In Memoriam.

In Memoriam .

BROTHER THE REV . A . F . A . WOODFORD , M . A

Past Grand Chaplain of the United Grand Lodge of A . F . and A . Masons , England . Born 9 th July 1821 . Called to the Grand Lodgo above 23 rd December 1887 . Reprinted from Vol . I ., Part III ., of the Transactions of th < Lodge Quatuur Coronati , 2070 , London .

SINCE the publication of part If . of these Transactions Death has again been busy with his sickle , and to the name of Bro . Budcleu must now be added that of Bro . Woodford , as having passed away from us , and being numbered with our Fraternal Dead .

The Rev . Adolp hus Frederick Alexandor Woodfordborn 9 th July 1821—was tho eldest son of the late Field Marshal Sir Alexander Woodford , and was gazetted to a licutcnancv in the Coldstream Guards in 1838 . Three

years later , however , he retired from the army , and matriculated at Durham University in 1 S 4-, was ordained Deacon in 1846 , and Priest in 1847 , being also presented in the latter year to the rectory of Swillington , Leeds , which he held until 1872 .

Onr brother first saw the lig ht of Masonry in 1842 , while on a visit to his father , at that time Governor of Gibraltar , in the Lodge of Friendship , then No . 345 , and on his return to England joined in succession a variety of

Lodges , the names of which have been already given on the second page of these Transactions . Tho highest office held by him in the Craft , was that of Grand Chaplain , to which he was appoiuted by tho Earl of Zetland , Grand

Master , in 1863 . In the following year , 27 th April 1864 , the foundation stone of tho new buildings at Freemasons ' Hall was laid with Masonic honours , by the Earl of

Zetland , Grand Master , and in the official proceedings of that occurrence it is recorded " that the Junior Grand Chaplain delivered an Oration on tho Dignity of the Order and the Principles of Freemasonry . "

This is again referred to in the printed " Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of England " tor 1 st June 1864 , from which the followiuir is an extract : —

"Bro . Mo In tyre said he had a Third Resolution to propose , and hardly knew how to find words adequate to express the gratitude which he personally felt towards the excellent Brother Woodford , whom he might designate as

the Vales Sucer , and who delivered the Oration on that occasion [ 27 th April j . All were delighted with the excellence of that Oration , and its applicability to the circumstances under which they were assembled . It was with great p leasure he

moved" That this Grand Lodgo desires to record its hearty and grateful thanks to the V . W . Brother the Rev . Adolphus F . A . Woodford , Grand Chaplain , for the eloquent and

instructive Oration delivered by him on the occasion of laying the Foundation Stone of the New Buildings . " " The motion was seconded , and carried unanimously . "

In the same month and year as those in which the Oration last referred to was delivered , a most instructive article from the pen of Bro . Woodford was printed in the Freemasons' Magazine and Masonio Mirror . This was

entitled " The Archives of the York Union Lodge , " and though long since superseded by the more elaborate investigation of the same documents b y Brother Hughan , it gave au excellent inventory of the old l'ecords of York , while the value of the article as a contribution to Masonic

research , was enhanced to students of those days from the circumstance that the writer , iu his examination of the ancient writings he described , had been assisted by the

late Bro . E . W . Shaw , one of our most diligent antiquaries , and who in some special studu s may be said to have neither rival nor successor .

Our brother was a frequent contributor to the Freemasons' Magazine , while lhat periodical continued to exist ; and ou taking up his residence iu London , after the resignation of h s clerical preferment in Yorkshire , became

editor of thc Freemason , which together with the Masonic [ latterly the Monthly ] Magazine he continued to conduct , the former from 1873 until 1885 , and the latter from its

first establishment iu Jul y lb 73 , until its dissolution in December 1882 . During these periods a memoir of the editor is inseparably interwoven with the literary merits of the two publications under his control , and of the latter it

In Memoriam.

would be difficult to speak too highly . But the labour he imposed upon himself was too great . Articles , essays , reviews , notes , queries , and even a large number of poetical effusions flowed from his facile pen . Nothing came amiss

to him , and in tho Magazine especially , his singular versatility , wide learning , and graceful diction , combined with an appetite for work which no amount of literary

labour could appease , enabled him to present month by month , with but little aid from contributors , aud uncheered by an adequate list of subscribers , as choice and instructive a Masonic Serial as can be paralleled in thc annals of the Craft .

His chief recreation appears to have consisted in a change of employment , for we find him , in the midst of such arduous and unceasing duties , assisting our Bro . Hughan in his "Masonic Sketches and Reprints" ( 1871 ) , by

writing an excellent essay on "the Connection of York with the History of Freemasonry in England , " also the same brother in his " old Charges of British Freemasons "

( 1872 ) , by contributing a masterly Preface , of which it is not too much to say that it was absolutely exhaustive , so far as research had then extended , as well as a monument of orderly classification and literary execution . In the

same year ho edited Sloane MS . 3329 , and in 1874 there appeared his "Defence of Masonry . " Some years then passed without the publication of any separate work , but

our brother was diligently engaged in the preparation of his magnum opus , the " Masonic Cyclopaedia , " which saw the lig ht in 1878 , and was followed within the year by Volume I . of Kenning ' s Archaeological Library , also edited by Bro . Woodford .

During all this time , and indeed , until the very year of his death , our brother figured very frequently as Grand Chaplain at the Consecration of Lodges , and his Orations

ou such occasions—upon which the readers of " Ars Quatuor Coronatorum" are enabled to pass their own judgment by referring to an earlier page—were always deemed models of grace and lucidity .

Besides the occasional verses which Bro . Woodford wrote from time to time in the Masonio Magazine , many of which were of rare elegance , he published at some period of his life an entire volume of poems , but the date of its

appearance I am unable to supply , neither have I seen the book , and the same remark holds good with regard to a selection of Sermons printed by him during his incumbency of Swillington . We are , indeed , concerned very little

with his attainments either as a poet or theologian , though if in the one instance his capacity be tested by the glimpse afforded us in the Masonic Magazine of his proficiency in more than a single form of metrical composition , and in

the other by the loftiness of thought and vigour of diction which pervade his prose works , there can be no room for doubt that he acquitted himself in both roles with an equal degree of ability to that which has always characterized

his writings as a great teacher in the Craft . Of bigotry or sectarian prejudice there was not a trace in his composition , and the following lines , which occur in Pope ' s Essay on Man , were strictly applicable to his turn of thought : —

" Slave to no sect , he takes no private road , But looks through nature , up to nature ' s God . " One of his most remarkable characteristics was the

tenacity of his memory . Nothing he ever read seemed to have been forgotton by him , and when appealed to , as he constantly was , to earmark a passage or reference , the exact locale of which had faded from the recollection of

some one of our number—the information sought , was invariably given without a moment's hesitation , and could always be relied upon .

It has been well observed , " that after all other difficulties are removed we still want some one to bear with our infirmities , to impart our confidence to , to encourage us in our hollies ( nay , to get up and ride behind us ) , and to like us with onr faults . "

Whatever faults , indeed , may have been chargeable to our dear brother , were not easily discernible , and of his particular idiosyncrasies , it may be safely affirmed that he was beloved by us all , not in spite of , but rather on account of their existence . Like the other members of the Lods-e he had his hobbies ,

but they were never ridden too hard , and it was a pleasure at any time , on his fraternal invitation , to get up behind him , and be carried gently along throughout the whole course of his peregrination .