Freemasonry In Dorsetshire.——History Of The Province.

Freemasonry in Dorsetshire . —— History of the Province .

( By \ V . Bro . K . KKWMAX , P . M . 417 , P . P . G . Organist . )

HAD the Secretaries of ancient Masonry in Dorset been only half as zealous , and had they displayed a tithe of the fidelity which animates the distinguished brother who now wields the goosequill , the history of that province would not be the fragmentary record it is . There are lodges in the county , as at Poole , where the minutes maintain a

splendid continuity and where the brethren can point proudly to a list of members kept with scrupulous regularity since 1765 , and yet the Provincial Grand Lodge of Dorset , constituted in 1780 , can show no official minutes earlier than 1 793 . An effort has apparently been made to recover some

of the lost history , for in the time-worn old minute book ( now in the careful custody of W . Bro . Case , Prov . Grand Secretary ) there are entries borrowed from the Poole Lodge minutes referring to a Prov . Grand Lodge being held at Poole in June , 17 80 . But of what took place prior to 1793 ,

so far as Prov . Grand Lodge is concerned , with the exception of one or two fragmentary references in the Poole minutes , we know absolute !} - nothing . Worse still , the early

minutes that do exist are not original , though their authenticity is beyond till doubt . There are palpable evidences that the oldest minutes relating to Prov . Grand Lodge are copies from documents now non-existent , they being all in one hand-writing and devoid of signatures . But this regrettable fact

notwithstanding , the history of the province is marked by considerable distinction , and the minutes that have survived the destroying hand of time are invaluable from the curious side lights they throw on the quaint habits and fraternal amenities of the period . The iigure which looms largest in Dorset Masonry in the late eighteenth century is Thomas

Dunckerley , whose life , labour , and letters have been so abl y dealt with by Bro . Henry Sadler , Sub-Librarian of Grand Lodge . The impress of Bro . Dunckerley ' s influence upon early Dorset Masonry is clearly marked . He spent much time at Poole , and that he occasionally " worked" the lodge and chapter there is also clear . Dunckerley , it is said , owed his existence to the then Prince of Wales , but the " bar sinister "

liKO . COI . OMvfi W . K . HIIY . MI'H , . M . I ' ., IJKI ' . J ' . G . M .

does not seem to have affected his position among Dorset Masons . Me was every inch a Prince . There was , in the words of the waggish , characteristic note which it was ( lie habit of the London Prince of Wales Lodge to append to

the names of its members , " something royal about him , ' and the activity of Masonic life in this and the neighbouring counties at the time was largely due to his devotion to the Craft and the attraction of his own pseudo-royal personalitv .

into , WUADCOAT , r . r . s . u . w .

Masonry in Dorset has had its alternations of prosperity ancl decay , and the history of the province is the history of the various lodges . Some of them have at times expired from sheer inanition , but they have always risen phoenix-like from their ashes , and to-day the Prov . Grand

Master , W . Bro . Montague Guest , presides over a province which , for its size and comparative !} - sparse population , is unexcelled for enthusiasm and devotion to sound Masonic principles . There are evidences of Masonry being actively practised in Dorset very earl } ' in the eighteenth century , though the

lodges were few . Probably the lirst lodge constituted was at Weymouth , in 173 6 . After a few years' struggle it ceased to exist . Lyme Regis had a lodge in 1764 , but it was struck off the rolls in 1780 ; Poole has an unbroken record from J 76 5 ; Blandford had a lodge for ten years , from 1771 ; and

Dorchester possessed a lodge , the extinct " Duniovarian , " in 1 775 . As a matter of fact , in 1782-8 3 the only two regular lodges at work in the county were Poole and Dorchester .

But the history of the province began with the constitution of the Provincial Grand Lodge in 1780 , though 1777 is the year assigned to it in the valuable roll of Provincial Grand Masters printed in the Grand Lodge "Calendar . " The effect of the formation of Provincial Grand Lodge was lo greatly stimulate the practice of Masonic workand

, two new lodges were tickled to the roll in 1786 , viz ., Sherborne and Shaftesbury . Both unhappily fell into decay and died , the iirst in 179 8 and the latter in 1828 , though there are strong lodges in each town to-day . Thomas Dunckerley spread himself over the Masonry ,

not only of this , but of the neighbouring counties , in a remarkable manner . But , though his name is associated witli Dorset as early as 1777 , he was not Provincial Grand Master at that time . He was Provincial Grand Master for Essex and Superintendent of the lodges in Wilts and Dorset . Dunckerley , however , petitioned Grand Lodge to allow him to resign the office of Superintendent and to make him Prov .