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Article OCCASIONAL PAPERS.—No. IV. ← Page 3 of 4 Article OCCASIONAL PAPERS.—No. IV. Page 3 of 4 →
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Occasional Papers.—No. Iv.
be enabled to make a liberal return monthly to our worthy ancl most respected Treasurer , Bro . T . Lingo , Esq ., whose zeal for Masonry can be equalled only by the goodness of his heart . May tho glorious cause of Masonic Benevolence , to which w ** aro BU warmly attached , poi-vaile tho Universe !
1 havo the honour to remain , With every respect , Yours fraternally , F . C . DANIEL . Grove Cottage , Mile-End , May 29 , 1817 .
By this ai'rangement the fifteen boys provided for by the Modern Institution were added to the fifty of the Ancient , and for a further forty years the number was onl y increased to seventy . But to resume our direct narrative . It is sufficiently clear that from the very first it was the
intention of the Governors , as soon as a fund could be raised for the purpose , " to purchase or build a school-house sufficiently capacious to contain the children , and wholly maintain , as well as clothe ancl educate them . " I presume , however , that the erection or purchase of such a building
was not found practicable for many years . At length a Committee , of which Bro . Rowland G . Alston was the chairman , reported , on the 16 th November 1850 , to the effect , that while the income of the Institution was £ -150 per annum , it would be necessary to considerably more
than double the average annual amount of subscriptions and donations if a building were to be erected ancl maintained . They , therefore , recommended that " a building or establishment for the boys should not be entertained . " Bufc the very next year the project was renewed , and the
numerous appeals to the Craft having been liberally responded to , " a convenient mansion and ten acres of freehold land , at Wood Green , were purchased , in the year 1856 , for the sum of £ 3 , 500 . " In 1857 , after the necessary alterations had been made , twenty-five boys were received into the
School , and maintained , as well as clothed and educated , while the remaining forty-five continued to be provided for as heretofore . The experiment proved in every way successful , and as the contributions of the Craffc continued to be paid in liberally , in 1859 sixty-eight out of the seventy
boys accepted the offer of maintenance in the School , the other two preferring to remain under the old constitution . In 1862 it was determined to erect an entirely new building , and three years later this was inaugurated with considerable ceremony for the reception of eighty pupils . Since
then further additions have been made from time to time , and the number of pupils accommodated has been increased till there are now some 218 boys comfortably housed , fed , ancl educated within the hospitable walls of the Wood Green Institution . What is more remarkable still , is that while
it is only about thirty years since it struck Bro . R . G . Alston and his brother members of the Reporting Committee as being dangerous to think of attempting to raise
the sum of £ 1 , 100 annually towards the support of this Institution , a subscription list of less than £ 10 , 000 afc the Anniversary would now be looked upon as being not altogether a satisfactory result .
Thus far I have dealt only with the changes that relate to the number of pupils ancl the increased accommodation made for them from time to time . Other changes have also been made . Tbe pupils are now kept on the establishment till they are sixteen years of age , the minimum of
admission being eight . At first fourteen and seven were the extreme limits , and later ( in 1873 ) these figures were raised to what they stand at now . Moreover , the character of the School as an educational establishment has been found increasingly worthy , the number of those who
voluntarily submit themselves to the Cambridge Local Examinations being greater , while the proportion of honours and certificates of proficiency becomes more and more conspicuous every year . Having regard to the character
of those who are responsible mainly for the executive and educational conduct of the School , wc are not surprised at these results , but I feel it to be none the less my duty to draw attention to them in my present paper .
I must now ask you to accompany me—in imagination at all events—to Croydon , for the purpose of inspectinc the headquarters of the third ancl youngest of our glorious Masonic Institutions—namely , the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for distressed members of our Fraternit y and their widows . Like our two Schools , it owes its
Occasional Papers.—No. Iv.
origin , in the first instance , to the initiative of certain most energetic brethren , to whom the provision of some amount of assistance for decayed brethren in their declining years seemed to bo equally as much a Masonic duty as was that of findinc * a maintenance and education for the
children of poor or deceased brethren . In duo time , as a matter of course , tho subject was brought under tho notico of Grancl Lodge , but the initiatory stops do not seem to have been taken quite as smoothly as could have been wished . Tho moving spirit was the lato Bro . Dr . Crucefix ,
but without stopping to weigh the pros and cons of the dispute , let it suffice if I state that a dispute did arise , and the origin of the building which now forms the Masonic Asylum at Croydon was the result of the enterprise of a
limited number of brethren , who set to work and raised subscriptions , when a building for Aged Freemasons was erected . However , the example bore fruit , and among the events which closed the long Grand Mastership of the late Duke of Sussex musfc be set down the foundation , on tho
2 nd March 1842 , of the Fund for granting annuities to aged or distressed Freemasons , the sum to be annually granted being fixed at £ 400 . The year following on 19 fch May , the first election of candidates was held , and fifteen brethren were received on to tho Fund .
In the year 1845 , the Queen graciously subscribed £ 50 towards the Institution , and in 1847 Grand Chapter lent a hand by voting an annual grant of £ 100 . After the lapse of another two years a Fund for granting annuities to the Widows of Freemasons Was established , and to this
Grand Lodge granted £ 100 annually , and Grand Chapter £ 35 . Fortunately , too , in this year of grace an amalgamation was effected between the Benevolent Fund established by Grand Lodge ancl the Asylum for Aged Freemasons afc Croydon , established by the enterprise of certain brethren ,
Grand Lodge signifying its approval of the union by voting £ 500 toward a Sustentation Fund for keeping the building in repair , which Fund has since increased to £ 1000 . In 1855 a further £ 100 was voted to the Female Fund by Grand Lodge , and in 1856 Grancl Chapter raised its annual contribution to £ 150 . In 1858 Grand Lodge voted
£ 100 to each of the two Funds , thereby increasing its total to £ 500 Male Fund , and £ 300 Female Fund , Grand Chapter standing as a contributor of £ 100 to the former , and £ 50 to the latter . For the twenty-three years that have since elapsed , the former's grant remained at the
figures I have given , but now I rejoice to say , on motion of Bro . Raynham Stewart P . G . D . and unanimously agreed to , it has been doubled , the Male Fund receiving £ 1000 , and the Female Fund £ 600 annually . Several other grants , but of a special nature , have beeu made at different times , and Grand
Chapter has more than once during the last few years been the donor of sums of £ 500 sterling or Consols . Both these Grand Bodies , therefore , have played their part liberally , as might have been expected iu the case of an Institution with whose origin the more important of them has so conspicuously identified itself from the very first .
It must not , however , be supposed that the marked success which has attended the Benevolent as well as our Scholastic Institutions has been the work even in a principal degree of our Masonic Diet—the chiefs who have presided over it , or the most distinguished Officers composing it . The
brethren , individually and collectively , have exerted themselves in the most praiseworthy manner possible for the attainment of the grand object of assisting as many as possible of our poorer brethren or their widows , who having been once in comparative affluence , havo found themselves
in tbe closing years of their life either without means or chiefly dependent on friends and relations as poor almost as themselves . At the same time , other and well recognised means have been brought to bear in order to promote the well-being of this Institution . In June 1847 the late Earl
of Zetland , at the time M . W . G . Master , presided at the first Festival held in aid of its funds , and the result of his appeal was a total of subscriptions amounting to £ 81916 sbut a small sum as compared with what we are now accustomed to , and one which many a Province of moderate
numerical strength has equalled or exceeded . However , in drawing attention to the more limited amount subscribed at the first Festival of the Benevolent , I must not omit to mention that the earlier Festivals of its
sister Institutions were productive of similarly modest results , there being , however , this difference operating unfavourably towards the Benevolent , to wit , that at the outset these Festivals were held only triennially , nor was it till the year I 860 that a change was made , and since then there
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Occasional Papers.—No. Iv.
be enabled to make a liberal return monthly to our worthy ancl most respected Treasurer , Bro . T . Lingo , Esq ., whose zeal for Masonry can be equalled only by the goodness of his heart . May tho glorious cause of Masonic Benevolence , to which w ** aro BU warmly attached , poi-vaile tho Universe !
1 havo the honour to remain , With every respect , Yours fraternally , F . C . DANIEL . Grove Cottage , Mile-End , May 29 , 1817 .
By this ai'rangement the fifteen boys provided for by the Modern Institution were added to the fifty of the Ancient , and for a further forty years the number was onl y increased to seventy . But to resume our direct narrative . It is sufficiently clear that from the very first it was the
intention of the Governors , as soon as a fund could be raised for the purpose , " to purchase or build a school-house sufficiently capacious to contain the children , and wholly maintain , as well as clothe ancl educate them . " I presume , however , that the erection or purchase of such a building
was not found practicable for many years . At length a Committee , of which Bro . Rowland G . Alston was the chairman , reported , on the 16 th November 1850 , to the effect , that while the income of the Institution was £ -150 per annum , it would be necessary to considerably more
than double the average annual amount of subscriptions and donations if a building were to be erected ancl maintained . They , therefore , recommended that " a building or establishment for the boys should not be entertained . " Bufc the very next year the project was renewed , and the
numerous appeals to the Craft having been liberally responded to , " a convenient mansion and ten acres of freehold land , at Wood Green , were purchased , in the year 1856 , for the sum of £ 3 , 500 . " In 1857 , after the necessary alterations had been made , twenty-five boys were received into the
School , and maintained , as well as clothed and educated , while the remaining forty-five continued to be provided for as heretofore . The experiment proved in every way successful , and as the contributions of the Craffc continued to be paid in liberally , in 1859 sixty-eight out of the seventy
boys accepted the offer of maintenance in the School , the other two preferring to remain under the old constitution . In 1862 it was determined to erect an entirely new building , and three years later this was inaugurated with considerable ceremony for the reception of eighty pupils . Since
then further additions have been made from time to time , and the number of pupils accommodated has been increased till there are now some 218 boys comfortably housed , fed , ancl educated within the hospitable walls of the Wood Green Institution . What is more remarkable still , is that while
it is only about thirty years since it struck Bro . R . G . Alston and his brother members of the Reporting Committee as being dangerous to think of attempting to raise
the sum of £ 1 , 100 annually towards the support of this Institution , a subscription list of less than £ 10 , 000 afc the Anniversary would now be looked upon as being not altogether a satisfactory result .
Thus far I have dealt only with the changes that relate to the number of pupils ancl the increased accommodation made for them from time to time . Other changes have also been made . Tbe pupils are now kept on the establishment till they are sixteen years of age , the minimum of
admission being eight . At first fourteen and seven were the extreme limits , and later ( in 1873 ) these figures were raised to what they stand at now . Moreover , the character of the School as an educational establishment has been found increasingly worthy , the number of those who
voluntarily submit themselves to the Cambridge Local Examinations being greater , while the proportion of honours and certificates of proficiency becomes more and more conspicuous every year . Having regard to the character
of those who are responsible mainly for the executive and educational conduct of the School , wc are not surprised at these results , but I feel it to be none the less my duty to draw attention to them in my present paper .
I must now ask you to accompany me—in imagination at all events—to Croydon , for the purpose of inspectinc the headquarters of the third ancl youngest of our glorious Masonic Institutions—namely , the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for distressed members of our Fraternit y and their widows . Like our two Schools , it owes its
Occasional Papers.—No. Iv.
origin , in the first instance , to the initiative of certain most energetic brethren , to whom the provision of some amount of assistance for decayed brethren in their declining years seemed to bo equally as much a Masonic duty as was that of findinc * a maintenance and education for the
children of poor or deceased brethren . In duo time , as a matter of course , tho subject was brought under tho notico of Grancl Lodge , but the initiatory stops do not seem to have been taken quite as smoothly as could have been wished . Tho moving spirit was the lato Bro . Dr . Crucefix ,
but without stopping to weigh the pros and cons of the dispute , let it suffice if I state that a dispute did arise , and the origin of the building which now forms the Masonic Asylum at Croydon was the result of the enterprise of a
limited number of brethren , who set to work and raised subscriptions , when a building for Aged Freemasons was erected . However , the example bore fruit , and among the events which closed the long Grand Mastership of the late Duke of Sussex musfc be set down the foundation , on tho
2 nd March 1842 , of the Fund for granting annuities to aged or distressed Freemasons , the sum to be annually granted being fixed at £ 400 . The year following on 19 fch May , the first election of candidates was held , and fifteen brethren were received on to tho Fund .
In the year 1845 , the Queen graciously subscribed £ 50 towards the Institution , and in 1847 Grand Chapter lent a hand by voting an annual grant of £ 100 . After the lapse of another two years a Fund for granting annuities to the Widows of Freemasons Was established , and to this
Grand Lodge granted £ 100 annually , and Grand Chapter £ 35 . Fortunately , too , in this year of grace an amalgamation was effected between the Benevolent Fund established by Grand Lodge ancl the Asylum for Aged Freemasons afc Croydon , established by the enterprise of certain brethren ,
Grand Lodge signifying its approval of the union by voting £ 500 toward a Sustentation Fund for keeping the building in repair , which Fund has since increased to £ 1000 . In 1855 a further £ 100 was voted to the Female Fund by Grand Lodge , and in 1856 Grancl Chapter raised its annual contribution to £ 150 . In 1858 Grand Lodge voted
£ 100 to each of the two Funds , thereby increasing its total to £ 500 Male Fund , and £ 300 Female Fund , Grand Chapter standing as a contributor of £ 100 to the former , and £ 50 to the latter . For the twenty-three years that have since elapsed , the former's grant remained at the
figures I have given , but now I rejoice to say , on motion of Bro . Raynham Stewart P . G . D . and unanimously agreed to , it has been doubled , the Male Fund receiving £ 1000 , and the Female Fund £ 600 annually . Several other grants , but of a special nature , have beeu made at different times , and Grand
Chapter has more than once during the last few years been the donor of sums of £ 500 sterling or Consols . Both these Grand Bodies , therefore , have played their part liberally , as might have been expected iu the case of an Institution with whose origin the more important of them has so conspicuously identified itself from the very first .
It must not , however , be supposed that the marked success which has attended the Benevolent as well as our Scholastic Institutions has been the work even in a principal degree of our Masonic Diet—the chiefs who have presided over it , or the most distinguished Officers composing it . The
brethren , individually and collectively , have exerted themselves in the most praiseworthy manner possible for the attainment of the grand object of assisting as many as possible of our poorer brethren or their widows , who having been once in comparative affluence , havo found themselves
in tbe closing years of their life either without means or chiefly dependent on friends and relations as poor almost as themselves . At the same time , other and well recognised means have been brought to bear in order to promote the well-being of this Institution . In June 1847 the late Earl
of Zetland , at the time M . W . G . Master , presided at the first Festival held in aid of its funds , and the result of his appeal was a total of subscriptions amounting to £ 81916 sbut a small sum as compared with what we are now accustomed to , and one which many a Province of moderate
numerical strength has equalled or exceeded . However , in drawing attention to the more limited amount subscribed at the first Festival of the Benevolent , I must not omit to mention that the earlier Festivals of its
sister Institutions were productive of similarly modest results , there being , however , this difference operating unfavourably towards the Benevolent , to wit , that at the outset these Festivals were held only triennially , nor was it till the year I 860 that a change was made , and since then there