Eminent Masons At Home.

social requirements of Lombard and Threadneedle-streets have not yet issued their edicts among the northern hills of Yorkshire . A West Riding black cloth suit , and a red tie , form the business habiliments of a Yorkshire banker , and how far they transcend above the " frock " costumes

of the southern cities only comparison can decide . The cameo pin he always wears in his neckcloth has an Italian history , and his button-hole is never without a flower . To a well-made frame , six feet in its stockings , picture a head with strongest character written on every

feature of its face , and you have a man firm of purpose , decisive of action , and kind to a degree , and such a man is Thomas William Tew .

He was initiated thirty-four years ago in the Scarsdale Lodge ( 681 ) of Chesterfield , and in ' 62 was a founder and first W . M . of St . Oswald ' s Lodge at Pontefract , the chair of which he again filled the following year . Two years later he obtained his first provincial honours by being made

by the Marquis of Ripon a 'Past Senior Grand Warden of West Yorkshire . In 1869 , for the third time , he became W . M . of St . Oswald's , and six years later was Deputy P . G . M . of his province , whilst in 188 5 he succeeded Sir Henry

Edwards , Bart ., in the Provincial Grand Mastership ; and never has any provincial appointment been received with gieater favour by the brethren of any province . It was in 173 8 that the history of West Yorkshire as a province commenced . In that year it is officially recorded

that the Marquis of Carnarvon ( afterwards Duke of Chandos ) Grand Master , appointed "William Horton , Esq ., for the West Riding of the County of York . " This honour was but briefly enjoyed , for in the "Constitutions " for 1756 we find mention of the appointment in 1740 , of " Edward Rooke , Esq ., for the West Riding of the County of York , in the

room of Horton , deceased . " Great obscurity rests on a considerable number of years following , and the office of Provincial Grand Master most probably remained practically in abeyance until the year 1774 , when the whole county was placed under the jurisdiction of Sir Thomas Tancred , under

whose presidency an attempt was made at York to effect a communication amongst the Yorkshire Lodges . The learned John Noorthouck , in editing for the Grand Lodge the celebrated "Book of Constitutions" for 1784 , mentions Sir Walter Vavasour , Bart ., as Provincial Grand

Master for Yorkshire , doubtless in succession to Sir Thomas Tancred . In 1784 he was followed by Richard Slater Milnes , who was succeeded in turn by Robert Pemberton Milnes . In the "Grand Lodge Calendar" for 1813 , the name of this brother still appears , and we have no record of

a further change until 1 S 21 , when the County of York was divided into two provinces : the North and East Ridings for the first time constituted a distinct province , under the jurisdiction of Lord Dundas ( afterwards Lord Zetland ) , and the West Riding again , under Viscount Pollington ( afterwards Earl of Mexborough ) .

The West Riding of Yorkshire , as a Province , was reestablished in 1821 . It was formally constituted at Wakefield , April 3 rd , 1823 , and Lord Pollington installed as Provincial Grand Master . He died on Christmas Day , i 860 , having held the office for nearly forty years . The

next in the Provincial Grand Mastership was the Right Hon . Earl de Grey and Ripon ( afterwards the Marquess of Ripon ) , who was installed at Leeds on May 22 nd , 1861 . Lord Ripon resigned office early in 1874 , and on April 21 st

in the following year Lieut .-Col . Sir Henry Edwards , Bart . — first initiated in Lodge No . 61 , Halifax—took his place , succeeded in the course of events by Bro . Thomas W . Tew , under whom the Province now musters close upon 4 , members , 1 , 050 of whom are Past Masters .

Bro . Tew is also a P . Z . of the Wakefield Chapter , Grand Superintendent of West Yorkshire , and Past Grand Principal Sojourner ( Eng . ); is the very eminent Prior of the Knights Templars of West Yorks , a member of the Red Cross Knights of Babylon and of the Order of St . Laurence

meeting at Rochdale , of the thirtieth degree holding their assemblies at 33 , Golden-square , London , and of the Talbot Rose Croix , whose home is at Sheffield . He is a J . P . for the West Riding of York , and Chairman of the Petty Sessions of Osgoldcross ; a Founder of the United Northern Counties '

Lodge , 2126 , meeting at the Inns of Court Hotel in the Old Lincoln's Inn , Holborn , and a member of the illustrious Quatuor Coronati , has founded a Masonic Library for West Yorks at Wakefield , and has contributed very largely in books and MSS . ( one of which bears his name ) to its now

valuable collection . A chairman and president of numberless local institutions for the welfare of the young , he reserves his club life for the solemn attractions of the Junior Carlton and the St . George ' s , whenever his Masonic or social duties bring him down South , away from the delights of

the Wakefield Masonic Literary Society , of which he is the earnest working President . The Provincial Grand Master of West Yorkshire has

never aspired to Parliamentary honours . So much the better for Masonry ; so much the better for his self-respect . His father , who died at Crofton Hall , was a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant , and his grandfather was the Deputy Judge of the Honour Court of Pontefract .

His own country seats are The Grange , at Carleton , just out of Pontefract , Rawcliffe , and Wiggington , in the North Riding of the county . He farms himself extensively ; but he tells you , with a sigh , that his landed experiences are not very profitable . All this , however , is

forgotten in his great passion for Masonry ; for during the last fifteen years , ever since he became Deputy to his predecessor , William Thomas Tew has been seen actively at work at almost every consecration and stone-laying connected with his Province : indeed , out of fifteen

consecrations of new lodges , he has officiated at fourteen , and has only once missed , on the death of his father , a meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge . Of course , his Installation as P . G . M . in 1885 , when he was placed in the chair by the Deputy Grand Master , the Earl of Lathom , is his proudest

memory . Bro . Tew is not an orator , but his fine voice can fill a large hall , and , whenever he speaks , be sure there is no lack of listeners . And this is what he told his listeners on the 24 th of April , five years back , in the Albert Hall of Leeds : —

I cannot but express the regret with which I have vacated the office of Deputy Grand Master ; but circumstances over which I had but little control , combined with the pressure and good wishes from many quarters , have induced me to accept the most honourable position it was in the power of the M . W . the Grand Master to bestow—that of this Provincial Grand Mastership . In 1875 , I accepted the Deputyship

only for three months , and at the request of Sir Henry Edwards , until he could appoint some more appropriate Brother possessing the entire confidence of this Province , to fulfil Bro . Bentley Shaw ' s responsible duties . Little did I think that probationary term was to extend for ten years , and now perhaps longer , subject to your judgment , or until that time when all links must be sundered in this