Consecration Of The Honor Oak Lodge, No. 1986.

with the healths of Bro . R . J . Simpson , P . G . Chap ., and the other Consecrating Officers . " The toast was drunk with great cordiality , and Bro . Col . SHADWELL H . CLERKE at once acknowledged his hearty reception , congratulating the lodge on the entire smoothness with which all the work of the day had been done , expressing the hope that " Honor Oak " might flourish root and

branch , and complimenting the W . M . as an old P . M . who had done the Craft much service . It had greatly pleased him to install Bro . Hopekirk on this occasion , and also to act as Consecrating Principal . In respect of that portion of the day ' s work he thought Bro . Simpson should be required to respond , and in the hope that he would do so , again thanked the brethren for the welcome accorded him .

Bro . SIMPSON said he thought the Grand Secretary would havc had more charity than to suggest ajfurtherspeech from him after the exhaustive remarks which he ( the Grand Secretary ) had made , but he would cordially endorse all that Bro . Clerke had said , and whilst thanking the lodge , its members ,

and its guests for their reception of the Consecrating Officers , would also express the hope that the teachings of Freemasonry which had been set before them would bear good fruit in the future . The WORSHU'I'UL MASTER proposed "The Health of Col . Ramsay , Immediate Past Master . "

Bro . Col . RAMSAY in returning thanks stated the pleasure he had experienced as a stranger resident in the neighbourhood when he heard of the proposed formation of the lodge and the chance of his becoming connected with it . As a Freemason he was only too glad to have the opportunity for Masonic association so near his home , and he should certainly do all in his power to assist and promote the best interests of the " Honor " Oak . "

Bro . Milward sang in admirable style " Tell me , Mary , how to woo thee , " and in response to an encore which he could not possibly avoid , sang " Harry Bluff" with equally good effect . The health of " The Visitors , " a long list , as thc WORSHU'I'UL MASTER remarked , but a distinguished one , every individual named therein so equally welcome that selection would be almost invidious , was cordially drunk , and Bro . GEORGE KENNING briefly responded .

" ' 1 he Masonic Chanties was the next toast proposed by the W . M ., who spoke of their , as heaven-born messengers doing good in all directions , and in every respect worthy of the noble Craft with which they were connected . He solicited the early and earnest support of the lodge on behalf of the noble institutions , and with the toast coupled the names of Bros , thc Rev . R . J . Simpson , P . G . Chap ., and J . Mason , P . P . G . S . D . Middx ., the Collector for the Benevolent Institution .

Bro . James Stevens , at the W . M . ' s request , recited with much effect the beautiful poem " Masons vows , " which was listened to with earnest

attention . Bro . SIMPSON , responding on behalf of Bro . Mason and himself , hoped that the lodge would take to heart the excellent counsel of the W . M ., and be amongst the foremost to render assistance to the Masonic Charities , three institutions which he might venture to designate as representative of the pillars of Wisdom , Strength , and Beauty , without which Freemasonry

would be but as " sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal . " There might be imperfections even in these institutions—what had yet reached perfection ?—but he was bold to say that though the very best way of carrying out our charitable instincts might yet be undiscovered , the best known way was adopted in respect of each institution . With a brief reference to the services

of the Secretaries of the respective charities , and of Bro . Mason , whose name was also connected with the toast , Bro . Simpson concluded with the expression of an ardent hope that those who arc the most worthy would in all cases of candidature become thc recipients of the benefits our Masonic Charities can bestow .

Thc remaining toasts were " Thc Officers of the Lodge" and "Thc Tyler's Toast , " both of which were duly honoured , and thc brethren separated . The entire proceedings evidently gave great satisfaction to all who were present , and the founders certainly deserve much credit for their perfect arrangements . Each and all seem to have vied with each other as

to which should do most for the new lodge . Want of space prevents our mentioning in detail the numerous presents made by the W . M . and first Officers , but they supplied all the necessaries beyond pedestals , chairs , and jewels . Nothing appears to be wanting for the work of Freemasonry in connection with this lodge , and we wish it the success which its introduction appears to augur for it .

Freemasonry In Surrey.

FREEMASONRY IN SURREY .

To Surrey , under the auspices of its popular and respected chief , Bro . General Brownrigg , will be assigned the place of honour on thc occasion of the Festival on Wednesday of the Benevolent Institution , and a glance , therefore , at the rise , progress , and present state of Masonry within its borders will not be without its interest to our readers . There is of course a certain

difficulty in tracing this progress in the case of this as of the other home counties , as they are called . London , like all other cities , must have a local habitation as well as a name , but London is as populous as many of the minor states of Europe , and has a marvellous tendency to go on converting the circumjacent green fields into bricks and mortar . It has long since appropriated huge slices of Surrey , Kent , Essex , and Middlesex , and is in a

fair way to annex a little of Hertfordshire . There is in fact the greatest difficulty , travel which way you will , north , south , east , or west , in determining where it begins and where it ends , and it is not surprising our Grand Lodge should have gone so far as to assign a radius of ten miles within which all lodges are to be considered as belonging to the metropolis , while bc 3 * ond it they are provincial . One consequence of this arrangement is that a certain

confusion is likely to arise in any attempt to trace the progress of Freemasonry in these metropolitan counties . What is London now was country it may be less than half a century ago , and certainly during the eighteenth century . In the days when the second George was king and his son Frederick of Wales held his princely court at Kew , the royal hamlet and

contiguous Richmond were in one sense as remote from London as are noxv some of our great industrial centres in the Midlands , and the journey to and fro , except by water , was a vastly more serious undertaking than it is possible for us in these days pf rapid locomotion to conceive . They were as distinctly provincial in those days and for many years afterwards as Reigate and

Freemasonry In Surrey.

Guildford are now . Yet even the briefest sketch of Masonry in Surrey must be incomplete without some reference to Kew and Richmond , whose lodges arc nowadays metropolitan . Hoxvever , if the reader will kindl y bear these things in mind , he will have no difficulty in accompanying us throughout our perambulation of the county .

1 he earliest mention of Surrey in our lists of lodges will be found in that engraved by Pine , of the " Regular Lodges as constituted till March 25 th , " 1725 , which contains one lodge meeting at the " Lyon , Richmond , in ' Surrey , " and another at the " Mason's Arms , Fulham . " ( See page 3 of Bro . Gould ' s " Four Old Lodges . " ) In the list for 1730-32 ( see Appendix to the same work ) the latter has disappeared , or it mav be removed to other

quarters , but the former remains as No . 55 . Of this , however , there is no record in the list 1736-39 . but No . 123 is located at the " Castle , Kingston , Middlesex , " though as Kingston is usually included in Surrey , this would seem to belong to that county instead of the one to which it is assigned . The point is immaterial , as the lodge in question was erased in 1 7451 nor is it til ! we come to the year 1756 that we find two lodges in vvhat is noxv the London district , namely , No . 11 , which met at Wandsworth from that year

till 1782 , when it was erased , and No . 37 at Putney , which experienced a similar fate in 1773 . Both these lodges had previously been held in London proper , lt must not be forgotten , however , that in 1737 was assembled an occasional lodge at Kew , at which Frederick , Prince ot Wales , was initiated into our mysteries by Bro . Dr . Desaguliers , an event of which ( speaking Masonically ) , the county , if not the province , of Surrey , has every reason to be proud .

On the 28 th June , 1769 , was constituted a lodge , No . 446 , which met at the King's Head , Merton , and in the year following had transferred its quarters to the Nag ' s Head in the same toxvn . In 1781 this figures as the *• Inflexible" Lodge , No . 295 , meeting at the White Hart , Mitcham . In 1792 it became No . 247 , but without change of locality . The 1770 list contains a lodge , No . 401 , " Fortitude and ' Perseverance , " at the Fox ,

Epsom , which was constituted on the 28 th July of that year , and became No . 311 in 1781 and No . 260 in 1792 . There was also a lodge , No . 492 , which was constituted on the 7 th May , 1776 , at the King ' s Arms , Kew , but between that year and the alteration of numbers in 17 S 1 , it removed to the Golden Fleece , Palace-yard , where it met as the Lodge of Perseverance , No . 39 S . In 17 S 1 we lind that No . Oo , the Lodge of Affability , a London lodge

!? 37 origin , held its meetings at thc Rose and Crown , Kew Green , but its stay there was not of long duration , as by 1792 it had moved across the river to the Castle Inn , at New Brentford . Another originally London lodge , founded in 1766 and numbered 309 in the 1770 list , figures in 1781 as the Patriotic Lodge , No . 246 , meeting at the Greyhound , Croydon ; this was re-numbered in 1792 as No . 206 . In 17 S 4 Masonry found an

additional home at Reigate , the Holmesdale Lodge of Freedom and Friendship , No . 456 , being constituted that year . By the alteration of numbers in 1792 it became No . 36 S . There are besides these three other lodges which appear in the lists ot the " moderns , " namely , the Pythagorean , No . 522 , iounded in 17 S 8 , which became No . 431 in 1792 ; No . 587 , " Lodge in Regiment of Loyal Surrey Rangers "—of Surrey origin , il not actually within the borders of the

meeting province—and the St . John ' s Lodge , No . 631 , Guildford , warranted in 1812 . There remains to be added to ' the roll ot pne-union lodges one constituted by the " Ancients , " namely , No . 272 , on 7 th March , 1792 , which originally was connected with thc 45 th Regiment , but on the nth October , 1 S 09 , transferred its place of meeting to the Castle Inn , Guildford . But though , as will be gathered from the foregoing particulars , Masonry had succeeded in establishing a firm footin" - in the not of the above lod

county , one ges , to our regret be it said , has maintained its existence till noxv . One and all havc passed away , but not , we feel assured , without having left behind them some trace of their labours . Kew and Richmond , though noxv in London , are still strongholds of the Craft , while at the purely provincial Croydon , Epsom , Guildtord , Kingston , and Reigate are to be found a number of lodges all fulfilling their appointed duties with satisfaction to themselves and credit to the society .

As regards the province as now constituted it contains six and twenty lodges , the oldest being thc St . George ' s Lodge , No . 370 , meeting at Chertsey and dating from the year 1822 . ' I he Grove Lodge , No . 410 , at Kingstonon-Thames was founded in 18 32 ; Surrey Lodge , No . 416 , Reigate , in 1834 ; the Frederick of Unity , No . 452 , and the East Surrey Lodge of Concord , both of Croydon , in 183 S and 1839 respectivel y . Next in order of seniority

come the Royal Alfred , No . 777 , Guildford , warranted in 1 SS 9 ; the Dobie , No . 8 S 9 , at Kingston in 1 S 61 ; the St . Andrew ' s , No . 1046 , Farnham in 1864 ; and the Dorking , No . 1 149 , meeting in the town of the same name , in 18 O 7 . Two lodges were added to the list , one at Sutton and the other at Red Hill , in 1871 , and the Weyside , No . 1395 , at Woking , in 1 S 72 . In 1875 was founded a third Croydon lodge , the Addiscombe , No . 1 = ^ 6 . and this

was followed by a new lodge at KnaphiJJ , the St . John's , No . 15 64 . The following year saw the addition of two lodges , one at Walton and the other at Kingston , the Brownrigg , No . 163 S , while in 18 77 was constituted the Albert Edward , No . 1714 at York Town . Two lodges , the Parthenon , No . 1826 , Kgham , and the fourth and youngest of the Kingston lodges , the Ewell , No . 1851 , date from 1 S 79 , and three from 1880 , namely the Claremont , No . 1861 , lr . sher ; the St . Margaret ' s , No . 1 S 72 , Surbiton ; and the Wallington ,

No . 1 S 92 , Carshalton . 'Ihe year 1 S 81 saw the birth of two more , a second Surbiton and a fourth Croydon lodge , the Eurydice , No . 1920 , and thc Mozart , No . 1929 respectively , while last year were founded two lodges named in honour of two brethren of hi gh distinction in the Craft , the Arnold , No . 19 S 1 , Kast Molesey , so called after Bro . the Rev . C . W . Arnold , P . G . C , Dep . P . G . M , and the Greenwood , No . 1982 , after Bro . C . Greenwood ! P . G . S . B . England , and Prov . G . Sec .

As General Brownrigg ' s patent of Prov . Grand Master dates from the close of the year 1 S 71 , we shall be correct in considering the lodges—15 in number—created since 1872 inclusive as so many evidences of his zeal and energy and the respect in which he is held as a ruler . Of the high distinction he has attained in Masonry in general , wc have but to enumerate as conclusive proof the offices he has held or holds in its different branches .

I hus as a constitutional Mason he is a Past Grand Senior Warden , since 1 S 71 Prov . Grand Master , and since 18 73 Prov . Grand Superintendent of Royal Arch Masons for Surrey . He is also a Past Grand Junior Warden of the Mark Grand Lodge , Prov . Prior of the Temple , & c , for Kent and Surrey , Grand Prior in the Supreme Council and Thirty-third Deercc .

ot the Ancient and Accepted Rite . He has , moreover , evinced his interest in our Institutions on more than one previous occasion , so that with a chairman so distinguished and so deservedly popular , and a province that is strong in good men and likely to support their chief , we may anticipate for the festival of the 28 th inst . a return somewhat commensurate with the serious needs of the Institution .