Freemasonry In Arbroath.

FREEMASONRY IN ARBROATH .

Dear Sir , —In going over some old Masonic minute books belonging to St . Thomas Lodge , No . 40 , of Freemasons lately , I came across some curious and quaint items of information , which might be interesting to your readers . The minute books extend as far back as the year 1740 , when the lodge was reconstituted ;

but as I pointed out in a former letter , there is good reason to believe that a Freemason lodge has existed in Arbroath for hundreds of years , and that Freemasonry in Arbroath is as old , if not older , than the Abbey itself , and that the first lodge was probably constituted by the masons who came here to build the Abbey . The first minute , dated 5 th February , 1740 ,

reads as follows : " The faithful and honourable members of the ancient lodge of Aberbrothock , alias St . Thomas , being mett all in good order , and takeing to their serious consideration how far the lodge and the noble art of Masonarie have been neglected for

some time past , doe for the future resolve that this lodge be kept with as much solemnetic as any other throughout the world , and for that purpose doe elect the persons afternamed , " and so on . Alex . Creighton was elected Master , and Bailie Patrick Wallace was elected one of the Boxmasters .

This minute was signed by no less than 81 members . This shows that even at that time Freemasonry was a powerful Institution in our midst . St . Thomas was always known as an operative lodge . One of the bylaws agreed to at this meeting reads : " That noe operative Mason shall take his neighbour Mason ' s work in hand after ane agreement made by the former ,

under the penalty of twenty shillings sterling . " At a meeting held on St . John ' s Day , 1740 , it was agreed that " The whole quarterly collections and payments for enterys preceding this date should be applyed for purchasing aprons , jewels , the box , and the book , and the rest distributed to the neccesitous of the faternity there at that time . " A meeting was held on 28 th Dec ,

1741 , to receive a charter from the Grand Lodge of Scotland in Edinburgh . The minute reads : " The brethren of the Lodge of St . Thomas of Aberbrothock being this day mett , a charter of conformation and ratification of the above lodge , under the hand of the Grand Master , Grand Wardens , and officers of the Grand Lodge at Edinburgh , was produced and read in

the mteting , who ordered the same to be lodged in the box . " The meeting afterwards proceeded to elect officers for the ensuing year . Amongst others elected were David Mudie of Gilchorn , who was elected Clerk ; and Bailie Thomas Wallace , Provost Patrick Wallace , and John Rennald of Cairnie , were elected Councillors . At the St . John's Day meeting ,

held on the 27 th of Dec , 1 743 , Mr . Robert Pearson , advocate sheriff-depute of Forfar was unanimously elected Master for the ensuing year . Owing to the rebellion of 1745 , no meeting of the lodge for the election of office-bearers was held for four years . A minute dated Dec . 27 , 1748 reads— " By reason of the troubles that of late hapned in the country , there

has not been any regular meeting of the Lodge of St . Thomas of Arbroath held since St . John Day , 1744 , and the said lodge being this day duly constituted , " and so on . James Gardyne of Middleton was elected Master for the ensuing year . At a meeting held on 4 th October , 1765—Bailie John Renny , Master , presiding—the meeting ordered the following minute

of the Grand Lodge of Scotland to be inserted in the books of the lodge : " At the Grand Lodge , held at the Lodge of St . Giles in the city of Edinburgh , upon the 20 th day of May , 1765 , a petition was presented to them for , and in name of , Bailie John Renny and other officers of the Lodge of St . Thomas , Aberbrothock , shewing that the petitioners did early obtain from the Grand Lodge a charter of

confirmation ; but , as the craft for many years afterwards happened to fall in decline particularl y in Aberbrothock , they were thereby disabled to keep the proper correspondence with Ine Grand Lodge . But of late , as the lodge is now again revived by the influence of several well dis . posed brethren residing there , the petitioners , in order to have the sanction and countenance of the Grand Lodge , nave transmitted a list of the whole members entered

in the said lodge since its confirmation , praying the most worshi pful ] Grand Lodge to enrol the petitioners in t .. e books of the Grand Lodge when paying such imposition as they in their wisdom might determine , " ano so the Grand Lodge agreed to do this , and ordered the names to be enrolled in the books of the ° rand Lodee in the order of thpir nre-r-petenrp and

ordered this minute to be recorded in the books of Wage St . Thomas " at their perrill . " The brethren c t 0 ^ e given agood deal of money away in the way 01 Charit y to the poorer members of the Craft , but the d r « hren were careful not to give where it was not served , as cases occur where members have hpen

th '' " ' A ' ° refund monies that had been advanced to re em - A minute of a meeting held on June 2 nd , 1762 , ofH ~ Compeared Charles Fairweather , who , some 0 r le members aledgedhad got from the box about ten dist , yearS ?*» ° a cerIain sum of mone 7 when in IC J ress j and this night being interrogated acknowon h S k t 0 tne kest ° ^ ' knowledge there was paid nor h ^' lalf I 9 S 6 d sterling , but that he never saw his . ied tne money as he thinks it was paid to whp j , ' and therefore appeals to the lodge __ en dul y convened on St . Inhn ' s Dav nPxt what

meet ? he shall make for the same , and this the on th " unanimous , y agreed to . " At a meeting held " ¦ r . e , 3 « 1 January , 1763 , it was resolved that ne brethren members of the Lodge St . Thomas

Freemasonry In Arbroath.

having considered the great lnconvemency in not having a Bible , they unanimously agreed that one shall be bought , and that it shall be paid by a collection from the members and not out of the fund , and appoints the secretary to write for it , the price not to exceed 15 s sterling . " It seems that about this time the Magistrates and Town Council had been making

arrangements for the erection of a new Town House . A minute dated 7 th September , 1763 , readi : "The members met and by a great majority of votes agreed that in case the Magistrates and Town Council would build a sufficient Town House of three storeys , where the Clerk ' s Chambers is just now , the members of the lodge would pay them for the third storey a hundred

guineas , or build on their own charge the third storey , and pay a third part ot the charge of the gavle walls and roof , and in case the Magistrates do refuse or do not give a proper answer within three weeks , the members agreed to build a lodge or house for the meetings betwixt the Abbey wall and the road . " It seems that the matter did not go any further at that time , for we find

that the proposed Town House was not built till 1808 , or 45 years afterwards , when the present handsome Town House was built . The lodge had also allowed the matter to drop for I can find no further reference to the subject for some years afterwards . —I am , & c , FREE MASON . —To the Editor of the Arbroath Herald .

Our Portrait Of Worshipful Masters.

Our Portrait of Worshipful Masters .

BRO . G . N . BURDEN was initiated in 1859 ' Benevolent Lodge , No . 303 , at Teignmouth , and was in 1871 installed in the chair , and again elected and filled the chair in 1872 . In recognition of services rendered to the lodge he was presented with a Past Master ' s jewel . Being the senior Past Master of the lodge he was elected Worshipful Master

for the present year , it being the centenary of the lodge . Bro . Burden ' s grandfather was one of the founders and first Master of Benevolent Lodge , opened in 1794 . His father was Master of the lodge in 1819 , thus showing a good family record of Masonry . Bro , Burden was exalted in the Loyal Cornubian Chapter , N 0 . 331 . at Truro , in 1863 ; is P . Z . of Benevolent Chapter , No .

303 , at Teignmouth , and is P . P . G . S . E . He was advanced to the degree of Mark Master in St . George ' s Lodge , No . 15 , at Exeter in 18 74 ; and was founder and first W . M . of the Benevolent Mark Lodge , No . 316 , in 1883 , at Teignmouth . In 1884 he was appointed P . P . G . S . O . He was installed into Knight Templary

in the Royal Veteran Preceptory , at Plymouth , in 18 77 . At the Provincial Grand Lodge , held at Teignmouth , on the first August last , the Provincial Grand Master , | Lord Ebrington , marked his appreciation of Bro . Burden ' s Masonic career by investing him with the collar and jewel of Prov . J . G . W . of Devon .

Marriage Of Miss Jessie Terry.

MARRIAGE OF MISS JESSIE TERRY .

On Tuesday last , at St . George ' s Church , Tufnell Park , by Bro , Rev . C . J . Martyn , P . G . Chap ., assisted by the ; Rev . W . J . Hocking , vicar of All Saints' Tufnell Park , Mr . Anthony Faull , son ofthe late Mr . Faull , of Probus , Cornwall , was married to Miss Jessie Terry , youngest

daughter of Bro . James Terry . A wedding in the family of our respected Secretary of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Fund naturally causes an interest to be taken in the event which the Freemason is pleased to chronicle . At the invitation of the parents of the bride a goodly number of friends assembled at

the church to witness the ceremony . Amongst the numerous visitors present were : Bro . E . Letchworth , Bro . F . R . W . Hedges and Mrs . Hedges ; Bro . J . M . McLeod and Mrs . McLeod ; Bro . W . Lake and Mrs . Lake ; Bro . G . H . Cubitt ; Bro . T . Hastings Miller ; Bro . Ramshaw and Mrs . Ramshaw ; Mr . Trethewy anti Mrs . Trethewy ; Bro . R . Griggs ; Dr . Edwards ; Mr .

Marriage Of Miss Jessie Terry.

P . Terry and Miss E . Terry ; Mr . R . Terry and Mrs . R . Terry , etc . The bride , who was given away by her father , was attired in ivory white silk with accordion plaited chiffon bodice , edged with pearl trimming . Her veil was fastened with a swallow brooch and sho carried a shower bouquet of white ( lowers both the gifts of the

bridgroom . The bridesmaids were Miss Terry , the Misses C . A . and M . Crutch and Miss F . Hoare . Their costumes consisted of white bengaline silk , with fichus edged with butter-coloured lace . Their white chip hats were , trimmed with pink carnations and black wings . They wore pearl pins and carried shower bouquets of pink

carnations ( gifts of the bridegroom and bride ) . The best man was Mr . A . Vivian Faull , brother of the bridegroom . A reception was afterwards held at the Midland Grand Hotel , and , on the arrival of the party , photographs were taken of the bridal party and visitors . Bro . CRUTCH , in a few woll-chosen words , conveyed

the good wishes of the friends to the bride and bridegroom , and after all had partaken of refreshments , the happy pair left for Chester on their way to Wales to spend the honeymoon . The bride ' s travelling dress was of brown faced cloth trimmed with black satin ribbon and lace collar

and toque of black jib . Amongst the numerous presents was a silver biscuit or cake basket from the matron and residents of the R . M . B . I . at Croydon . In the evening , while the elders of the party remained at the hotel to dine at the invitation of Bro and Mrs . Terry , the young people spent a very enjoy able evening together at the theatre .

Obituary.

Obituary .

BRO . SIR EDWARD AUGUSTUS INGLEFIELD , K . C . B ., P . G . W . We regret to announce the death of Bro . Sir E . A .-Inglefield , which sad event occurred at his residence in Queen ' s Gate on Wednesday , the Sth inst . He was the son of Admiral Samuel H . Inglefield , C . B ., by Priscilla Margaret , daughter of Admiral Albany

Otway , and was born in 1820 at Cheltenham . He entered the Royal Navy in 1834 , having been educated at the Naval College , Portsmouth . At the bombards ment of St . Jean d'Acre he served as signal mate , and led a storming party at the capture of Sidon , and was present at the capture of Beyrout and other operations on the coast of Syria in 1840 . Subsequently he was

employed in surveying on the coasts of China and Borneo , and was lieutenant of the Samaraug when she was sunk off Sarawak . In 1852 he commanded the yacht Isabel in a private expedition in search of Sir John Franklin to Smith ' s and Jones Sound , during which he discovered Soo miles of new coasts , and carried mails to the Government Arctic Expedition at

Beechy Island . For this service he received the thanks of the Admiralty , the gold medal of the Geographical Society of London , the large silver medal of Paris , and a diamond snuff-box from the French Emperor , and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society . The year following he commanded a Government Arctic Expedition of three ships to relieve Sir Edward Belcher ' s Expedition

—one ship was crushed in the ice and foundered—and brought home an officer and the information of the discovery of the North-west passage , for which service ho again received the thanks of the Admiralty and his captaincy . In 1854 he commanded a second relief expedition , and returned with the officers and crews of ships left in the ice . At the fall of Sebastopol he

commanded the Firebrand , and superintended the landing of troops at Kinburn , and was engaged in the bombardment of forts and blockading Odessa , in command of H . M . S . Sidon . The gallant admiral afterwards was second in command of the Mediterranean and Channel squadrons ; and subsequently Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard , and Commander-in-Chief on the

North America and West Indies Station . Sir Edward invented the hydraulic steering apparatus , which was fitted for trial in H . M . S . Achilles and Minotaur , and as a screw-turning engine to the Monarch , as well as the Inglefield anchor , now supplied to the Dreadnought , Sans Pareil , Renown , and Inflexible , and was the author of a number of works treating with naval tactics ,

terrestrial magnetism , & c . On the occasion of her Majesty's Jubilee , in 1887 , he was made a K . C . B ., and was the recipient of many decorations , and since March last had enjoyed the Flag Ofiicers' Good Service Pension . Bro . Inglefield had for some years taken considerable interest in Freemasonry . He was Worshipful Master of the Drury Lane Lodge in 1890 , and was appointed J . G . Warden of England in 1 S 91 .

BRO . FREDERICK HORACE DOGGETT , P . M , No . 2024 . We regret to announce the death of Bro . Frederick Horace Doggett , P . M . 2024 , which occurred suddenly on Saturday , the ist instant , at his oflice in Buckingham Palace-road , S . W . Deceased had been hailing somewhat for the last year or two , which eventually proved to be heart disease . The funeral took ulice on

Wednesday last , at Woking . Among members of the Craft present we noticed Bros . K . J . Smith , P . M . 2030 ; Young , Poole , Jeffery , and J . E . Shand . Deceased was well-known and much respected in Westminster and St . George ' s , Hanover-square , having held public oflice for many years . Wreaths and tokens of regret and regard accompanied his remains to their final resting place where his wife was interred about two years ago