The Approaching Festival Of Tee Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

upon this point , which has been so often urged before and on all occasions with a justice which cannot be questioned .. What we now desire to impress upon our readers is ( i ) that these results cannot be obtained unless the funds necessary for the

maintenance of the Institution are forthcoming ; and ( 2 ) that it is eminently desirable that these funds should be gathered in regularly . It is far better that the subscriptions and donations should flow in as a consequence of regular and well-sustained

efforts , at a fair annual average , than that there should be big and small Returns in alternate years . We appeal , therefore , to all lodges and individuals who can in any way help forward the good cause to give their services in behalf of the approaching

Festival . We learn , with regret , that the outlook is not as promising as we could have wished , and under these circumstances , any response that may be made to our appeal will be most heartily welcomed .

Freemasonry In Norfolk*

FREEMASONRY IN NORFOLK *

The third , fourth , and fifth Chapters of this History are occupied with records of the proceedings of the P . G . Lodge , and here , as in the case of many of the earlier lodges in the Province , the

author has great cause to be thankful for the preservation of sundry lodge minutes and stray memoranda , and the occasional references to Freemasonrv which he has been able to find in the

local press . In the opening paragraphs of the first of these chapters we read that " no separate minute books of the Provincial Grand Lodge appear to have been kept , or , at all events , none have been preserved , anterior to the appointment of Mr .

CORE as P . G . M . in 1818 ; but , fortunately , the minute books of some of the earl } ' private lodges contain entries , which , to a great extent , supply the deficiency , and enable us to trace the first inception and early history of the Provincial Grand Lodge

during the latter half of the eighteenth century . The letter books and returns preserved in Grand Lodge Library also supply a considerable amount of information . " Our impression is that Provincial Grand Lodge proceedings are more often to be found

recorded in the minutes of the private lodges in connection with which they were held than in separate minutes compiled by the Provincial authorities , so that in this respect the Provincial Grand Lodp-e of Norfolk is not less favourablv circumstanced

than other Provincial bodies . Still , considering how far back the P . G . Lodge goes , Bro . LE STRANGE is fortunate in having had such early minutes to consult . By these means and the stray sources of information we have before indicated , as well as by

the letters and returns in Grand Lodge , he has been able to compije what almost amounts to a continuous history of Norfolk as a Masonic Province under the Grand Lodge of England ( "Moderns'' ) for 136 years , and we greatly doubt if there are

many other writers of Provincial Histories who can justly claim to have been as fortunate in this respect as he has been . Certainly , none of them have succeeded in compiling a more trustworthy , more interesting , and more readable narrative .

It seems that the initiative in obtaining a Provincial organisation was taken by the lodges meeting in the city of Norwich , of which there were at the time as many as 12 in a more or less prosperous condition . A meeting was held at the rooms of the

then premier lodge of Norfolk , which dated from the year 1724 , on the 10 th August , 175 8 , which was attended by the Masters and Wardens of the Norwich lodges , and at which the following resolution was passed : " That a Provincial Grand Master

for this City , the County of Norfolk , and Beccles in Suffolk , would greatly conduce to the benefit of Masonry in general , and to the satisfaction of each lodge in particular , and that our worthy Brother , EDWARD BACON , Esq ., is a proper

person for that important office . " The recommendation had the desired effect , and on the 13 th January , 1759 , a patent was made out appointing Bro . EDWARD BACON , of

Earlham , a man of senatorial rank , who sat in the House of Commons uninterruptedly , but not always for the same constituency , from 1743 to 1784 , and what is of still greater importance , a very active member of our Order , to be Prov . Grand

Freemasonry In Norfolk*

Master as aforesaid . Bro . BACON lost very little time in enteringupon his duties . On the 2 nd August following he attended a meeting of the senior lodge in the Province , and having produced his deputation as P . G . M . and at his own request been enrolled a

member of the lodge , he summoned the Masters of the lodges in the city to attend him as P . G . M " . on the 6 th September . The meeting was accordingly held , and it was agreed to hold a quarterly communication in connection with each of the Norwich

lodges in rotation . In December of the same year we read of Bro . FRANCIS FRANK attending and taking the chair as Deputy Prov . Grand Master , and a few years later we hear of a Prov . Grand Secretary and Provincial Wardens . At the annual

communication in 1784 , a letter from Bro . BACON' resigning his office was read , and it was agreed to recommend SirE . ASTLEY , Bart ., and the Hon . HENRY HOBART to the lodges to mak e choice of one of them as successor . Ultimately the former was

chosen and appointed in accordance with the recommendation , Sir E . AsTLEY held the office till towards the close of I 798 , when the Hon . H . HOBART , his former rival for the post , succeeded him . He died , however , the following year , when the lodges

petitioned for the appointment of Bro . W . EARLE Bui . WER , of Heydon Hall , for whom a patent was made out in 1801 , though it was not till the 14 th January , 1802 , that the new Prov . Grand Master was installed in office by Sir ROGER

KERRI . SON . General BULWER died in 1 : 07 , but though at a meeting of the Gate-House Lodge in May , 1808 , which was attended by the Masters and Wardens of other Norwich lodges , it was unanimously agreed to recommend ROBERT SUCKLING , Esq ., 0 !

Woodton Hall—Was this any relation of the Captain SUCKLING , NELSON ' S uncle , to whom our great naval hero owed his early advancement in the navy?—as Prov . Grand Master , no appointment was made till 1810 and then the brother appointed—the Rev . S .

S . COLMAN—was a London , not a Norfolk Mason . In 1813 Bro WILLIAM PALGRAVE was appointed , and in 1816 Sir J ACOB H ASTLEY , Bart ., son of Sir E . ASTI . EY , P . G . M . 1785-1798 , who however died in 1 S 17 while the preparations were being made for his installation . At length in 1 S 18 Bro . THOMAS W . COKE

subsequently Earl of LEICESTER , consented to accept the office and was installed by the Duke of SUSSEX , M . W . G . M ., on the 23 rd August , 1819 , and thenceforward Provincial Grand Lodge appears to have been a settled institution , for particulars relating

to which , as well as for the details connected with the Provincial Grand Lodge from 1759 , we must refer our readers to Bro , LE STRANGE ' S history , merely adding that in Chapter V . will be found lists of all the brethren whom he has been able to trace

as having from time to time being appointed to Provincial office . Chapter VI . is devoted to Royal Arch Masonry , the earliest mention of which , as quoted from Bro . W . J . HUGHAN ' s " Origin of the English Rite , " belongs to the year 1763 , but it is not till 25

years later—in I 788—that a chapter was established ' in Norfolk . This was the Royal George , No . 6 s , meeting in Norwich , and now attached to , and bearing the number of , the Union Lodge ; No . . 52 , meeting in that city . The warrant for

this body was granted by the " Moderns , " but it works under a charter of confirmation granted by Supreme Grand Chaptet on 7 th November , 1821 . One other chapter survives from pra ; - Union days , the Perseverance , No . 213 , which was established in

connection with the " Ancient" Lodge bearing that name m I 797 , or two years after the lodge itself was founded . Othci chapters existed in the same early days , but none of them survived up to the Union of the two Grand Chapters in

1817-Evidence , however , is given that the Hon . HENRY HOBART was appointed Grand Superintendent in 1792 , mention of him being made in that capacity in the minutes of Unanimity Lodge , then meeting at Coltishall , as having been present with the Princi pals

of the Royal George Chapter and other Royal Arch Masons at the opening and consecration of a new lodge room on the \]" October , 1793 . In 1802 , Comp . J OSEPH TAYLOR received On appointment of Grand Superintendent , and then , after a long

interval , we come to Comp . Tlios . W . COKE , who was installed as Grand Superintendent at a special Grand Chapter held at Holkham Hall , in the presence of the Duke of SUSSEX , Grand

Z ., two days after he had been installed Prov . Grand Master . He , however , never performed any duties , nor did Comp . BONf-CABBKLL , who was appointed in 18 54 , though under the latter a