Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Some Notes On Freemasonry In Australasia.– – (Continued).
of modest dimensions , and a Province of New South Wales under the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland . The Scottish Province comprises fourteen chapters ( the oldest warranted in 1863 ) , and four Mark Lodges . The Mark was worked in several of the Scotch Craft Lodges , the first record being in 1862 . The associate grades are also worked
under Scottish Royal Arch warrants , while the Antient and Accepted Scottish Rite is exemplified in the Sedgwick Chapter . A singular question arose quite recently relative to Scottish Royal Arch Masonry and Knight Templary in New South
Wales . The Chapter-General of Scotland had been asked by its preceptory in Sydney whether a candidate hailing from the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of New South Wales could be admitted a Knight Templar . The reply was , that as the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of New South
Wales was not recognised by the Grand Chapter of Scotland , companions under its jurisdiction could not be recognised as Royal Arch Masons , nor received as candidates for the
Order of the Temple . We now arrive at the " sovereignty " era of New South Wales ; but the present United Grand Lodge and its unrecognised predecessor need only be dealt with . The latter institution , as already stated , was inaugurated in 1877 ,
and with only thirteen lodges , over half of them Scotch , one being the before-mentioned Sydney Tarbolton , the remainder Irish , and but a solitary English lodge , the Truth , No . 881 , at Braichvood , the warrant of which was erased by its mother Grand Lodge in 18 79 . The Grand Master of this irregular
Grand Lodge was the Hon . James Squire Farncll , at one time , it will have been seen , head of the Irish lodges . He also was Premier of New South W ales . One of his principal acts in the early part of his Grand Mastership , was to organize and Jay the corner-stone of a new Masonic Hall in
Sydney , which it is only necessary to say was never a success from a financial point of view . Meantime , however , the coming into being of this unrecognised body excited a decidedly unhealthy rivalry between it and the English and
IlltO . WILLIAM 11 I 0 STHIJI , l'AST OUAXn WAI 1 DKX OP XKW SOUTH WALKS , if ., Ac . Scotch Districts . Much heat and bitterness was imported into a struggle that lasted eleven years , the members of the lodges belonging to the two British Constitutions , of course , being prohibited from holding any Masonic intercourse with
the seceders . A certain amount of sympathy , though , was extended to the irregular body , with the result that new lodges under its auspices were opened in considerable numbers , indeed , to such an extent that , at the union in
1888 , it numbered htty-one lodges , with nearly 2500 subscribing members . And so the strife rolled on wearily and excitedly . Amongst the amenities of the struggle may be mentioned the circumstance of some members of the Irish Widow ' s Son Lodge , who had thrown in their lot with the unrecognised body , going to law lo recover the furniture ,
regalia , & c , of which the loyalists had been lucky enough to retain possession . But this state of affairs could no longer continue , and so the beginning of the end arrived , in the early part of 1888 , when the late Earl of Carnarvon , then Pro Grand Master of
England , paid a visit to the Australian Colonies . It was an open secret that his lordship had been commissioned by his Majesty King Edward VII ., at that time head of the English Craft , to use his good and fraternal offices in bringing about a fusion of the contending forces by the formation of a
United Grand Lodge of New South Wales . The overtures thus happily broached had , in a measure , been anticipated the year before , with a few infoimal meetings on the part of the members of the English lodges ; but the Scottish District sent out a circular to all Masters of lodges empowering them
to ascertain by a vote of members , " after due deliberation , whether it is desirable that all lawful Freemasons of this colony shall unite in forming a Grand Lodge in New South Wales . " From this it would appear that the unrecognised Grand Lodge was ignored , at all events , one may reasonably
infer such was the intention , although the word " lawful " was not italicised , that distinction being here given by way of illustration .
To bring the subject to a conclusion , however , the Articles of Union were adopted at a joint meeting in the hall of the Sydney University on August 16 th , 1888 , whilst on the same occasion Lord Carrington was elected the first Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales . The j 8 th of the month following was the happy consummation of
longdeferred hopes , and the accompanying installation of Lord Carrington by Chief Justice Way , Grand Master of South Australia , in the Exhibition Building , in the presence of some 4000 members of the Craft . The strife being o ' er , little else remains to be added than that the new Grand Lodge opened
its career with a constituent roll of 18 9 lodges , made up of eighty-two English ( one in New Caledonia ) , fifty-six Scotch , and fifty-one of the hitherto ostracised Grand Lodge . It should be explained that two of the English lodges did not go in with the majority , one being the now famous Cambrian
Lodge of Australia , No . 6 5 6 ( of which more presently ) , and the other the Paddington Ionic , No . 2179 . The last-named , though , subsequently fell into line . The formal recognition
of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales—an act twice refused in the case of its predecessor—by the Grand Lodge of England at its December meeting in 1888 , was fittingly and eloquently moved by Lord Carnarvon , seconded by Bro . Philbrick , at that time Grand Registrar , and , it is needless to say , was carried without a dissentient voice .
The following is a list of the Grand Masters of the present flourishing Grand Lodge of New South Wales : ¦—Lord Carrington , G . C . M . G . ... 1888 The Earl of Jersey , G . C . M . G . ... 1890 Sir W . R . Duff , G . C . M . G 18 93
Sir Joseph Palmer Abbott , K . C . M . G . 18 95 John Cochrane Remington ... ... 18 99 The three first Grand Masters , it is almost unnecessary to note , were Governors of New South Wales , and they each went to the Antipodes holding high Masonic rank , Lord
Carrington and Lord Jersey having respectively been Senior Grand Warden of England in 1882 and 1870 , whilst Sir Robert Duff ( who died at his post , amid universal regret ) had been a Provincial Grand Master under the Scottish
Constitution . The Constitutions of the majority , if not all of the Australian Grand Lodges , provide that , in the event of the Grand Master being Governor , he shall have a Pro Grand Master , as is the law in England when the head of the Craft is a prince of the blood . The late Sir Joseph- Abbott , who was Pro Grand Master under Sir Robert Duff , was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the colony , and the present
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Some Notes On Freemasonry In Australasia.– – (Continued).
of modest dimensions , and a Province of New South Wales under the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland . The Scottish Province comprises fourteen chapters ( the oldest warranted in 1863 ) , and four Mark Lodges . The Mark was worked in several of the Scotch Craft Lodges , the first record being in 1862 . The associate grades are also worked
under Scottish Royal Arch warrants , while the Antient and Accepted Scottish Rite is exemplified in the Sedgwick Chapter . A singular question arose quite recently relative to Scottish Royal Arch Masonry and Knight Templary in New South
Wales . The Chapter-General of Scotland had been asked by its preceptory in Sydney whether a candidate hailing from the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of New South Wales could be admitted a Knight Templar . The reply was , that as the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of New South
Wales was not recognised by the Grand Chapter of Scotland , companions under its jurisdiction could not be recognised as Royal Arch Masons , nor received as candidates for the
Order of the Temple . We now arrive at the " sovereignty " era of New South Wales ; but the present United Grand Lodge and its unrecognised predecessor need only be dealt with . The latter institution , as already stated , was inaugurated in 1877 ,
and with only thirteen lodges , over half of them Scotch , one being the before-mentioned Sydney Tarbolton , the remainder Irish , and but a solitary English lodge , the Truth , No . 881 , at Braichvood , the warrant of which was erased by its mother Grand Lodge in 18 79 . The Grand Master of this irregular
Grand Lodge was the Hon . James Squire Farncll , at one time , it will have been seen , head of the Irish lodges . He also was Premier of New South W ales . One of his principal acts in the early part of his Grand Mastership , was to organize and Jay the corner-stone of a new Masonic Hall in
Sydney , which it is only necessary to say was never a success from a financial point of view . Meantime , however , the coming into being of this unrecognised body excited a decidedly unhealthy rivalry between it and the English and
IlltO . WILLIAM 11 I 0 STHIJI , l'AST OUAXn WAI 1 DKX OP XKW SOUTH WALKS , if ., Ac . Scotch Districts . Much heat and bitterness was imported into a struggle that lasted eleven years , the members of the lodges belonging to the two British Constitutions , of course , being prohibited from holding any Masonic intercourse with
the seceders . A certain amount of sympathy , though , was extended to the irregular body , with the result that new lodges under its auspices were opened in considerable numbers , indeed , to such an extent that , at the union in
1888 , it numbered htty-one lodges , with nearly 2500 subscribing members . And so the strife rolled on wearily and excitedly . Amongst the amenities of the struggle may be mentioned the circumstance of some members of the Irish Widow ' s Son Lodge , who had thrown in their lot with the unrecognised body , going to law lo recover the furniture ,
regalia , & c , of which the loyalists had been lucky enough to retain possession . But this state of affairs could no longer continue , and so the beginning of the end arrived , in the early part of 1888 , when the late Earl of Carnarvon , then Pro Grand Master of
England , paid a visit to the Australian Colonies . It was an open secret that his lordship had been commissioned by his Majesty King Edward VII ., at that time head of the English Craft , to use his good and fraternal offices in bringing about a fusion of the contending forces by the formation of a
United Grand Lodge of New South Wales . The overtures thus happily broached had , in a measure , been anticipated the year before , with a few infoimal meetings on the part of the members of the English lodges ; but the Scottish District sent out a circular to all Masters of lodges empowering them
to ascertain by a vote of members , " after due deliberation , whether it is desirable that all lawful Freemasons of this colony shall unite in forming a Grand Lodge in New South Wales . " From this it would appear that the unrecognised Grand Lodge was ignored , at all events , one may reasonably
infer such was the intention , although the word " lawful " was not italicised , that distinction being here given by way of illustration .
To bring the subject to a conclusion , however , the Articles of Union were adopted at a joint meeting in the hall of the Sydney University on August 16 th , 1888 , whilst on the same occasion Lord Carrington was elected the first Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales . The j 8 th of the month following was the happy consummation of
longdeferred hopes , and the accompanying installation of Lord Carrington by Chief Justice Way , Grand Master of South Australia , in the Exhibition Building , in the presence of some 4000 members of the Craft . The strife being o ' er , little else remains to be added than that the new Grand Lodge opened
its career with a constituent roll of 18 9 lodges , made up of eighty-two English ( one in New Caledonia ) , fifty-six Scotch , and fifty-one of the hitherto ostracised Grand Lodge . It should be explained that two of the English lodges did not go in with the majority , one being the now famous Cambrian
Lodge of Australia , No . 6 5 6 ( of which more presently ) , and the other the Paddington Ionic , No . 2179 . The last-named , though , subsequently fell into line . The formal recognition
of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales—an act twice refused in the case of its predecessor—by the Grand Lodge of England at its December meeting in 1888 , was fittingly and eloquently moved by Lord Carnarvon , seconded by Bro . Philbrick , at that time Grand Registrar , and , it is needless to say , was carried without a dissentient voice .
The following is a list of the Grand Masters of the present flourishing Grand Lodge of New South Wales : ¦—Lord Carrington , G . C . M . G . ... 1888 The Earl of Jersey , G . C . M . G . ... 1890 Sir W . R . Duff , G . C . M . G 18 93
Sir Joseph Palmer Abbott , K . C . M . G . 18 95 John Cochrane Remington ... ... 18 99 The three first Grand Masters , it is almost unnecessary to note , were Governors of New South Wales , and they each went to the Antipodes holding high Masonic rank , Lord
Carrington and Lord Jersey having respectively been Senior Grand Warden of England in 1882 and 1870 , whilst Sir Robert Duff ( who died at his post , amid universal regret ) had been a Provincial Grand Master under the Scottish
Constitution . The Constitutions of the majority , if not all of the Australian Grand Lodges , provide that , in the event of the Grand Master being Governor , he shall have a Pro Grand Master , as is the law in England when the head of the Craft is a prince of the blood . The late Sir Joseph- Abbott , who was Pro Grand Master under Sir Robert Duff , was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the colony , and the present