History Of Freemasonry In Leicestershire And Rutland.

HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY IN LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND .

( Continued from page 1 ? 8 . ) THE next event of any moment reveals to ns his lordship , the Prov . G . Master , in a somewhat awkward position . In September 3833 , the Grand Master H . K . H . the Duke of Sussex being on a visit to Colonel Wildman ,

Prov . G . M . of Notts , graciously visited the Lodges at Nottingham , and to this end a Grand Lodge was convened , which was numerously attended by brethren from the

adjoining Provinces , among them being Lord Rancliffe , Sir P . G . Fowke , and several members of St . John ' s Lodge , Leicester . The Grand Master having intimated a desire that the Officers of the different Prov . G . Lodges in

attendance should be presented , Lord Rancliffe found himself in a position of great perplexity . He was G . Master of his Province ; but , alas ! ho had no Prov . G . Lodge , and consequently no Prov . G . Officers to present . The state of things was ludicrous , if not alarming , but the difficulty

was overcome . His lordship withdrew to an ante-room , and then and there constituted Sir F . G . Fowke his Deputy , and the other Leicester brethren officers of his Prov . G . Lodge ; and as such they were presented to His Royal Highness . It will be difficult to parallel an emergency

meeting held under similar circumstances . However , the event served to rouse Lord Rancliffe to a sense of duty . Oti the 29 th October the Prov . G . Lodge met at Leicester , and for the first time , after having held the office of P . G . M . for twenty-one years , did his lordship attend a Masonic

Lodge in his Province , being installed in office , as well as Sir F . G . Fowke as D . P . G . M ., by Bro . Lawrence Thompson . The Officers , too , were appointed and invested . The same evening his Lordship Avas present afc a meeting of the St . John ' s Lodge , and was afterwards proposed and elected

one of its members . Henceforth there are regular minutes of the proceedings of the Prov . G . Lodge , Bro . William Cooke , County Treasurer , having been appointed to P . G . Secretaryship , an office he continued to fill till 1854 . However , the irregularities which had prevailed so long in

the Province did not disappear immediately . Lord Rancliffe appears not to have presided as W . M . of a Lodge , yet in 1834 he was , though not without a protest from a minority of the members , elected W . M . of the St . John ' s

Lodge , and without having previously served as a Warden . Ho was installed in the March following , that being the only occasion on which he attended ; but notwithstanding this , at the end of his year of office , he received a vote of thanks " for his condescension in servino- the office . " At

this time there were only two Lodges in the Province , namely—the St . John ' s Lodge , Leicester , and the Knights of Malta Lodge , Hinckley . But towards the end of 1834 a warrant was granted for the formation of the Rancliffe Lodge , No . G 08 , at Loughborough . It met for the first

time under dispensation on 9 th December , and was consecrated on the 13 th March 1835 , a Prov . G . Lodge , at which Lord Rancliffe presided being convened for the purpose , Bros . Burckhardt and Lawrence Thompson of London taking part in the ceremonies of consecration , and the

installation of Bro . James Elverson as first W . M . On the day of installation a number of candidates were initiated . The career of the Rancliffe was not a prosperous one , and

in 1848 it passed away . On 30 th May 183 G the Ivanhoe Lodge , No . 031 , at Ashby do la Zoneli , was consecrated , and Bro . Edward Mammatt was installed as first W . M , Bro . Elverson being deputed to fulfil these duties

History Of Freemasonry In Leicestershire And Rutland.

by Lord Rancliffe , and being assisted by Bros . W . M . Thistleton , Treasurer of the Prince of Wales Lodge , and Burke , P . M . No . 37 , who attended from London for the purpose . On this occasion , four candidates were balloted for and approved , and regularly initiated under a

dispensation granted by Bro . Elverson in the name of the Prov . G . Master . This Lodge , however , enjoyed but a brief career , and expired in 1841 . The W . M ., of whom it is recorded that " although totally blind from five years of age , " he " was an excellent working Mason , " was the heart

and soul of the Lodge . He , indeed , was W . M . for the first two years , and during the last year of the Lodge ' s existence , and appears , moreover , to have provided most of the funds towards its establishment . Eighteen gentlemen were initiated in the Ivanhoe , seven brethren joined it ,

and four were elected honorary members . The fee for initiation was five guineas , as a joining member two guineas , the latter being likewise tho amount of the annual subscription , and the fee payable for a visitor introduced with the approbation of the W . M . to the banquet was

seven shillings and sixpence . Wo next note that tho P . G . M . gave directions that a Prov . G . Lodge should be held in Leicester on tho 12 th August 1836 , for the purpose of presenting an address of congratulation to His Royal Highness the Grand Master , on the happy circumstance

of his being restored to sight . His Lordship , however , being absent through indisposition , and the D . P . G . M . being in Switzerland , no P . G . Lodge was held , to the regret and disappointment of the brethren assembled . On 2 Gth September , 1838 a Prov . G . Lodge was held at

Leicester under tho presidency of Sir F . G . Fowke Dep . P . G . M ., Lord Rancliffe being again absent through indisposition . On this occasion , Bro . Thos . Moxon was installed W . M . of St . John ' s Lodge , Leicester , and Bro . Thos . Brooke Miller W . M . of the Rancliffe Loderc . At this time we

learn from Bro . Kelly that Freemasonry in Leicester was at a very low ebb indeed , owing to disputes and other causes , and the attendance at the Lodge was occasionall y so limited that the Tyler had to be in the Lodge in order that it might be opened , while at other times no Lodge could

be formed . However , the services of Sir F . G . Fowke were called into requisition , and thenceforward , but by a very gradual process , these difficulties were smoothed away . We may judge of this by the fact , as recorded by the author of this history , that , in the absence of Sir F . G .

Fowke , the services of Bro . Lawrence Thompson were engaged by the Lodge to instal a W . Master , there being no resident brother capable of performing the ceremony of installation . At a Prov . G . Lodge held afc Leicester on 11 th July 1842 , at which Sir F . G . FoAvke , in the

customary absence of the Prov . G . Master , presided , it Avas unanimously resolved to establish a Charitable Fund for the Province , and the Prov . G . Officers Avere appointed a Committee to carry out the resolution . On 28 fch November of the same year Bro . Masson , Governor of the County

Gaol , and Prov . G . Treasurer , Avas buried Avith Masonic ceremonial afc Kuighton churchyard , the vicar of Evington , Avhere tho deceased had expressed a wish to be interred , having AvithdraAvn his sanction for the ceremony to be

performed . Sir F . G . FoAvke D . P . G . M . conducted the ceremony , which , by the rarity of its occurrence , attracted a multitude of spectators , including several clergymen . About this time , also , steps Avere taken to establish

a company for the erection of a Masonic Hall in Leicester , but the scheme did not prosper . At a Prov . G . Lodge held on 27 th December , a scale of fees of honour for officers in the P . G . L . Avas for the first time adopted , this