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Article REVIEW. ← Page 2 of 2 Article FREEMASONRY IN YORK IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. Page 1 of 2 Article FREEMASONRY IN YORK IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review.
secrets belonged to each . Probably originally all ceremonies were very short and simple—such things grow and develope—and we have in our present bi - gvadat system the accretions ol years , and the tokens of very early usages and verbiage , earlier far even than the seventeenth century . Bro . Hughan bases his theory , to a great extent , on Bro . D . M . Lyon ' s great work and decided conclusions as lo Scottish Masonry . But , as we ventured
to record our dissent and protest then against the inferences drawn by that most able and conscientious writer , we think it well to allude to the subject again to-day , as if the basis be found to be untenable the superstructure must necessarily fall . It has been said that the Scottish evidences , at any rate , demonstrate a bi-gradal system ; be that as it may , we cannot assent to the proposition with many Scottish brethren that to Desaguliers may be
attributed the practical introduction ol the present tri-gradal system in Scotland . In the first place , when Bro . Dr . Desaguliers visited Mary ' s Chaps ] he had to pass the Scottish examination , which , whether it was sli ght , or whether it was tough , he had to go through , all this witnessing to a system . In the next place , there is not a word in Mary ' s Chapel minutes to show thai any change in the ritual look place . In the third place , in 1721 , when
the doctor visited Edinburgh , there were several lodges in and around the city . He neither appears to have visited them , nor were their representatives invited to meet and confer with him . Surely had so important and novel a proposal been made as the institution of two more degrees , and a new ritual been under consideration , such a conference must almost necessarily have taken place . Mary ' s
Chapel had no control over its sister lodges , and even at that early date there existed a large amount of jealousy among the Scottish lodges so that the adoption of Desaguliers ritual for Mary ' s Chapel isolatedly would have been likel y to lead to its rejection by the others . As we said before , there is no evidence of any promulgation of such proposals for a change in the minutes of Mary ' s Chapel . Had a new system been then
launched , is it not reasonable to suppose that such approval and adoption would have been " minuted " to use a Scottish phrase , in the books of No . 1 ? and would not further something have been done to bring the proposal belore the notice and under the approval of the other Edinburgh lodges V VVe are informed that the only lodges in Edinburgh having miutes of the period are Canongate Kilwinning , No . 2 , and Journeymen ,
No . 8 , and there is not in them the slightest reference to or indication of such a proposal . The Peebles Lodge , we are told , ori g inated in 1716 ; their minutes are preserved and full , and in them there is no allusion to any change , neither is there in the minutes of Lodge St . Andrew , beginning 1729 . This lodge as an Operative body was in existence in i-iaS . Neither do the minutes of the Hamilton Lodsre .
No . 7 , contain any such evidence or idea . It may be said , though not " minuted , " the change was made ; but how ? It could onl y have been done " viva voce" by a deputation , or by letter . No trace exists of cither course being taken . We cannot therefore believe , that so important a fact could be utterly without some evidence , just as we feel convinced that , at that peculiar period of Scottish history , to have prooosed
an English innovation would have been resisted by every Scottish lodge . It is , however , equally true , we believe , that except in the case of Mary ' s Chapel , in all these lodges it is after 1721 that " Intrants , " in express terms , are " raised " to the degree of M . M . But is there no explanation of this peculiar silence ? VVe think there is . Is it too much to believe that , like as in Eneland . no actual minutes were kent of the Thirrl noo-rc
separately ? and that the Masters' lodges had distinct and private meetings separate from the general lodge . In the minutes of the old Lodge of Dunblane , No . 9 , in January , 16 9 C , Lord Struthallan is elected " Master Mason" of the lodgft , and several other lairds were then its leading members . In that minute one person is elected " Eldest Fellow of Craft . " In 1716 the lodge resolved that thereafter
no person should be "entered or passed" at one and the same time , except gentlemen who could not be present at a second diet ^ " but that they be first reported prentices , and their passing ordered by the lodge thereafter according to qualification . " In 1720 a solicitor was " entered "on 24 th December , and on 27 th December , after examination was duly passed " from the square to the compass , and from an Rnt-r J
Apprentice to a Fellow Craft of this lodge . " In the Aberdeen Lodge prior to 1670 a number of noblemen and landed gentry held the rank of " Fellows of the Craft . " We thus see the existence of at least the two Degrees prior to 1634 , taking the Mary Chapel minutes into view and connection , and the admission of Fellow Crafts in other lod ges from the earliest dales of their existing records . Then the whole theory as to Desaguliers is , to our mind untenable . 1 he fanner theory ably propounded and sunnnri ^ . h-f nJ
titles Fellow of Craft and Master were purely honorary or official is not borne out by the Scottish minutes even , and the great failing in the whole of the present position appears to be this , that Bro . HUGHAN takes the evidence of the Scottish minutes , such as it is , and on that evidence ( for there is no English evidence as far as the subject , and what there is , is adverse ) assumes _ that the system of English Degrees before 1717 is timlsr ran , „
than real , and after 1717 is the product of the revival . Our space is so nearly taken up with this interesting subject that we will only add we will continue these remarks as to the ori gm . of the Royal Arch in our next It will be thus seen that we "stick to our text , " and that in 1884 , as in 1874 we still cannot see our way , despite the most able advocacy of Bro HuVhan to accept , in any shape or form , the Monograde theory . We shall sav more about the value of the work in later communications
Freemasonry In York In The Eighteenth Century.
FREEMASONRY IN YORK IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY .
AS TOLD BY AN OLD NEWSPAPER PILE . Bv BRO . T . B . WIJVTEIIEAO , YORK . ( Continuedfrom Page 415 ) . On December 20 th , 1774 , appears the following 1
"TANCKED , „ , „ . " Provincial Grand Master for Yorkshire . The officers and brethren c-f the different lodges of Free and Accented Masons in his county under the Constituiion of the Grand Lodge of England , are desired to mee " in the Apollo , at the George Inn , in Ceney-street , Yo ° ck , on Tuesday next the 4 th dav of December , being the anniversary ot St . John , in order to form nrL ? , ^ wV ^ ™^ lauons lor tne ft
lurther progress of the Society r "N . B .-Tick-ts to be had at the bar of the said inn . Dinner at three o'clock . " Sir Thomas Tancred was the third recorded Prov . Grand Master Ihe first having been Wm . Horton , E , q „ ( I 738 ) , and the second Edward
Freemasonry In York In The Eighteenth Century.
Rooke , ( 1740 ) . The laiicreds are a very ancient race , their seat being at Boroughbridge , within easy reach of York . "The Freemasons' Calendar" is advertised in the Courant for December 20 , 1774 .
" Never before printed . This day is published , price " od ., stitched , "THE FREEMASONS' CALENDAR , " or an Almanack for the year of Christ , MDCCLXXV ., and As . vo Lucls , JI 5 IJIM . MUCCL . VXV , being the third of the Bissextile , or Leap-year ; containing , besides an accurate and useful calendar of all the remarkable occurrences for the year , many useful and curious particulars relating to Masonry . Inscribed with great respect to the Kt . Hon . Lord Petre , G . Master , by a Society of the brethren .
Est etfidcli tuta suentio merces . London : Printed for the Company of Stationers , and sold by all the Booksellers and sellers of almanacks in Town and Country . " The files of the Courant for the years 1775-6 and 7 , appear to have been mislaid , but in Etherington ' s York Chronicle of Friday , December 22 , 1775 , appear three advertisements :
"MORIAH LODGE , NO . 17 G , of Free and Accepted Masons under the Constitutions of the Ancient Grand Lodge of England . The members hereof are desired to meet the Master , Wardens , & c ., at the house of Mr . William Blanchard , the Star and Garter , in Nessgate , York , on Wednesday , the 27 th inst ., being the anniversary of St . John . Dinner on the Table at Two o'clock .
This ( according to Bro . R . F . Gould in his "Atholl Lodges" ) was a lodge warranted by the Ancients in 1772 for the 1 st Regiment Yorkshire Militia , at Sheffield , and afterwards removed to the Star and Garter , in Nessgate . I do not know that it anywhere else appears under the name of " Moriah . "
STAPILTON , Grand Master . Free and Accepted Masons are desired to meet the brethren of the Most Ancient Grand Lodge of All England at the York Tavern on Wednesday , the 27 th inst . CONSITT } Grand Wardens . TANCRED , Provincial Grand Master . The Free and Accepted Masons under the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England are desired to meet the brethren of the APOLLO Lodge at the George Inn , in Coney-street , York , on Wednesday , December 27 , being the Anniversary of St . John . Tickets to be had at the bar of the said Inn . Dinner at Two o ' clock .
Etherington ' s York Chronicle of Friday , January 3 , 1777 , has a paragraph registering a meeting of the Grand Lodge : — " Friday last being St . John ' s Day there was a very respectable meeting of Free and Accepted Masons of the Most Antient Grand Lodge of All England at the York Tavern and at the Provincial Grand Lodge at Nicholson ' s Coffee House in this city . The brethren of both lodges attended Divine Service , the former at St . Helens and the latter at
at . Martin ' s , Coney-street , where discourses suitable to the occasion were delivered by the Rev . Brethren John Parker and James Lawson . The brethren dined together at their respective lodges and the day was spent with that harmony and decorum the distinguishing characteristics ot the Society . " The York Tavern was selected by Grand Master Siddall as his place of meeting in June 24 , 1778 , and on the same day Sir Thomas Tancred , Prov .
G . Master summoned his brethren to meet at Nicholson ' s Coffee House , in Coney-street . William Siddall was a York Woollen-draper . He was made a Mason in 1770 and served the office of Sheriff of York in 1765 , and was twice Lord Mayor in 178 3 and 1793 . In the latter year he died suddenl y in the Mansion House whilst in the act of robing himself on Sunday morning for the purpose of proceeding to the service in the Cathedral . On December 22 , 177 S , the Courant has the following ;
The Most Antient Grand Lodge of all England . SIDDALL , Grand Master . Free and Accepted Maceons are desired to meet the Grand Master at the York Tavern , on Monday next , the 2 Sth December , at 10 o ' clock in the forenoon , from thence to forward to St . Helens Church to hear Divine Service , where a sermon will be preached on the occasion by the Rev . Brother John Parker , Grand Chaplain . COUPLAND ) ., „ , T . BEWLAY j Grand Wardens . Dinner on the Table at 2 o ' clock .
Coupland was an energetic brother , and he with others moved the Grand Lodge at York at a late period of its existence to grant a Constitution for a subordinate lodge in York , which does not , however , seem to have been granted . Bro . Parker , Grand Chaplain , was made a Mason without fees in 1776 , it being considered that his services would be of great value to the lodge . He was the vicar of the Church of St . Helen ' s in York , which stands facing the York Tavern . The next advertisement is : —
SIR THOMAS TANCRED , Bart ., Provincial Grand Master . Ihe tree and Accepted Masons , under the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England , are desired to meet the Brethren at Nicholson ' s Coffee House , in Coney-street , York , on Monday next , the 2 Sthof December , at 10 o'clock in the forenoon , and proceed from thence to attend Divine Service at St . Martin's Church , Conev-street . A sermon will be
preached by the Rev . Bro . Wm . Johnson , Prov . Grand Cnaplain . Dinner at 2 o ' clock . Tickets to be had at the bar of the said Coffee House . " On June 24 th , 1779 , Grand Master Siddall summoned his brethren to meet him at the York Tavern , and on the same day Sir Walter Vavasour , Bart ., Prov . Grand Master , called his brethren to meet him at Nicholson ' s Coffee House . Again the Grand Lodge was called to meet at the York
Tavern , on the 27 th December , and to hear a sermon at St . Helens by the Rev . John Parker . On the same day the Prov . Grand Master called his subjects to meet him at Nicholson ' s Coffee House and hear a sermon at St . Martin ' s by the Rev . VV . Johnson . This gentleman was curate of St . Mary , Castlegate , and St . Olave , Marygate . The York Chronicle and General Advertiser , published by Blanchard and Co ., Coppergate , of July 16 th , 1779 , says :
At a very respectable meeting of Freemasons at the lodge in Wolverhampton to commemorate the Anniversary of St . John the Baptist the conversation turned chiefly upon the present state of national affairs , and many loyal toasts being drunk on the occasion , Sir John Wrottesley , as became a soldier and patriot , offered his services to the public by leading a body of his brave countrymen to any part of the globe . The lodge immediately rang with repeated shouts of approbation , and every brother , with a zeal and ardour which ever characterize that Society in the promotion of any good design , most cordially wished for an immediate execution of so laudable and indispensable undertaking .
In 1780 the June meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge was called by Prov . Grand Master Vavasour for the 26 th June , at Nicholson ' s Coffee House , and Smyth , Grand Master of the Grand Lodge , called his summer meeting at-the Tavern on the same day , the notice being signed by T . Beckwith and R . Bewlay , Grand Wardens , and J . Browne , Grand Secretary . I find no notice given of a winter meeting , but in June 1781 , Smyth summoned his brethren to the York Tavern .
I'rancis Smyth , jun ., was made in January 1778 . He does not seem to have come of a York family , though he was born in York in 1737 . His father was Francis Smyth , of Crosby Temple , in Essex , and Sutton Hall , near Thirsk . Francis Smyth , jun ., became the owner of New Buildings , in
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review.
secrets belonged to each . Probably originally all ceremonies were very short and simple—such things grow and develope—and we have in our present bi - gvadat system the accretions ol years , and the tokens of very early usages and verbiage , earlier far even than the seventeenth century . Bro . Hughan bases his theory , to a great extent , on Bro . D . M . Lyon ' s great work and decided conclusions as lo Scottish Masonry . But , as we ventured
to record our dissent and protest then against the inferences drawn by that most able and conscientious writer , we think it well to allude to the subject again to-day , as if the basis be found to be untenable the superstructure must necessarily fall . It has been said that the Scottish evidences , at any rate , demonstrate a bi-gradal system ; be that as it may , we cannot assent to the proposition with many Scottish brethren that to Desaguliers may be
attributed the practical introduction ol the present tri-gradal system in Scotland . In the first place , when Bro . Dr . Desaguliers visited Mary ' s Chaps ] he had to pass the Scottish examination , which , whether it was sli ght , or whether it was tough , he had to go through , all this witnessing to a system . In the next place , there is not a word in Mary ' s Chapel minutes to show thai any change in the ritual look place . In the third place , in 1721 , when
the doctor visited Edinburgh , there were several lodges in and around the city . He neither appears to have visited them , nor were their representatives invited to meet and confer with him . Surely had so important and novel a proposal been made as the institution of two more degrees , and a new ritual been under consideration , such a conference must almost necessarily have taken place . Mary ' s
Chapel had no control over its sister lodges , and even at that early date there existed a large amount of jealousy among the Scottish lodges so that the adoption of Desaguliers ritual for Mary ' s Chapel isolatedly would have been likel y to lead to its rejection by the others . As we said before , there is no evidence of any promulgation of such proposals for a change in the minutes of Mary ' s Chapel . Had a new system been then
launched , is it not reasonable to suppose that such approval and adoption would have been " minuted " to use a Scottish phrase , in the books of No . 1 ? and would not further something have been done to bring the proposal belore the notice and under the approval of the other Edinburgh lodges V VVe are informed that the only lodges in Edinburgh having miutes of the period are Canongate Kilwinning , No . 2 , and Journeymen ,
No . 8 , and there is not in them the slightest reference to or indication of such a proposal . The Peebles Lodge , we are told , ori g inated in 1716 ; their minutes are preserved and full , and in them there is no allusion to any change , neither is there in the minutes of Lodge St . Andrew , beginning 1729 . This lodge as an Operative body was in existence in i-iaS . Neither do the minutes of the Hamilton Lodsre .
No . 7 , contain any such evidence or idea . It may be said , though not " minuted , " the change was made ; but how ? It could onl y have been done " viva voce" by a deputation , or by letter . No trace exists of cither course being taken . We cannot therefore believe , that so important a fact could be utterly without some evidence , just as we feel convinced that , at that peculiar period of Scottish history , to have prooosed
an English innovation would have been resisted by every Scottish lodge . It is , however , equally true , we believe , that except in the case of Mary ' s Chapel , in all these lodges it is after 1721 that " Intrants , " in express terms , are " raised " to the degree of M . M . But is there no explanation of this peculiar silence ? VVe think there is . Is it too much to believe that , like as in Eneland . no actual minutes were kent of the Thirrl noo-rc
separately ? and that the Masters' lodges had distinct and private meetings separate from the general lodge . In the minutes of the old Lodge of Dunblane , No . 9 , in January , 16 9 C , Lord Struthallan is elected " Master Mason" of the lodgft , and several other lairds were then its leading members . In that minute one person is elected " Eldest Fellow of Craft . " In 1716 the lodge resolved that thereafter
no person should be "entered or passed" at one and the same time , except gentlemen who could not be present at a second diet ^ " but that they be first reported prentices , and their passing ordered by the lodge thereafter according to qualification . " In 1720 a solicitor was " entered "on 24 th December , and on 27 th December , after examination was duly passed " from the square to the compass , and from an Rnt-r J
Apprentice to a Fellow Craft of this lodge . " In the Aberdeen Lodge prior to 1670 a number of noblemen and landed gentry held the rank of " Fellows of the Craft . " We thus see the existence of at least the two Degrees prior to 1634 , taking the Mary Chapel minutes into view and connection , and the admission of Fellow Crafts in other lod ges from the earliest dales of their existing records . Then the whole theory as to Desaguliers is , to our mind untenable . 1 he fanner theory ably propounded and sunnnri ^ . h-f nJ
titles Fellow of Craft and Master were purely honorary or official is not borne out by the Scottish minutes even , and the great failing in the whole of the present position appears to be this , that Bro . HUGHAN takes the evidence of the Scottish minutes , such as it is , and on that evidence ( for there is no English evidence as far as the subject , and what there is , is adverse ) assumes _ that the system of English Degrees before 1717 is timlsr ran , „
than real , and after 1717 is the product of the revival . Our space is so nearly taken up with this interesting subject that we will only add we will continue these remarks as to the ori gm . of the Royal Arch in our next It will be thus seen that we "stick to our text , " and that in 1884 , as in 1874 we still cannot see our way , despite the most able advocacy of Bro HuVhan to accept , in any shape or form , the Monograde theory . We shall sav more about the value of the work in later communications
Freemasonry In York In The Eighteenth Century.
FREEMASONRY IN YORK IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY .
AS TOLD BY AN OLD NEWSPAPER PILE . Bv BRO . T . B . WIJVTEIIEAO , YORK . ( Continuedfrom Page 415 ) . On December 20 th , 1774 , appears the following 1
"TANCKED , „ , „ . " Provincial Grand Master for Yorkshire . The officers and brethren c-f the different lodges of Free and Accented Masons in his county under the Constituiion of the Grand Lodge of England , are desired to mee " in the Apollo , at the George Inn , in Ceney-street , Yo ° ck , on Tuesday next the 4 th dav of December , being the anniversary ot St . John , in order to form nrL ? , ^ wV ^ ™^ lauons lor tne ft
lurther progress of the Society r "N . B .-Tick-ts to be had at the bar of the said inn . Dinner at three o'clock . " Sir Thomas Tancred was the third recorded Prov . Grand Master Ihe first having been Wm . Horton , E , q „ ( I 738 ) , and the second Edward
Freemasonry In York In The Eighteenth Century.
Rooke , ( 1740 ) . The laiicreds are a very ancient race , their seat being at Boroughbridge , within easy reach of York . "The Freemasons' Calendar" is advertised in the Courant for December 20 , 1774 .
" Never before printed . This day is published , price " od ., stitched , "THE FREEMASONS' CALENDAR , " or an Almanack for the year of Christ , MDCCLXXV ., and As . vo Lucls , JI 5 IJIM . MUCCL . VXV , being the third of the Bissextile , or Leap-year ; containing , besides an accurate and useful calendar of all the remarkable occurrences for the year , many useful and curious particulars relating to Masonry . Inscribed with great respect to the Kt . Hon . Lord Petre , G . Master , by a Society of the brethren .
Est etfidcli tuta suentio merces . London : Printed for the Company of Stationers , and sold by all the Booksellers and sellers of almanacks in Town and Country . " The files of the Courant for the years 1775-6 and 7 , appear to have been mislaid , but in Etherington ' s York Chronicle of Friday , December 22 , 1775 , appear three advertisements :
"MORIAH LODGE , NO . 17 G , of Free and Accepted Masons under the Constitutions of the Ancient Grand Lodge of England . The members hereof are desired to meet the Master , Wardens , & c ., at the house of Mr . William Blanchard , the Star and Garter , in Nessgate , York , on Wednesday , the 27 th inst ., being the anniversary of St . John . Dinner on the Table at Two o'clock .
This ( according to Bro . R . F . Gould in his "Atholl Lodges" ) was a lodge warranted by the Ancients in 1772 for the 1 st Regiment Yorkshire Militia , at Sheffield , and afterwards removed to the Star and Garter , in Nessgate . I do not know that it anywhere else appears under the name of " Moriah . "
STAPILTON , Grand Master . Free and Accepted Masons are desired to meet the brethren of the Most Ancient Grand Lodge of All England at the York Tavern on Wednesday , the 27 th inst . CONSITT } Grand Wardens . TANCRED , Provincial Grand Master . The Free and Accepted Masons under the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England are desired to meet the brethren of the APOLLO Lodge at the George Inn , in Coney-street , York , on Wednesday , December 27 , being the Anniversary of St . John . Tickets to be had at the bar of the said Inn . Dinner at Two o ' clock .
Etherington ' s York Chronicle of Friday , January 3 , 1777 , has a paragraph registering a meeting of the Grand Lodge : — " Friday last being St . John ' s Day there was a very respectable meeting of Free and Accepted Masons of the Most Antient Grand Lodge of All England at the York Tavern and at the Provincial Grand Lodge at Nicholson ' s Coffee House in this city . The brethren of both lodges attended Divine Service , the former at St . Helens and the latter at
at . Martin ' s , Coney-street , where discourses suitable to the occasion were delivered by the Rev . Brethren John Parker and James Lawson . The brethren dined together at their respective lodges and the day was spent with that harmony and decorum the distinguishing characteristics ot the Society . " The York Tavern was selected by Grand Master Siddall as his place of meeting in June 24 , 1778 , and on the same day Sir Thomas Tancred , Prov .
G . Master summoned his brethren to meet at Nicholson ' s Coffee House , in Coney-street . William Siddall was a York Woollen-draper . He was made a Mason in 1770 and served the office of Sheriff of York in 1765 , and was twice Lord Mayor in 178 3 and 1793 . In the latter year he died suddenl y in the Mansion House whilst in the act of robing himself on Sunday morning for the purpose of proceeding to the service in the Cathedral . On December 22 , 177 S , the Courant has the following ;
The Most Antient Grand Lodge of all England . SIDDALL , Grand Master . Free and Accepted Maceons are desired to meet the Grand Master at the York Tavern , on Monday next , the 2 Sth December , at 10 o ' clock in the forenoon , from thence to forward to St . Helens Church to hear Divine Service , where a sermon will be preached on the occasion by the Rev . Brother John Parker , Grand Chaplain . COUPLAND ) ., „ , T . BEWLAY j Grand Wardens . Dinner on the Table at 2 o ' clock .
Coupland was an energetic brother , and he with others moved the Grand Lodge at York at a late period of its existence to grant a Constitution for a subordinate lodge in York , which does not , however , seem to have been granted . Bro . Parker , Grand Chaplain , was made a Mason without fees in 1776 , it being considered that his services would be of great value to the lodge . He was the vicar of the Church of St . Helen ' s in York , which stands facing the York Tavern . The next advertisement is : —
SIR THOMAS TANCRED , Bart ., Provincial Grand Master . Ihe tree and Accepted Masons , under the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England , are desired to meet the Brethren at Nicholson ' s Coffee House , in Coney-street , York , on Monday next , the 2 Sthof December , at 10 o'clock in the forenoon , and proceed from thence to attend Divine Service at St . Martin's Church , Conev-street . A sermon will be
preached by the Rev . Bro . Wm . Johnson , Prov . Grand Cnaplain . Dinner at 2 o ' clock . Tickets to be had at the bar of the said Coffee House . " On June 24 th , 1779 , Grand Master Siddall summoned his brethren to meet him at the York Tavern , and on the same day Sir Walter Vavasour , Bart ., Prov . Grand Master , called his brethren to meet him at Nicholson ' s Coffee House . Again the Grand Lodge was called to meet at the York
Tavern , on the 27 th December , and to hear a sermon at St . Helens by the Rev . John Parker . On the same day the Prov . Grand Master called his subjects to meet him at Nicholson ' s Coffee House and hear a sermon at St . Martin ' s by the Rev . VV . Johnson . This gentleman was curate of St . Mary , Castlegate , and St . Olave , Marygate . The York Chronicle and General Advertiser , published by Blanchard and Co ., Coppergate , of July 16 th , 1779 , says :
At a very respectable meeting of Freemasons at the lodge in Wolverhampton to commemorate the Anniversary of St . John the Baptist the conversation turned chiefly upon the present state of national affairs , and many loyal toasts being drunk on the occasion , Sir John Wrottesley , as became a soldier and patriot , offered his services to the public by leading a body of his brave countrymen to any part of the globe . The lodge immediately rang with repeated shouts of approbation , and every brother , with a zeal and ardour which ever characterize that Society in the promotion of any good design , most cordially wished for an immediate execution of so laudable and indispensable undertaking .
In 1780 the June meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge was called by Prov . Grand Master Vavasour for the 26 th June , at Nicholson ' s Coffee House , and Smyth , Grand Master of the Grand Lodge , called his summer meeting at-the Tavern on the same day , the notice being signed by T . Beckwith and R . Bewlay , Grand Wardens , and J . Browne , Grand Secretary . I find no notice given of a winter meeting , but in June 1781 , Smyth summoned his brethren to the York Tavern .
I'rancis Smyth , jun ., was made in January 1778 . He does not seem to have come of a York family , though he was born in York in 1737 . His father was Francis Smyth , of Crosby Temple , in Essex , and Sutton Hall , near Thirsk . Francis Smyth , jun ., became the owner of New Buildings , in