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Article THE FIRST GRAND STEWARDS AND THEIR LODGES. ← Page 2 of 2 Article THE FIRST GRAND STEWARDS AND THEIR LODGES. Page 2 of 2
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The First Grand Stewards And Their Lodges.
The next page gives the names of the Stewards for 1775 , as well as those of the brethren they succeeded , with the names of their different lodges in the following order" Present Board . Who they succeeded . From what Lodge . C . Frederick , Esqr . R . Butler . Lodge of Friendship . T . T . Tutt . A . Dow . Pons Coffee House .
W . White . J . Hatch , Esq . Somerset House Lodge . H . Fowke . Thos . Fowke . do . S . Sayre . T . Martin . St . Albans . T . Lynch . Finshall . Royal Lodge , A . Murray . G . Durant . do . Wm . Smith .
Wm . Atkinson . P . Simonds . Mourning Bush . A . McKowI . R . Barker . Crown and Rolls , No . 16 . J . Turner . R . Templer . Angel in the Minories . J . Littlehales . Lodge of Friendship . " It will be seen from the foregoing that in 1775 there were but eight Red Apron Lodges , the Royal Somerset House Lodge sending three Stewards to
the Grand Festival , the Lodge of Friendship two , the Royal Lodge two , and the remainder one each . I have every reason to believe that the Stewards nominated as their successors a member of the same lodge , and in the event of the brother so nominated declining to act , then the Board proceeded to elect some other brother , as will be shewn in the following extracts from the minutes of the meetings of the Board of Stewards for 1775 .
16 th March , 1775 . " Joseph Littlehales Esq " having declined to serve as Steward at the ensuing Feast of the Society , the President proposed Captn . Geo . ' Smith of the Royal Military Lodge , at Woolwich to serve in his stead , which was seconded by Bro . White . " And the Question being put , he was elected unanimously .
" On a motion made , it was Resolved unanimously—* ' That any member of the Board who does not attend , or appoint a Past Steward to appear for him , shall be fined One Guinea for each meeting . " 25 th March . " Resolved unanimously
"That Br . Sayre be fined One Guinea for non-attendance agreeable to the Resolution of the last meeting . " 29 th March . " Resolved unanimously "That Br . Sayre be fined Oc . e Guinea " . for non-attendance agreeable
to the Resolution of the 16 th inst ., arid it was " Ordered "That the Secretary do acquaint him unless he attends the next meeting by himself , or proxy , his Apron will be forfeited , and disposed of by the Board agreeable to Ancient Custom . " 15 th April .
" In consequence of Br . Sayre ' s non-attendance , notwithstanding the notice given him , agreeable to the Resolution of the last meeting , his Apron is declared to be forfeited , and Br . Bottomley ( who was present for Br . Frederick ) proposed Br . Cuthbert Pott , of the St . Albans Lodge , to succeed him , " And the Question being put , he was unanimously elected . " Ordered
"That the Secretary do acquaint Br . H . Fowke that unless he pays his Subscription of 10 Guineas by the next Meeting to the Treasurer , his Apron will be forfeited . " 22 nd April . " Bro . Holland Fowke having declined by a letter to serve the office
of Steward , the President nominated Bro . Edmund Smith , of the Somerset House Lodge , to succeed him , and the Question being put , he was unanimously elected . " 28 th April . " Resolved unanimously
"That every member who neglects to attend the Grand Feast , or send a proxy , shall be fined 3 Guineas , and for neglecting to attend or send a proxy to the Meeting for settling the accounts to be fined 5 Guineas . " 13 th May . ' * The Secretary reported that he had received a letter from Captn .
Frederick yesterday at h past 2 o'clock , ordering the meeting to be put off , and another this day to advise that business would put it out of his power to attend to-day or to get a past Steward to appear for him , which letters being read it was on a motion made and seconded , unanimously Resolved "That Captn . Charles Frederick be fined Five Guineas for nonattendance , agreeable to a Resolution of the 28 th ulto .
"It was likewise on a motion made and seconded unanimously Resolved "That Captn . Alexander Murray be fined Five Guineas for nonattendance , agreeable to resolution of the 28 th ulto . " 31 st May .
" The minutes of the last meeting were read and , confirmed , except the resolution for fining Captn . Murray , which was now unanimousl y annulled as it appeared that lie was prevented from attending that day , by Captn . Frederick informing him that the Meeting was put off . " Resolved
"That Captn . Frederick be fined Five Guineas for non-attendance this day . " The last was probably intended to be the final meeting for settling the accounts , but at a subsequent meeting , to which no date is attached , * ' Bro . Tutt acquainted the Brethren that the Grand Secretary had received a letter from Captn . Frederick in answer to one sent him with his
account , wherein he thinks the fines indicted on him for non-attendance are improper as he had an affair of Honour on his hands the day the 1 st fine was Ordered , and at the next meeting he was not in England . ' * Agreed , That only the last fine be . deducted from Captn . F ' rederick's account , as it was in his power to have prevented the first by sending a Past Steward to attend for him , he having received proper notice from the Secretary of the meeting . "
I ought to have mentioned that Captn . Frederick was President of the Board . This incident of the " good old times" requires no explanation ; in my opinion it is a pitiful story told in a few words , and if it were possible to mistake its significance , all doubt would be dispelled by a letter I have before me written by Captn . Frederick , and dated from The Hague , 13 th February , 1776 , in which he uses the words "My late unhappy recontre . " *
The First Grand Stewards And Their Lodges.
The preceding extracts are doubtless sufficient to show the mode of procedure of the Grand Stewards in the latter part of the last century ; the regulations with regard to fines , & c , appear to have been generally adopted by subsequent Boards of Stewards , being slightly varied at times , as on the 4 th April , 1787 , it was
resolved' I hat no proxy for a Steward be admitted to act on the day of the Grand Feast , " and at the first meeting of the Stewards for 1797 , it was resolved— " That no proxy be admitted on behalf of any Brother to attend the future meetings of this Board . " At the same meeting " Br . Turner proposed that every Member of this
Board should wear a plain blue coat with yellow buttons and the Initial G . S . ( denoting Grand Steward ) engraved on each button , a white waistcoat , and black silk Breeches , and that such Dress be worn at every subsequent meeting ; which was seconded by Br . Bradshaw and carried unanimously and Br . Gwynne took directions to make the same accordingly . "
A similar resolution was passed by the next Board of Stewards , the Breeches , however , to be white instead of black . It is but fair to mention that to the Grand Stewards of 1797 we are indebted for the records of the proceedings of subsequent Boards of Stewards , for on the 12 th April the Secretary reported that he had been
unable to obtain the Minutes of any former Board , it was therefore resolved that a book should be provided in which to enter the transactions , which book he should hand over to the succeeding Board for their guidance ; this wise resolution was duly carried into effect , and the practice has been continued to the present day .
Previous to this the Secretary of each Board of Stewards had probably kept a record of the business , either on sheets of paper , which were destroyed as soon as done with , or in an ordinary memorandum book . By a piece of good fortune two of these latter have been preserved ; one contains the Minutes of 1775 , from which I have quoted , and is a most important document , the minutes having been carefully written , and every transaction ; financial and otherwise , duly recorded ; the other is for 17 S 7 , and is not
nearly so valuable as the former , and as it does not give the lodges to which the Stewards belonged , I have again been compelled to have recourse to the Grand Lodge Register for the purpose of identification , with the following result— Grand Stewards for 1787 . T . Croft ... present No . 6 and No . 91 . W . T . Clephane do . 6 do . 4 . S . W . Wadeson do . 4 do . 21 and 108 . Robert Lambert do . 28 .
Benjn . Lloyd ... do . 5 . John Lewis ... do . 66 do . 10 S . Geo . Blakiston ... do . 23 .
James Curtis ... do . 4 . T . S . Dupins ... do . 4 do . 91 . Geo . Errington ( can ' t find him ) . Alexr . Dewar ... present No . 91 . David Aguilar ( uncertain ) .
Unfortunately the 1797 minutes , although complete in every other respect , do not give the names of the lodges ; this omission , however , is of no great importance , for they are given in the next year ' s proceedings . As my chief object is to show what lodges were entitled to the Red Apron prior to the Union , it will besufficient if , in future , I simply give their names and the number of Stewards they sent to each Festival ., Thus in
1708—Number of Stewards . Royal Somerset House Lodge ... present No . 4 3 Corner Stone Lodge ... ... do . 5 1 Lodge of Friendship ... ... do . 6 3 Lodge of Emulation ... ... do . 21 1 Globe Lodge ... ... ... do . 23 1
Old King ' s Arms Lodge ... do . 28 1 St . Albans Lodge ... ... do . 29 1 Lodge of Regularity ... ... do . 91 1 London Lodge ... ... ... do . 108 1 In confirmation of a statement made in a previous portion of this paper as to the Stewards selecting any brother they pleased to fill a vacancy on the Board , the following extract from the Minutes of 1798 may not be
inappropriate"The Board being thus ' constiluted , Bro , John Hemet R . \ W . \ Master of the Lodge of Regularity was announced , and , being introduced , . delivered into the hands of the President the following Extract from the Minutes of his Lodge'' It being reported to the Lodge that Br . John Jackson , of the Haymarket , who accepted the office of Grand Steward for the ensuing Grand Feast , was deceased since the last meeting of the Lodge . "
The Brethren then proceeded in the usual way to the " nomination of another Member to succeed the late Brother Jackson , as Grand Steward from this Lodge , when Brother Aaron Lazarus being nominated , agreed to accept the office . " Resolved that Brother Hemet , the R . W . Master , be requested to attend the Board of Stewards with Brother Lazarus , at their first meeting , and to
solicit the Board in the name of this Lodge , to accept Brother Lazarus as Brother Jackson ' s successor . " " The above extract having been read , the President observed that the Board have an undoubted right of electing any Brother they might think proper to succeed the late Brother Jackson in the office of Grand Steward ; he hoped the Board understood it so ; but considering the respectable
manner in which Brother Lazarus came recommended by the Lodge of Regularity , he proposed that such recommendation and the request of the Lodge be acceded to . This was duly seconded , and , on a show of hands , unanimously approved of . Br . . Lazarus being accordingly introduced , took his place as one of the Board , and his name was inserted among the Grand Stewards , vice John Jackson , deceased . " ( To be continued . )
quarrel originated at a Masonic banquet , although from a remark in Capt . Frederick's letter I had an idea that other members of the Order were concerned in it . Captn . Frederick was Provincial Grand Master for Kent at the time of the occurrence . The following extracts throw some light on the tragedy" Gent ' s Magazine , " May , 1775 . — " Lord Petrc , attended by all the great officers of the Fraternity , laid the first stone of a new Freemason ' s Hall in Git . CJueen St ., after which they proceeded to Leathersellei ' s Hall , where an elegant entertainment was
provided , which , however , was much interrupted by a quarrel that happened between a military officer and a clerk in office , which in the end produced a duel , wherein the latter ( the aggressor ) lost his life . " " Evening Post , " May iG , 1775 . — "On Saturday night about eight o ' clock a duel was fought between Capt . F k of the Guards , and Mr . Daw , one of the Junr . Clerks in Lord Rochford ' s office , near Bayswater , in Hyde Park , the latter was shot in thegroin , and died in a few hours after . Capt . F k immediately set out for France . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The First Grand Stewards And Their Lodges.
The next page gives the names of the Stewards for 1775 , as well as those of the brethren they succeeded , with the names of their different lodges in the following order" Present Board . Who they succeeded . From what Lodge . C . Frederick , Esqr . R . Butler . Lodge of Friendship . T . T . Tutt . A . Dow . Pons Coffee House .
W . White . J . Hatch , Esq . Somerset House Lodge . H . Fowke . Thos . Fowke . do . S . Sayre . T . Martin . St . Albans . T . Lynch . Finshall . Royal Lodge , A . Murray . G . Durant . do . Wm . Smith .
Wm . Atkinson . P . Simonds . Mourning Bush . A . McKowI . R . Barker . Crown and Rolls , No . 16 . J . Turner . R . Templer . Angel in the Minories . J . Littlehales . Lodge of Friendship . " It will be seen from the foregoing that in 1775 there were but eight Red Apron Lodges , the Royal Somerset House Lodge sending three Stewards to
the Grand Festival , the Lodge of Friendship two , the Royal Lodge two , and the remainder one each . I have every reason to believe that the Stewards nominated as their successors a member of the same lodge , and in the event of the brother so nominated declining to act , then the Board proceeded to elect some other brother , as will be shewn in the following extracts from the minutes of the meetings of the Board of Stewards for 1775 .
16 th March , 1775 . " Joseph Littlehales Esq " having declined to serve as Steward at the ensuing Feast of the Society , the President proposed Captn . Geo . ' Smith of the Royal Military Lodge , at Woolwich to serve in his stead , which was seconded by Bro . White . " And the Question being put , he was elected unanimously .
" On a motion made , it was Resolved unanimously—* ' That any member of the Board who does not attend , or appoint a Past Steward to appear for him , shall be fined One Guinea for each meeting . " 25 th March . " Resolved unanimously
"That Br . Sayre be fined One Guinea for non-attendance agreeable to the Resolution of the last meeting . " 29 th March . " Resolved unanimously "That Br . Sayre be fined Oc . e Guinea " . for non-attendance agreeable
to the Resolution of the 16 th inst ., arid it was " Ordered "That the Secretary do acquaint him unless he attends the next meeting by himself , or proxy , his Apron will be forfeited , and disposed of by the Board agreeable to Ancient Custom . " 15 th April .
" In consequence of Br . Sayre ' s non-attendance , notwithstanding the notice given him , agreeable to the Resolution of the last meeting , his Apron is declared to be forfeited , and Br . Bottomley ( who was present for Br . Frederick ) proposed Br . Cuthbert Pott , of the St . Albans Lodge , to succeed him , " And the Question being put , he was unanimously elected . " Ordered
"That the Secretary do acquaint Br . H . Fowke that unless he pays his Subscription of 10 Guineas by the next Meeting to the Treasurer , his Apron will be forfeited . " 22 nd April . " Bro . Holland Fowke having declined by a letter to serve the office
of Steward , the President nominated Bro . Edmund Smith , of the Somerset House Lodge , to succeed him , and the Question being put , he was unanimously elected . " 28 th April . " Resolved unanimously
"That every member who neglects to attend the Grand Feast , or send a proxy , shall be fined 3 Guineas , and for neglecting to attend or send a proxy to the Meeting for settling the accounts to be fined 5 Guineas . " 13 th May . ' * The Secretary reported that he had received a letter from Captn .
Frederick yesterday at h past 2 o'clock , ordering the meeting to be put off , and another this day to advise that business would put it out of his power to attend to-day or to get a past Steward to appear for him , which letters being read it was on a motion made and seconded , unanimously Resolved "That Captn . Charles Frederick be fined Five Guineas for nonattendance , agreeable to a Resolution of the 28 th ulto .
"It was likewise on a motion made and seconded unanimously Resolved "That Captn . Alexander Murray be fined Five Guineas for nonattendance , agreeable to resolution of the 28 th ulto . " 31 st May .
" The minutes of the last meeting were read and , confirmed , except the resolution for fining Captn . Murray , which was now unanimousl y annulled as it appeared that lie was prevented from attending that day , by Captn . Frederick informing him that the Meeting was put off . " Resolved
"That Captn . Frederick be fined Five Guineas for non-attendance this day . " The last was probably intended to be the final meeting for settling the accounts , but at a subsequent meeting , to which no date is attached , * ' Bro . Tutt acquainted the Brethren that the Grand Secretary had received a letter from Captn . Frederick in answer to one sent him with his
account , wherein he thinks the fines indicted on him for non-attendance are improper as he had an affair of Honour on his hands the day the 1 st fine was Ordered , and at the next meeting he was not in England . ' * Agreed , That only the last fine be . deducted from Captn . F ' rederick's account , as it was in his power to have prevented the first by sending a Past Steward to attend for him , he having received proper notice from the Secretary of the meeting . "
I ought to have mentioned that Captn . Frederick was President of the Board . This incident of the " good old times" requires no explanation ; in my opinion it is a pitiful story told in a few words , and if it were possible to mistake its significance , all doubt would be dispelled by a letter I have before me written by Captn . Frederick , and dated from The Hague , 13 th February , 1776 , in which he uses the words "My late unhappy recontre . " *
The First Grand Stewards And Their Lodges.
The preceding extracts are doubtless sufficient to show the mode of procedure of the Grand Stewards in the latter part of the last century ; the regulations with regard to fines , & c , appear to have been generally adopted by subsequent Boards of Stewards , being slightly varied at times , as on the 4 th April , 1787 , it was
resolved' I hat no proxy for a Steward be admitted to act on the day of the Grand Feast , " and at the first meeting of the Stewards for 1797 , it was resolved— " That no proxy be admitted on behalf of any Brother to attend the future meetings of this Board . " At the same meeting " Br . Turner proposed that every Member of this
Board should wear a plain blue coat with yellow buttons and the Initial G . S . ( denoting Grand Steward ) engraved on each button , a white waistcoat , and black silk Breeches , and that such Dress be worn at every subsequent meeting ; which was seconded by Br . Bradshaw and carried unanimously and Br . Gwynne took directions to make the same accordingly . "
A similar resolution was passed by the next Board of Stewards , the Breeches , however , to be white instead of black . It is but fair to mention that to the Grand Stewards of 1797 we are indebted for the records of the proceedings of subsequent Boards of Stewards , for on the 12 th April the Secretary reported that he had been
unable to obtain the Minutes of any former Board , it was therefore resolved that a book should be provided in which to enter the transactions , which book he should hand over to the succeeding Board for their guidance ; this wise resolution was duly carried into effect , and the practice has been continued to the present day .
Previous to this the Secretary of each Board of Stewards had probably kept a record of the business , either on sheets of paper , which were destroyed as soon as done with , or in an ordinary memorandum book . By a piece of good fortune two of these latter have been preserved ; one contains the Minutes of 1775 , from which I have quoted , and is a most important document , the minutes having been carefully written , and every transaction ; financial and otherwise , duly recorded ; the other is for 17 S 7 , and is not
nearly so valuable as the former , and as it does not give the lodges to which the Stewards belonged , I have again been compelled to have recourse to the Grand Lodge Register for the purpose of identification , with the following result— Grand Stewards for 1787 . T . Croft ... present No . 6 and No . 91 . W . T . Clephane do . 6 do . 4 . S . W . Wadeson do . 4 do . 21 and 108 . Robert Lambert do . 28 .
Benjn . Lloyd ... do . 5 . John Lewis ... do . 66 do . 10 S . Geo . Blakiston ... do . 23 .
James Curtis ... do . 4 . T . S . Dupins ... do . 4 do . 91 . Geo . Errington ( can ' t find him ) . Alexr . Dewar ... present No . 91 . David Aguilar ( uncertain ) .
Unfortunately the 1797 minutes , although complete in every other respect , do not give the names of the lodges ; this omission , however , is of no great importance , for they are given in the next year ' s proceedings . As my chief object is to show what lodges were entitled to the Red Apron prior to the Union , it will besufficient if , in future , I simply give their names and the number of Stewards they sent to each Festival ., Thus in
1708—Number of Stewards . Royal Somerset House Lodge ... present No . 4 3 Corner Stone Lodge ... ... do . 5 1 Lodge of Friendship ... ... do . 6 3 Lodge of Emulation ... ... do . 21 1 Globe Lodge ... ... ... do . 23 1
Old King ' s Arms Lodge ... do . 28 1 St . Albans Lodge ... ... do . 29 1 Lodge of Regularity ... ... do . 91 1 London Lodge ... ... ... do . 108 1 In confirmation of a statement made in a previous portion of this paper as to the Stewards selecting any brother they pleased to fill a vacancy on the Board , the following extract from the Minutes of 1798 may not be
inappropriate"The Board being thus ' constiluted , Bro , John Hemet R . \ W . \ Master of the Lodge of Regularity was announced , and , being introduced , . delivered into the hands of the President the following Extract from the Minutes of his Lodge'' It being reported to the Lodge that Br . John Jackson , of the Haymarket , who accepted the office of Grand Steward for the ensuing Grand Feast , was deceased since the last meeting of the Lodge . "
The Brethren then proceeded in the usual way to the " nomination of another Member to succeed the late Brother Jackson , as Grand Steward from this Lodge , when Brother Aaron Lazarus being nominated , agreed to accept the office . " Resolved that Brother Hemet , the R . W . Master , be requested to attend the Board of Stewards with Brother Lazarus , at their first meeting , and to
solicit the Board in the name of this Lodge , to accept Brother Lazarus as Brother Jackson ' s successor . " " The above extract having been read , the President observed that the Board have an undoubted right of electing any Brother they might think proper to succeed the late Brother Jackson in the office of Grand Steward ; he hoped the Board understood it so ; but considering the respectable
manner in which Brother Lazarus came recommended by the Lodge of Regularity , he proposed that such recommendation and the request of the Lodge be acceded to . This was duly seconded , and , on a show of hands , unanimously approved of . Br . . Lazarus being accordingly introduced , took his place as one of the Board , and his name was inserted among the Grand Stewards , vice John Jackson , deceased . " ( To be continued . )
quarrel originated at a Masonic banquet , although from a remark in Capt . Frederick's letter I had an idea that other members of the Order were concerned in it . Captn . Frederick was Provincial Grand Master for Kent at the time of the occurrence . The following extracts throw some light on the tragedy" Gent ' s Magazine , " May , 1775 . — " Lord Petrc , attended by all the great officers of the Fraternity , laid the first stone of a new Freemason ' s Hall in Git . CJueen St ., after which they proceeded to Leathersellei ' s Hall , where an elegant entertainment was
provided , which , however , was much interrupted by a quarrel that happened between a military officer and a clerk in office , which in the end produced a duel , wherein the latter ( the aggressor ) lost his life . " " Evening Post , " May iG , 1775 . — "On Saturday night about eight o ' clock a duel was fought between Capt . F k of the Guards , and Mr . Daw , one of the Junr . Clerks in Lord Rochford ' s office , near Bayswater , in Hyde Park , the latter was shot in thegroin , and died in a few hours after . Capt . F k immediately set out for France . "