The Fabric, In Fact, Threatened To Collapse, For When The Third Annual Return To Grand Lodge Was Made It Became Necessary To Consider, In Obedience To Instructions From Grand Lodge, Whether Tho Constitution Of The Lodge Should Be Continued. The True Masonic Spirit Asserted Itself, However, Or The Taunton Freemasons Would Not To-Day Be

The fabric , in fact , threatened to collapse , for when the third annual return to Grand Lodge was made it became necessary to consider , in obedience to instructions from Grand Lodge , whether tho constitution of the Lodge should be continued . The true Masonic spirit asserted itself , however , or the Taunton Freemasons would not to-day be

Inn in that town . It appears from the minute books of the Lodge which are still preserved , that on the 18 th Septempter 1797—that is when the Lodge was just over ten years old—a special meeting was held at the George Inn , Ilminster , to consider a notice of motion for removing it to Taunton . At that time the chair was occupied by Bro . William Slatter , while Bro . John Jesse was

the Secretary and Treasurer . The first meeting at Taunton was held at Bro . Edward Jones ' s London Inn , on the 4 th October following , when the four principal Officers were appointed . The first initiate at the new quarters appears , by the minutes , to have been a Mr . Aaron Moyle , gentleman , of Pitminster . At this early period of the Lodge ' s career it does not appear to have been very atrong ,

either in members or funds , there rarely being more than a dozen brethren present at the monthly meetings , and the offices , aB we now know them , being not all filled . The Lodge then bore its present name , and stood No . 433 on the Register of Grand Lodge . A year after its removal to Taunton the Lodge was removed to a private room in North Street , upon the premises of a Mr . Bale , tobacconist , the rent beiner fixed at five eruineas ner annum . This

removal entailed considerable expense , the room having to be specially fitted up , and it was found necessary to apply the whole of the half-yearly subscriptions towards the liquidation of the debt . Our contemporary , the Somerset County Gazette , from which we gather these particulars , here remarks that it is evident from this entry that the present system of deductions from the subscriptions on behalf of Grand and Provincial Grand Lodge funds were not then in operation . In 1799 the first return of members

was made , in pursuance of the provisions of the Act , passed on the 12 th July of that year , "for the more effectual suppression of societies established for seditious and treasonable purposes , and for better preventing treasonable and seditious practices . " The provisions of this important enactment ( which made Freemasonry a legalised Secret Society ) were considered at the Lodge meeting held ou the 14 th August 1799 , on the receipt of a circular letter from Grand Lodge , which acquainted the Lodges with the

requirements of the Act , and instructed them as to what it was necessary for them to do . The members decided to fully comply with the requirements of the Act , and at the September meeting of the Lodge it was reported that the necessary forms had been observed . The number of subscribing members at this time appears , from the

copy of the return given in the minute book , to have been only twenty-one . Reviewing this period of the Lodge ' s history , our contemporary observes : " The earlier years of Masonry in Taunton were not prosperous . The Lodges were not well attended , and initiates wero few .

celebrating their Centenary . The Lodge decided to support the Constitution , bnt it was found advisable to remind the brethren that it was their duty to pay up their arrears , the Grand Secretary informing them that no brother could be relieved from the fund of Charitv , or be

admitted a member of the Masonic Benefit Society , or have his daughters received into the Freemasons' Schools , unless his name appeared iu the books of Grand Lodge and his fees were paid . " An item of interest appears on the

records at this time , in tbe form of a certificate of membership or good conduct , which appears to have been issued by the Lodge , as wo believe is still done in many parts of the world . The form is given , as follows : — -

" In tho East , where silence rose . Lodge of ' Unanimity , and Sincerity , ' No . 433 . Theae are to certify that Bro . A . B . was regularly made a Mason , aud admitted to the third degree of Mason in onr Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons , hold in the town of Taunton ,

and connty ot Somerset , and numbere I as above , and has behaved during his stay with ns as becomes a true and faithful Ma .-ioii , and as Rnch we recommend him to all regular Lodges throughout the woikl after due trial and examination ; and in ease of death or otherwise this might be made an improper use of , we havo caused hi- ! to sign hig name on the margin . Giren nndor our hands and se : il of our Lodge in Tuur . ton this — day of — and —of Sfasonry . "

' For seveu or eight years after the crisis to which nlinsion has been made nothing of presett interest appears on the rainnt . es , bnt , under date 11 th April ( 1810 wc presume ) Provincial Grand Lodge was opened , under the banner of the Lodge , at the Market llou .-ie , for tho purpose of

The Fabric, In Fact, Threatened To Collapse, For When The Third Annual Return To Grand Lodge Was Made It Became Necessary To Consider, In Obedience To Instructions From Grand Lodge, Whether Tho Constitution Of The Lodge Should Be Continued. The True Masonic Spirit Asserted Itself, However, Or The Taunton Freemasons Would Not To-Day Be

assisting in an important local ceremony , the laying of the foundation stone of the Taunton and Somerset Hospital . The minuto in reference to this meeting is as follows : — " Thia meeting of brethren was oalled on thia day by the P . G . M for the purpose of lying the foundation stone of the Taunton and

Somerset Hospital , whioh was instituted on the Jubilee Day in the 60 th year of the reign of his present Majesty King George III . The brethren from the different Lodges in this county were summoned for attendance by the P . G . M ., and the assemblage of brethren whioh met on this laudable oooasion amounted to two hundred and

twenty in number . A procession was formed under the direction of Brother Jaoobs the P . G . S . W ., to whom the highest encomiums were passed for his regular order and Masonic zeal . The procession went from the Market House to St . Mary Magdalene ' s , where an appropriate sermon was preached by Bro . Gueriu , the P . G . Chaplain , after

which the brethren marched to the spot , where the foundation atone was laid in true Masonio order . The whole procession returned to Mr . Upham ' s , at the Market House , where a room was fitted up in triumphal and architectural style , and an elegant dinner was provided . The whole of the brethren dined , and spent the day in oonviviality and brotherly love . "

Masonry appears to have been very quiet in Taunton at this time , and for some years subsequently , but in 1817 a revival took place , and an era of prosperity set in . Bro . Arthur Chichester was appointed Provincial Grand Master , and his installation took place at the Market House ,

Taunton , on tbe 30 th December 1817 , the occasion being one of much aplendour . He subsequently paid a visit to the Lodge of " Unanimity and Sincerity , " and initiated some of the leading townsmen of that day , including Sir Thomas Lethbridge , T . M . Chater , Robert Beadon , Charles Cox ( father of the late Sergeant Cox ) , J . W . Marriott , and others . The

Masons or the district do not appear to nave been slow in evincing their gratitude to Bro . Chichester for his zeal as Provincial Grand Master , and a dutiful and loyal address was presented to the then Grand Master , the Duke of Sussex , thanking him for placing such an able and enthusiastic Mason at their head . The increased vitality of the Lodge at this period was shewn in many ways ; a Lodge of Instruction was started , the minor offices of the Lodge filled , and a Masonic library commenced . Much of the

prosperity appears to have been due to the exertions oi Bro . J . Pinchard , who was Worshipful Master of this Lodge in 1817-18 , and on his vacating the chair in favour of Bro . Charles Kemeys Kemeys-Tynte , a vote of thanks was recorded on the minutes " for his zeal in the cause of Masonry in general , and the interests of this Lodge in particular , during the time of his filling the office of W . M .,

a period unprecedented in the annals of the Lodge for the number of Masons admitted as members , and the number of Mason * made in the Lodge . " The Lodge testified to the Masonic worth of the then Grand Masterthe Duke of Sussex—by resolving , on the 11 th of February 1818 , that His Royal Highness be applied

to for leave to add to the title of the Lodge by naming it " Tho Royal Sussex Lodge of Unanimity and Sincerity . " This , we are told , was adopted , but the addition to the title was subsequently dropped . In 1820 Bro . 0 .

Kemeys-Tynte succeeded to the Grand Mastership of the Province ,

an event which was duly honoured by the Lodge , -which then bore the number 497 . In 1821 the brethren assisted at the laying of the foundation stone of the new Market House , which ceremony was performed with Masonic

honours . Nothing of importance appears on the minutes for some years after this . Several removals took place in the Lodge quarters , and it became No . 327 on the Register of Grand Lodge by a revision of numbers in 1833 . On the

third August 1858 the Lodge met to receive Provincial Grand Lodge , on the occasion of laying the foundation stone of the new Tower of St . Mary Magdalene , which was carried out with Masonic honours . The foundation stone

was laid by the Provincial Grand Master , and the brethren affcewai-ds attended Divine service in the church . In November 1800 the death was anuounced of the Provincial

Grand Master , Colonel Tynfc , the Lodge passing a vote of condolence with his family , and expressing their deep sense of tho loss sustained by the Province . It was at this time that Colonel Adair , tho present ruler of the Lodge—then known as plain Alexandra William Adair—first ruled over its destinies , so that we find him recalled'to his old place at

the head of the Lodge , after a lapse of nearly thirty years , to assist in celebrating' tho Centenary , although , in the meantime ho h ; ul had greater honours conferred upon him ,

for on the 27 th January IBGl ho was appointed to tne high position of Provincial Grand Master . It was but natural tho Lodge should notice , iu appropriate fashion , the high dignity thua conferred on one of its members and Past