The History Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Girls

moiety . The Court endorsed these arrangements , and having passed a vote of thanks , both to Bro . Forssteen and Mr . Gilbert , proceeded to elect as a Building Committee—three to form a quorum—Lord Rawdon , A . G . M . ; Lord Macdonald , James Heseltine , James Galloway , William Addington , C . Carpenter , W . Forssteen , Thos . Callendar ,

John Fleming , William Birch , the Chevalier Ruspini , Maj .-General Garth , Anthony Tenbroecke , Thos . Colcomb , and Benjamin Cooper . At the General Committee the same month , a design for the building

was chosen from a number which had been submitted , and it was agreed to appoint a duly qualified person , who should inspect the quality of the materials to be used in the erection of the School , but at the November meeting it was determined , on reconsideration , to

hold over the arrangements as to a plan of building until the question of the reversionary lease had been settled . In May , 1793 , the good news was announced that the Corporation— -which , notwithstanding Bro . Forssteen ' s hopeful report , had , in the first instance , demurred to entertain the petition of the Governors—had had the ground

re-surveyed , and had consented to grant a reversionary lease for 43 years , till Lady Day , 1853 , on certain conditions , the principal of which were that the Institution should erect a substantial brick building , of the value of £ 2000 , within three years from Midsummer day next ensuing , and that the said building when erected should be

used only for the Charitable purposes of the Institution . * To this latter condition the Committee raised some objection , and an attempt made to have it waived was made . But the only result of this was a somewhat severe snubbing , the Committee being very plainly given to understand they might consider themselves lucky in having

obtained the lease , which would not have been granted at all had it not been required for a Charitable purpose . On this , the necessary authority was given to sign the agreement , and this having been done , the Committee selected the design for the building , which ,

however , was not the same as had been previously chosen , and which proved to have been sent in by a Mr . Carter , of Moorfields , and that gentleman having agreed to furnish the plans and specifications by the 15 th July , the way was clear for the Building Committee , already appointed , to enter on their functions .

It is not necessary we should follow this Committee throughout the difficulties which it was their hard fate to encounter . Mr . Carter , on the day . appointed , -produced his plans and specifications , representing an estimated outlay of £ 1716 , and these having been

approved , tenders were unsuccessfully invited by advertisement in the public press for the erection of the Schoolhouse . At length , however , some half-dozen contractors met the Committee by appointment at the Museum Tavern , at the foot of Blackfriars Bridge , and the lowest tender—that of a Mr . William Mason for £

1819—having been accepted , and proper securities for its due fulfilment having been given , the contract was signed , sealed , and delivered , the mode of payment settled , Mr . Carter appointed Surveyor , and orders were given to Mr . Mason to commence operations at once , it being at the same time settled that a foundation stone bearing the following inscription should be laid in the N \ E . corner of the Schoolhouse ,

THIS BUILDING ( under favour of the City of London ) was begun by Voluntary Subscription , September , 1793 , for the Reception of Female Children and Orphans of Indigent Free Masons , to rter

nrau suggested noyat mgnuess xne DUCHESS OF CUMBERLAND By the CHEVALIER RUSPINI , 1788 , and since adopted by the Society of Free and Accepted Masons , Under the Patronage of His Royal Highness

The Prince of Wales , G . M ., The Earl of Moria , A . G . M ., Sir Peter Parker , Bart ., D . G . M . F . Carter , Arct . At first matters proceeded satisfactorily . Mr . Carter , the

Surveyor , fulfilled his duties faithfully , more than once rejecting material which the Contractor proposed to use , but which he found to be of inferior quality . The Building Committee held frequent meetings , and were zealous beyond praise in their efforts to raise the necessary

ways and means , and the Craft appears to have responded generously to the Committee ' s efforts , the Shakespeare Lodge , in particular , setting a noble example to the Lodges under the jurisdiction of the Prince of Wales . The outside public were pressed into the service , and sermons in aid of the good work were preached in churches in London

and the suburbs , while concerts and circus benefits were held more than once in furtherance of the same object . In 1794 , however , the work of building progressed but slowly , not through any diminution of energy on the part of the Building Committee , but because Mr . Mason , the Contractor , however capable he may have been as a builder

—and his credentials as furnished to the Committee were undoubtedly creditable—would seem to have been a man of limited means , and , though the Committee strictly observed their part of the contract as regards payment , was unable to pay his way as he proceeded . At length the building operations came to a standstill , and recriminations

began , Mr . Mason alleging firstly that the plans and particulars as regards quantities in the original contract had been departed from , and then that " at the time he made the Tender to execute the Building of the Freemasons' School he had never examined the Plan Drawings or Particulars of the intended building . " Of course these

statements conflicted with each other , as Mr . Mason could have known nothing about a deviation from original plans and drawings he had never examined . However , Mr . Carter , the author of the plans , successfully confronted Mr . Mason as regards the former allegation , while in respect of the latter , the Committee met it with the following letter in his own handwriting , dated 20 th August , 1793 : —

To the Trustees and Governors of tne Free Masons' School . Gentlemen , Haying minutely examined the Plans and Particulars for the intended Building for the Free Masons' School intended to be built in St . George ' s Fields , I will engage and will give Security to completely build and finish the same for

the sum of £ 1819 , agreeable to the Plans and Particulars as at present Exhibited by the Surveyor appointed for that purpose . Gentlemen , your humble Servant , WM . MASON , Kent Road , Southwark , No . 282 , Lodge of Morality .

On this the Committee resolved on the adoption of legal measures in order to protect their interests , and adjourned their meeting for a couple of days till the 1 st August , when Mr . Mason and his Securities , Messrs . Sim and Henderson , being present , and still evincing unwillingness to carry out the contract , they were informed of the

Committee ' s determination to have recourse to the law , and Mr . Mason thereupon agreed to proceed , and expressed his belief that he should be able to complete the building in six weeks' time , painters ' work excepted . In October the works were again stopped and the same difficulties occurred . In February , 1795 , Mr . Carter , the

Surveyor , apparently began playing fast and loose with the Committee—for a time , at all events ; and the services of Mr . Peacock , the City Surveyor , were called in in order to estimate the cost of the work remaining to be done . Then Mr . Mason did a little more work , being furnished by Bro . Adam Gordon , of the Building Committee ,

with weekly sums of money . Subsequently Mr . Mason became bankrupt , and in the end the Building Committee , with the aid of the proper workmen , finished the School House themselves ; and at length , on the 11 th June , 1795 , after an anxious period of a year and three

quarters from the time the building was begun , it became possible for a Special Court , summoned for the election of a child and other business , to resolve that the removal of the children from the house in Somers Place East into the new School should be left to the

discretion of the House Committee , which seems to have arranged that the removal should take place during the same month . At all events , in the absence of anything to the contrary in the Minutes , we are justified in assuming that as the General Committee held their i * egular monthly meeting on the 26 th June , not at Freemasons '

Tavern as previously , but at the new School House , in St . George ' s Field , the removal must have taken place some time between the 11 th and 26 th of the month in question . One thing is noticeable , that

neither at the laying of the foundation-stone nor at the occupation of the building was there any kind of ceremony , Masonic or otherwise . Had there been any there ^ would certainly have been some notice of it entered in the Minutes .

We must not conclude this portion of our narrative without expressingin unqualified terms our admiration of the manner in which the task of erecting a new School House was carried out . It was an arduous undertaking ; yet nothing could have been better than the spirit of determination with which it was entered upon , and the untiring zeal and

energy which were exhibited in its prosecution to a successful issue > The sum required to be raised—about £ 3000 , more or less—does not strike us as being large , but the English Craft of to-day has become so accustomed to raising thousands upon thousands for the requirements of its Charitable Institutions , that the more modest sum just

specified , which it took much time and severely taxed the resources and ingenuity of Bro . Ruspini and his brother Governors to obtain , was , at the period we are treating of , a very formidable amount , and , being required for a then unknown and almost unheard of Charitable scheme , it was not obtained without severe and persistent labour on the part

of the Executive . However , it pleased the G . A . O . T . U . to crown those labours with complete success , and we English Freemasons of the present day , who are reaping the benefit of their glorious work , cannot express ourselves in terms of thankfulness and admiration too

strong for the manner in which they discharged their duty . Unfortunateiy , as will be seen later on , the proceedings in Mason ' s Bankruptcy gave the Executive much trouble in the shape of a chancery suit long after the building had been occupied , ( To be continued . )