; the Esliawe , No . 2596 , at Eshawe , in Zululand ; the St . Alban ' s , and the District Grand Stewards' Lodge , Nos . 2597 and 2627 respectively , both at Christ Church , in the District of Canterbury , New Zealand ; the Lodge of Prosperity ,

No . 2607 , at lohannesburg , in the District G . Lodge of the Transvaal ; the Lodge of Amity , No . 2613 , Charters Towers , the Excelsior , No . 2624 , Eton , the Killarney , No . 2629 ,

Queensland , the Jubilee , No . 26 33 , Brisbane , the Hopeful , No . 2634 , Corinda , in the District of Queensland ; the Lodge o . f St . George , No . 2616 , at Kingston , St . Vincent , in the West Indies ; the Murchison , No , 2617 , at Cue , Murchison Gold Fields , and the