Battle Abbey And Its New Owner.

Battle Abbey and its New Owner .

THERE can , we think , have been but few happenings which will have given greater satisfaction , no less to the general public than to the Craft , than the purchase of Battle Abbey by the esteemed Provincial Grand Master for Hants and the Isle of Wight , R . W . Bro . Sir Augustus Webster , Bart .

The sale of the famous abbey by auction , and the consequent prospect of its falling into the hands of the highest bidder , irrespective of any other qualification for ownership , was sufficient to create in the most indifferent of us feelings of regret . The purchase by Bro . Sir Augustus Webster has , however , removed all such misgivings and has

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also added another romantic episode to the history of the building , for Battle Abbey first came into the possession of the Webster family nearly two hundred years ago . The event which the Abbey commemorates is too well known to need more than a brief allusion to the fact that the famous Battle of Hastings , in which 60 , 000 men were slain in

one day , transferred the Crown of England to a new race of Sovereigns . The ruins of the Benedictine Monastery , which William the Conqueror dedicated to St . Martin of Bataille in fulfilment of his vow , should he gain the day , are still in existence , covering quite a square mile in extent . One

, Gilmour was its first possessor ; it was afterwards transferred to Sir Anthony Brown , and subsequently was sold by the sixth Viscount Montague to our distinguished brother's ancestor , Sir Thomas Webster . He is said to have been a man of considerable learning ,

and to have shown a marked partiality for lands and buildings that had historic interest . Bodiam Castle , Robertsbridge Abbey , a Cistercian Monastery founded in the 12 th century , and the house in St . James ' s Street , which is now Boodle ' s Club , were amongst the most noteworthy of his possessions . The new owner of Battle Abbey , Bro . Sir Augustus F . E .

Webster , Bart ., is the eighth holder of the baronetcy , and is but thirty-seven years of age . A retired Captain of the Grenadier Guards , and a well-known member of the Guards ' Club , he has , since the outbreak of the war , resumed dutv with his former regiment . He married six years ago the only daughter of the late Henry Crossley , whose father was

one of three brothers who so developed their mills at Halifax that the linn of Crossleys still holds rank as the largest carpet manufacturers in the world . Our distinguished brother was Senior Grand Deacon in 18 97 , and in October last was appointed Provincial Grand

Master for Hants and the Isle of Wight , in succession to the late lamented Bro . Rt . Hon . W . W . B . Beach , M . P . He was also a founder and second deputy Master of the Household Brigade Lodge , of which the King was W . M . up to the time of his accession .

Bro . Sir Augustus Webster's personal popularity , no less than his Masonic attainments , render him eminently fitted for the position he has been called upon to hold , and a hope may be expressed that the brethren in the province in question will not altogether lose him as a resident in Hampshire in consequence of his acquisition of Battle Abbey .