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Untitled Article
P * Prov . tire Grand Chaplain . Square , borne by Bro . T . Robertshaw , P . M . Mallet , borne by Bro . Wm . Walsh , P . M . W . Samuel Clark , P . Prov . G . P . W . John Lee , P . Prov . G . R . and Prov . G . S . W . W . W . Widdop , P . Prov . G . S . B ., and P . Prov . J . W . Banner of the Lodge , borne by J . B . Thornber , J . G .
W . Wm , Smith , P . Prov . G . S . B ., bearing the sword of Prov . G . Lodge , rg The Worshipful Master , Richard Carter , C . E ., Prov , S . S . W ., g § accompanied by Bro . Henry Edwards , S . W , § & Senior Deacon , Bro . Wm . Stott ( pro tan , ) , g W Tyler , with drawn sword , P Bro . John Beckett , Prov . G . T „ The procession was nearly a mile in length .
The site chosen for the Town-hall is a piece of ground near the brMge , at £ h © junction of Hollings Mill-lane with the Rochdale and Halifax turnpike-road ; purchased from Messrs . Sutcliffe , of Hebden Bridge . On the procession returning over the bridge , the Secret Orders opened right and left , allowing the Freemasons first to enter the ground . The Brethren of the Craft took up their position in the immediate vicinity of the corner-stone , with the directors of the building committee , the magistrates , clergy , gentry , & c . immediately behind them
upon a temporary flooring laid over the excavation . A commodious platform , with a tier of seats rising one above another , was filled with ladies , inmuslin and other dresses little calculated for such an afternoon as it unfortunately turned out . The large heaps of stones hard by , the rising ground to the rear , and the barricades that had been put up , were all occupied by spectators ^ as , indeed , - was every available space , commanding a view of the ceremony . About a quarter past three o " elock the ceremony commenced , and the rain , then beginning to fall , continued to come down all the afternoon .
Bro . J . Fielding , aoting J . W . of the Lodge of Probity , presented Major Edwards , as Chairman of the Sowerby-bridge Town-hall Company , on behalf of the directors and shareholders , with a trowel , to he used in the commencement of tfae work they had now met to inaugurate . [ The trowel bore the following inscription : — " Presented to Henry Edwards , Esq ., of Pye Nest , Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for the West Riding of Yorkshire , by the shareholders , on the occasion of his laying , with Masonic honours , the corner-stone of the Sowerby-bridge Town-hall , on Whit Monday , May 12 , 1856 . " ]
Bro . Edwards , S . W ., said he was happy to see so large an assembly . They were come , not to witness « i mere idle unmeaning ceremony , but to witness the laying of the foundation-stone , and they should consider it a solemn occasion . This stone was laid as a record of what had been done in the neighbourhood of Sowerby-brixlge during the last half century ; < and of what public spirit , animated and well directed , could do and would accomplish . It was laid , not in the gloom of solitude , but in the light of heaven—he wished lie coaild add , in the sunshine
of heaven—that the ten thousand persons then assembled might witness the ceremony with good will , and give their good wishes for the prosperity of the workand it was laid with the consent of the Worshipful Master , and with the sanction of those ancient symbols of wisdom and of mystery . As this sbone was laid at the commencement of an auspicious season of peace , might the Almighty , the G . A . O . T . U ., shower down his blessings upon the inhabitants of Sowerby Bridge , and might their work prosper .
Bro . the Rev . J . H . Warneford ( the Chaplain ) then offered up an appropriate prayer , and The Worshipful Master , Bro . R . Carter , having tested the lower stone , called on the Treasurer , Bro . John Fisher , who produced a phial , containing new coins of the realm , from a half-farthing to a five-shilling piece , and a roll of parchment , having upon it an inscription . The phial having been deposited by Bro . Fisher in a cavity formed in the rock , YOL , II . 3 M
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
P * Prov . tire Grand Chaplain . Square , borne by Bro . T . Robertshaw , P . M . Mallet , borne by Bro . Wm . Walsh , P . M . W . Samuel Clark , P . Prov . G . P . W . John Lee , P . Prov . G . R . and Prov . G . S . W . W . W . Widdop , P . Prov . G . S . B ., and P . Prov . J . W . Banner of the Lodge , borne by J . B . Thornber , J . G .
W . Wm , Smith , P . Prov . G . S . B ., bearing the sword of Prov . G . Lodge , rg The Worshipful Master , Richard Carter , C . E ., Prov , S . S . W ., g § accompanied by Bro . Henry Edwards , S . W , § & Senior Deacon , Bro . Wm . Stott ( pro tan , ) , g W Tyler , with drawn sword , P Bro . John Beckett , Prov . G . T „ The procession was nearly a mile in length .
The site chosen for the Town-hall is a piece of ground near the brMge , at £ h © junction of Hollings Mill-lane with the Rochdale and Halifax turnpike-road ; purchased from Messrs . Sutcliffe , of Hebden Bridge . On the procession returning over the bridge , the Secret Orders opened right and left , allowing the Freemasons first to enter the ground . The Brethren of the Craft took up their position in the immediate vicinity of the corner-stone , with the directors of the building committee , the magistrates , clergy , gentry , & c . immediately behind them
upon a temporary flooring laid over the excavation . A commodious platform , with a tier of seats rising one above another , was filled with ladies , inmuslin and other dresses little calculated for such an afternoon as it unfortunately turned out . The large heaps of stones hard by , the rising ground to the rear , and the barricades that had been put up , were all occupied by spectators ^ as , indeed , - was every available space , commanding a view of the ceremony . About a quarter past three o " elock the ceremony commenced , and the rain , then beginning to fall , continued to come down all the afternoon .
Bro . J . Fielding , aoting J . W . of the Lodge of Probity , presented Major Edwards , as Chairman of the Sowerby-bridge Town-hall Company , on behalf of the directors and shareholders , with a trowel , to he used in the commencement of tfae work they had now met to inaugurate . [ The trowel bore the following inscription : — " Presented to Henry Edwards , Esq ., of Pye Nest , Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for the West Riding of Yorkshire , by the shareholders , on the occasion of his laying , with Masonic honours , the corner-stone of the Sowerby-bridge Town-hall , on Whit Monday , May 12 , 1856 . " ]
Bro . Edwards , S . W ., said he was happy to see so large an assembly . They were come , not to witness « i mere idle unmeaning ceremony , but to witness the laying of the foundation-stone , and they should consider it a solemn occasion . This stone was laid as a record of what had been done in the neighbourhood of Sowerby-brixlge during the last half century ; < and of what public spirit , animated and well directed , could do and would accomplish . It was laid , not in the gloom of solitude , but in the light of heaven—he wished lie coaild add , in the sunshine
of heaven—that the ten thousand persons then assembled might witness the ceremony with good will , and give their good wishes for the prosperity of the workand it was laid with the consent of the Worshipful Master , and with the sanction of those ancient symbols of wisdom and of mystery . As this sbone was laid at the commencement of an auspicious season of peace , might the Almighty , the G . A . O . T . U ., shower down his blessings upon the inhabitants of Sowerby Bridge , and might their work prosper .
Bro . the Rev . J . H . Warneford ( the Chaplain ) then offered up an appropriate prayer , and The Worshipful Master , Bro . R . Carter , having tested the lower stone , called on the Treasurer , Bro . John Fisher , who produced a phial , containing new coins of the realm , from a half-farthing to a five-shilling piece , and a roll of parchment , having upon it an inscription . The phial having been deposited by Bro . Fisher in a cavity formed in the rock , YOL , II . 3 M