FREEMASONRY in CHESHIRE * Tlie History of the Provincial Grand
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CONTENTS. PAG E is by evidence than which it will be difficult to discover much LEA D ER— that relates to an earlier period. Freemasonry in Cheshire ... ... ... •¦• ••• 5*17 We have seen that Col. F. Columbine was Provincial Grand A New Departure ... ... ... — _• •• — 54$ Boar d of Benevolence ... ... ... ••• ••• ••• 54| Master in 1725, and in Chapter I. will be found a letter addressed Impo rtant Masonic Gathering at Wigan ... ... ... •¦• 54a The Craft Abroad ... ... ... - ••• - 549 to the Grand Master of England, dated from the " Castle and The November Magazines ... ... ... ••• ••• 549 Falcon " Lod in Chester April Craft Masonry ... ... — — — ••• 549 ge , 15th , I727, and signed by H. M ASONIC N OTHS — Warburton as P.G.M., his Deputy (Samuel Smith, who was also The Sch ool Elections ... ... ••¦ ... ••• 553 Col. Columbine's Deputy) ,' and his Wardens (Roger Comber- Conserration of the Mai den Lod ge, No. 2875 ... ... ... 553 The Late Bro. Horatio Ward ... ... ... ... 553 bach and John Coleclough). How long Warburton remained in Reviews ... ... ... ... ... • •• ••• 554 office cannot, in the absence of any definite statement, be shown ; Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ••• 554 Instruc tion ... ... ... ... ... •¦• •*• 555 but in 1742 Captain Robert Newton was P.G.M., and he was Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... - 55*3 re-elected on St. John 's Day in winter in the following Science, Art , and the Drama ... ... ... ... ••• 557 year. Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ••• 55s Under Bro. Newton 's ausp ices Freemasonry does not appear to have greatly prospered. There were lodges at Congleton and Macclesfield but they FREEMASONRY IN CHESHIRE * , do not seem to have sent representatives to the Provincial Grand Lodge at Chester. The old " Castle and or at least of so Tlie history of the Provincial Grand Lodge, Falcon had been erased in 1739 and the " Spread Eagle " Lodge, much of it as is supported by minutes that are still extant , fills though still on the register, was, as Bro. ARMSTRON G suggests, upwards of 200 pages, and by reason of the li ght that it throws very probabl y in a moribund state, as it was erased soon after- upon tlie manner in which thc Province was carried on , as well wards. Thus the only active lodge was the Royal Oak, No. 180, as from the particulars which Bro. ARMSTRONG has made it his Chester, which, apparently not without reason , Bro. ARMSTRONG business to furnish where possible about thc officers of the Pro- considers lo have one and the same with the old " Sunn " Lodge, of Chester, of which both Col. Columbine and H. Warburton vincial Grand Lodge, is full of interest , and will be read with were members. The Master of the Royal Oak Lodge—Bro. pleasure not only by our Cheshire brethren , but likewise by Edward Orme—was elected Dep. Prov. G.M. to Captain Newton, members of the Craft throughout the jurisdiction of the Grand while the old P.G. Wardens remained in office. In 1744, the Lodge of England. In the first place, Cheshire is ihe oldest of oui Prov. Grand Officers were re-elected , and in 1745, the P.G.M. Provinces, dating, as it does unquestionabl y, from thc year 1725, and his Deputy were re-elected , but new Wardens were chosen , while it may have been organised as a Province—as the author nor was there any further change until 1754. Bro. Newton after suggests—for many years prior even to that early date. But 1745 appears to have neglected his duties , and in 1 749 we are told that the one active lodge in Chester had onl not only is it recognised by our Grand Lodge as tlie earliest of y seven members. He seems to have died in 1750 , at all events, letters of administra- our Provinces, but a mere glance at the Statement giving the tion were granted to his widow in October of that year. " Succession of Provincial and District Grand Masters in Pro- In 1750 , Alderman Joh n Page was admitted a Mason in the vinces and Districts in the Grand Lod ge and United Grand " Royal Oak " Lodge, and on thc 27th December, 1754, was Lodge of England, now existing, from 1717 to thc Present Time," elected Prov. Grand Master. Under his rule the fortunes of the whicli is published in oui* Grand Lodge Calendar, and to which Craft were greatl y bettered. In the year following his election , we had occasion to refer in our former article, will show that when he filled the office of Mayor of Chester as well as that of there are but very few Provinces which , if all their minutes of P.G.M., 18 new members were admitted into the old or " Sunn " Lodge and two new lod ges in Chester, at the proceedings from the grant of their earliest Deputations had " Raven " and "Plume of Feathers '' respectively, were constituted, while been religiously preserved till now, could go further back than a many valuable presents were made to the lodge, notably certain few years beyond the date of the earliest Provincial Cheshire chairs given by Thomas ffarington , which are still in use in the record—the re-election of Captain Robert Newton of Chester , , Cestrian Lodge, No. 425. On St. John 's Day—in—winter, 1755, as Provincial Grand Master on December 27th , 1 743. Exclusive a Prov. Grand Secretary was for the first time elected , and in of Cheshire , the number of districts for which Provincial Depu- 175 6, the roll of Provincial Officers was still further extended election of a Treasurer. Till now tations were granted before 1 743 is, according to the Calendar , by the , the officers of the eight—namely, North Wale?, South Wales, Warwickshire, Prov. Grand Lod ge had been elected at the meetings in Decem- ber, but in the deputation from the Grand Master appointing Shropshire , Northumberland , Durham , Lancashire, and York 1757, John Page , P.G.M., was read in open lodge, and henceforth the shire—and it is not a little singular that , excepting, of course : P.G.M. appointed his officers—the Prov , G. Treasurer being the two divisions of Wales, nearl all these districts are in the y included. The next year further evidence* was forthcoming of North of England , where thc Grand Lodge of all England at the increased activity of the brethren. A quarterl y communi- iork , though it does not appear to have claimed or exercised cation of Prov. Grand Lod ge was held in November, and on authority over the Masons in the other counties, must certainl y the following St. John 's Day, the P.G.M ., his officers , and the have exercised a considerable influence. Hence, as we have brethren went in procession to the parish Church of St. John said , the exceptionall y great value of this history, supported as it the Baptist for divine service, the custom then inaugurated having been since observed most religiousl y, " notwithstanding H ISTORY OK IN ami p ^ F REEMASONRY C HESHIRE , being a Record of all Extinct S ng Lod hints from the hi ghest quarters that it is no longer in keeping Loder ri 8*es* Craft and Mark , and Royal Arch Chapters , Provincial Grand and Mark Provincial Grand Chapter. By J ohn Armstrong, P.P G W n n ' and with the dignity of the Order." In 17 60, the custom of " Inter- ' ' i.' ' P *P.G.H . London : Bro. George Kenning, 16 and I 6A , Great Qaeen- street«ir. »», L . ~ incoln ' s In n Fields, W.C , 1901. lodge Visitations " appears to have been introduced , an I for the first time we read of the Prov. G. Officers being invested with his office, ancl at once ' Bro. Townshend was installed his suc- their respective bad ges of office. In 17 65, R. Salusbury Cotton , cessor as R.W.M. of Lodge 80/ the new qualification for a father of Viscount Combermere, was initiated in thc Senior D.P.G.M. being that he must previousl y have been installed and Lodge in the presence of the P.G.M. and his officers, while in served the office of Master of a regular lodge." the following year the Star Lodge was constituted. Other Only one more meeting of Prov. Grand Lodge after tbat at matters of moment arc also recorded , including certain corres- which Bro. Townshend was installed Deputy, was held durino* pondence which passed between the P.G. Lodge and thc Grand the remaining years of Sir John 's rule , and that was on the Lodge and when in 1771, thc P.G.M. found . it necessary on the 20th June, 1820 , when Bro. Townshend presided , and an address score of health to resign his office, and the Hon. John Smith of congratulation to his Majesty King GEORGE IV. was agreed Barry, who had been made in thc Senior Lodge in 175S , was to. Sir John died on thc 25th May, 1S25, and was buried , as unanimousl y recommended to the Grand Master to be his wc have said , with Masonic honours , thc number of lod ges successor, there can be no question as to the marked progress summoned to attend the meeting of Prov . Grand Lodge bcino* thc Craft had made under his alile guidance. 17. Three years passed before any steps wen; taken to secure During the Prov. G. Mastershi p of Bro. the Hon. John Smith a successor , and then the Royai Chester Lodge addrcsssd a Barry—whicli lasted until his death in 17 84—thc Craft main- letter to H.R.H. the Duke of SUSSEX , Grand Master , in which tained ils position , without , however , making any further they recommended Sir John 's brother , the Rev.