Facts And Fancies.

COLONEL SHADWELL H . CLERKE . FEW names are better known in London or the Provinces than that of Colonel Shadwell Henry Gierke , Grand Secretary of English Freemasonry , whose brilliant military career , great business capacity , and position as an officer of the Queen ' s Body Guard ,

render it almost an impossibility that he should go anywhere without being recognised by some former companion in arms , brother Mason , or member of Society . Colonel Gierke , who is a son of the late General St . John Gierke , K . H ., was born in the year 1836 , and having entered the army at the mature age of sixteen , he

served with his regiment , the 21 st Royal Scots Fusiliers , all through the Crimean War , for which he wears the three medals . He was present at the battle of the Alma , in which engagement he , as a second lieutenant , carried the Queen ' s colours of his regiment ; and also commanded the scaling-ladder party at the assault on the

Redan on June 18 , 1855 , his gallantry upon the latter occasion earning him the high honour of being alluded to by Lord Raglan in his dispatches and a recommendation for the Victoria Cross , Colonel Shadwell Gierke subsequently served for several years in the Mediterranean and West Indies , occupying at the latter station

the responsible position of Military Secretary to the Commander of the Forces . In 1875 he was appointed an Officer of Her Majesty ' s Body Guard , in which he still serves , and received in 1887 the Jubilee medal awarded by the Queen to all those who were prominently connected with the proceedings of that important period of

her existence . The Masonic career of Colonel Shadwell Gierke has not been one whit less brilliant than his military . He was initiated jn the Zetland Lodge of Malta No . 756 , on the register of the Grand Lodge of England in 1857 , and was elected Worshipful Master of the St . John and St . Paul Lodge , No . 349 , two years later

Colonel Gierke is also P . M . of the Friends in Council Lodge , No . 1 , 383 , was first principal of the Chapter of the same Lodge in 1876 , and has served the important and highly honorable offices of Senior Grand Deacon of England and Principal Grand Sojorner of the Royal Arch . He is

likewise a member of the Supreme Council 33 rd degree , second in command of the Order of the Temple in England , and Past Grand Warden of the Mark degree . Col . Shadwell Gierke ' s supreme Masonic triumph did not , however , fall to his share until the year 1880 , when , upon the retirement of the late Mr . John Hervey ,

H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , in his position of Grand Master , made the very happy selection of Col . Shadwell Gierke for the distinguished position of Grand Secretary of English Freemasonry and Grand Scribe E of the Royal Arch Chapter . How Col . Gierke has acquitted himself in the discharge of the high duties entrusted to him the annals of Freemasonry afford ample testimony . He

has ever been at his post to advise and instruct brethren of the inferior degrees , and to his really marvellous knowledge of all subjects connected with the Craft , and kindly willingness to place his experience at the disposal of any deserving Mason , many a newly-founded lodge owes its existence . Still the Grand Secretary is the last man in the world to be deceived by

any specious stories relative to non-existent facts ; nor does he , in his good nature and consideration for the feelings of those around him , permit the slightest relaxation from duty to occur during business hours . Himself every inch a soldier , military discipline reigns supreme at the office of Grand Lodge in Great Queen-street ,

to the benefit not only of the Craft , but to those who act under his orders . The most accessible man in England , Colonel Gierke , is nevertheless impatient of unnecessary interruptions , and the extraordinary rapidity with which he executes business transactions , anticipating , as it were , the requirements of his visitors

before the latter are able to express them , cannot fail to impress a stranger with the fitness of the Grand Secretary of England for the high office he bears . A gentleman , a polished man of the world , and a Freemason to the backbone , Colonel Shadwell Gierke has , it goes without saying , gained the respect and esteem of every member of the Craft with whom he has come in contact ,

and his services to Freemasonry during the past ten years have been simply incalculable . A splendid worker and most impressive orator , his delivery of the Masonic Ritual and likewise his afterdinner speeches have gained him a position in the estimation of the Brethren which could not possibly have been awarded to a less

eloquent Grand Secretary . Consequently , the two Craft Lodges and other Masonic bodies that bear his name must be regarded as tributes from their members to the respect in which their sponsor is held by them , although it must candidly be confessed that no such compliment was necessary to preserve his memory for ever in the

annals of the Craft . Col . Shadwell Gierke , whose health is now completely restored , resides at Upper Norwood , is a married man , and is the father of two sons—both of whom have adopted their father ' s old profession—and one daughter , who should feel very proud of being the children of a parent so deservedly popular as the Grand Secretary of English Freemasonry .

MARQUIS OF GRANBY LODGE . Since the first recorded meeting of " free and accepted" at Brother Horseman ' s , mine host of the " Bird and Bush" in Sadlerstreet , Newcastle , there have been many ups and downs in the history of the Craft . Bro . Logan , who went through the minutes a

few years ago , and has since given us a most minute and faithful account of the doings of his ancient Brethren , shows us that there was a time when the latter were , if not downright hard up , at any rate in straitened circumstances . The first record of the Marquis of Granby Lodge is in the year 173 8 , when there were sixteen

Brethren entered . In 1742 , one Brother presented himself drunk , and was fined . The Lodge was then more flourishing than it had been , for there is a resolution cancelling a previous order compelling every Brother to pay threepence each Lodge night , " in order to raise a fund to pay for the banner and other things then wanting . '

The Festival of St . John the Evangelist , which was celebrated on Tuesday night , used to be an important one among the Brethren , and it is frequently referred to in the records of the Lodge . These references throw much light on Masonry in other parts of the country . Thus , we find the Master and Officers of the Gateshead

Lodge , which was held at a hostelry known as the " Fountain , " visiting Durham in 1742 . When the host of the " Bird and Bush " died in 1746 , another loyal Mason , Brother Nicholson , stepped into his shoes . The usual festival took place at the end of the year , but something unpleasant must have transpired , for thereafter the brethren betook themselves first to the " Shoulder of

Mutton , " and next to the " Fox , " where business was transacted till 174 8 , when the " Bird and Bush" once more furnished them with their supper and grog , the difference between them and their host having evidently been adjusted . We fear that some of these ancient Masons were not very pious individuals , for they held their Lodge meetings on a Sunday , all absent Brothers forfeiting

fourpence , which went to the supper fund . They were great supporters of the drama , and in 1774 , after the New Year ' s festivities were over , they went in a body to the Play House , and saw the " Suspicious Husband , " with the " Devil to Pay . " Hitherto the Lodge had been composed principally of citizens only , but about this

period of its history the gentry of the county began to join , one of the first celebrities being George Baker , the squire of Elemore . In 1778 the tone of the Lodge had so far improved that it was decided to purchase a Bible of Brother Thorne , a bookseller in Durham , whose descendant , Mr . Thorne , of Blackett-street , Newcastle , still

supplies books to local members of the Craft . The Brethren had then given up holding their meetings on the Sabbath , but they still looked after creature comforts , as may be inferred from a resolution in which instructions were given for a more regular supply of lemons . The consumption of delicacies had increased to such an

extent in 1792 that the subscription was raised , and it was " resolved unanimously that the liquor be delivered to the Lodge at prime cost . " How they managed this docs not appear . The brothers Charles and Stephen Geo . Kemble were members of the Granby Lodge , as was also the celebrated dwarf , Count Boruwlaski .