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in 1858 , and was Provincial Grand Master of Surrey from 1871 till his death , and Grand Superintendent from 1873 . On the 9 th June , 1853 , Bro . G . F . d'Arcy Lambton , Earl of Durham , eldest son of the distinguished Statesman and diplomatist , who for his services to the State was created Earl of Durham , and died in 1840 , as Pro Grand Master , joined from the Scientific Lodge , then
No . 105 , Cambridge , and was a few * years later—in 1857—appointed Senior Grand Warden of England . In January , 1854 , the late Bros . Sir W . Williams-Wynn , Bart ., M . P ., and Lord Methuen , who were at the time Provincial Grand Masters of North Wales and Salop and Wiltshire respectively , were accepted as joining members , and later in the 3 * ear Bro . John Fawcett , Provincial Grand Master of Durham ,
joined , and Bro . Stephen Cave was initiated . In 1 S 58 , Captain William Piatt , of the Surrey Militia , who for many years was a prominent figure in Metropolitan Freemasonry , and in 1873 was invested with the insignia of Junior Grand Warden , was initiated , and Bro . George W . K . Potter , who had been Junior Grand Deacon in 1850 , and the Hon . Thomas H . G . Fermor , a brother of the 5 th and last
Earl of Pomfret , joined . Tho additions to the roll during the year following included Bro . Winthrop Mackworth Praed , initiate , Bro . John Bowes , late Provincial Grand Master of Durham , who rejoined , and Bros . Colonel Daniel and Lord de Tabley , joining members . The latter was at the time Senior Grand Warden , and six years later was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Cheshire in succession to the
late Bro . Viscount Combermere , the hero of Bhnrtporc and a Field-Marshal . His lordship was also Grand Superintendent of Cheshire , and from 1 S 70 to 1883 Grand Third Principal in Supreme Grand Chapter . On the Sth March , 1860 , Bro . Sir James Fergusson , Bart , M . P ., who served with distinction in the Crimean War , was Under-Secretary of State for India 1866-7 , and for the Home Department in
1867 , Governor successively of South Anstralia , New Zealand , and Bombay , and who only the other day was transferred from the Under-Seeretaryship for Foreign Affairs to the office of Postmaster-General , joined from Scotland , where he was for several years Provincial Grand Master of Ayrshire , though in the first instance he was introduced into Masonry under the English Constitution , having been
initiated while at University College , Oxford , in tlie Apollo Universit y Lodge , in 1850 . A month later thc list was swelled by another eminent Mason in the person of Bro . Alexander Dobie , who in his several capacities of Junior Grand Deacon , President of the Board of General Purposes , Grand Registrar , and of Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of Surrey , and Grand J . in Supreme Grand
Chapter , rendered services to the Craft which will ever entitle his memory to our admiration and respect . During the same year Bro . Lieut .-Colonel Reginald Gipps , now Major-Genera ! Riv 11 . Gipps , joined from the Lodge of St John and St . Paul , No . 437 , now No . 349 , Malta ; while in 1861 there were elected as joining members , though it is recorded in Grand Lodge Register that they never joined , Bros .
J . W . R . Powell , M . P ., and Lord Powerseourt , Lord de Grey and Ripon , Deputy Grand Master ; and the Duke of St . Albans , the principal founder and first Worshipful Master of the Isaac Newton University Lodge , No . 1161 , now No . 859 , Cambridge , which had been consecrated earlier in the year . The recruits in 1862 consisted of two initiates and a brother , who was elected from the Universit y Lodge of Oxford , but never joined .
PART IV . —1863—1891 . On the closing up of nnmbers in 1 F 62—by which operation , however , as in 1832 , the position of the lodge on the roll of Grand Lodge was not affected—the Lodge of Friendshi p numbered upwards of 70 members , of whom quite one-third were Past Grand Officers , while
a large proportion of the remainder weie Past Grand Stewards . The senior member was the venerable Bro . W . II . White , who had joined in 1806 , and in 1856 bad vacated the office of Grand Secretary , after holding it either conjointly with another or solely for 46 years . The next in order of seniority was the equally venerable Bro .
Stewart Marjoribanks , who joined in 1811 , had been a member of Grand Lod ge for 40 years and a member of our Society for 67 years , Bro . Welbore Ellis , who had become a member in January , 1813 , and stood third on the lodge roll , being the only other surviving member whose connection with Freemasonry antedated the Union of the "Ancient" and "Modern" Societies . Among the additions made to the roll ' n 1863 and the two following years I find iwo brethren who were initiated of the name
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of Dobree—Bros . Henry Hankey Dobrce and Augustus C . Dobreeand Sir Gilbert East Gilbert-East , Bart ., who died in September , 1866 , was initiated in 1865 , while Bro . Sir George Prescott , Bart ., joined from Isaac Newton University Lodge , No . 859 , Cambridge , in 1864 , and re-joined in 1867 .
In 1 S 66 Bro . Pryse—now Sir Pryse-Pryse , Bart ., the baronetcy having been conferred upon him the same year—was initiated , and in 1 S 67 was appointed Provincial Grand Master of the Western Division of South Wales , and in 1867 Bro . Lord Eliot—subsequentl y Earl of St . Germans—joined from the Lodge of Sincerity , No . 189 , Plymouth , being appointed S . G . W . the same year . In
1868 Bro . Beaumont Lubbock , a brother of Sir John Lubbock , Bart ., M . P ., was initiated , and in 1869 Bro . Lewis W . Novelli . Bro . the Hon . Justice Prinsep , the present District Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of Bengal and Bro . Lord Cremorne—eldest son of the Earl of Dartrey—who was S . G . W . in 1884 , were elected joining members , the former from Lodge Star-in-the-East , No . 67 , Calcutta ,
and the latter from the Irish Constitution . The Earl de Grey and Ripon , who was installed M . W . G . M . and Grand Z . in 1870 , was also accepted as a joining member from the Lodge of Truth , No . 521 , Huddersfield . Among the initiates of 1870 were Bro . Sir Bruce Maxwell Seton , Bart ., who was S . G . D . in 1886 , Herbert Frances Eaton , and Viscount Milton , M . P ., eldest son and heir of the Earl
of Fitzwilliam , and Bro . Montague John Guest , M . P ., S . G . D . in 1875 and present Provincial Grand Master of Dorsetshire , joined from St . Cuthberga Lodge , No . 622 , Wimborne , and the Hon . Will . Warren Vernon , who was appointed J . G . W . in 1876 , from the Foresters ' Lodge , No . 456 , Uttoxeter . In 1871 the Earl of Limerick , Provincial Grand Master of Bristol from 1866 to 1889 , and Past Grand Master of the Mark Grand Lodge , Great Prior of the Supreme
Council , Ancient and Accepted Rite , joined from the Lodge of St . John and St . Paul , No . 349 , Malta , and tlie Earl of Donouglimore , S . G . W in 1876 , from the Apollo University Lodge , No . 357 , Oxford . The initiates of 1872 included another member of the Dobree famil y —Robert Bainbrigge Dobree , and Bro . W . T . — , now the Right Hon . Sir W . T . —Marriott , Q . C ., M . P ., Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Sussex .
In the years that have since elapsed , the lodge has well maintained its prestige and numerical strength . Scarcel y a year has passed without some addition or additions having been made to the roll of members either as initiates or joining brethren . Among the former may bo mentioned Bro . Philip C . Novelli—possibhy a relative of Bro . Augustns Novelli , P . G . W ., and Bro . the Hon . John Augustus
de Grey—half-brother of Lorn Walsingham—who were initiated in 1879 , and Bro . Sir Hardinge S . Giff-ird—now Lord H . ilsbnry ( Lord High Chancellor of England ) , who was initiated in 1881 , and appointed S . G . W . in 1888 . Bro . William Wightman Wood , initiated in 1883 , was last year representative of the lodge on the Board of Grand Stewards , the last of all who is entered in the books of Grand
Lodge being Bro . F . W . Crookshank , who was introduced into our Society under the auspices of Friendship early in the present year . Among the joining membei-s the most prominent is Bro . Sir Seymour Fitzgerald , who made his first acquaintance with our mysteries in 1837 , during his career at Oxford , in the Apollo University Lodge , and who , though he may not have had much leisure
to devote to Masonic pursuits has , at different times , and in different capacities , done good service to the State , having represented Moi'fthnm for . several yonm in the House of Commons , and hayi ' iif held the post of Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1858-9 , that of Governor of Bombay from 1867 to 1872 , and that of Chief Commissioner of Charities for England since 1875 .
I now close this rough sketch , which is almost literall y " Told by the Lodge Register . " It is probable that in glancing down the long list of names I may have omitted to notice several who have distinguished themselves in the Craft . It is by no means an easy task lo build up even so crude a lodge history as this from a mere register of names , but if I have omitted some , I do not think the omission will have seriously affected the purpose of this record . My principal
object was to demonstrate that the Lodge of Friendship from the time it assumed its title has borne itself in a manner worth y of its rank as the oldest warranted lodge tinder the Grand Lodge of England , that its members have been men of good s icial standing , and have acquitted themselves honourabl y in their Masonic career . In this I trust I have been not wholly unsuccessful , and that the reader will be in a position to form some idea of its constitution during the greater part of its existence . G . BLTZARD ABBOTT .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Told By The Lodge Register.
in 1858 , and was Provincial Grand Master of Surrey from 1871 till his death , and Grand Superintendent from 1873 . On the 9 th June , 1853 , Bro . G . F . d'Arcy Lambton , Earl of Durham , eldest son of the distinguished Statesman and diplomatist , who for his services to the State was created Earl of Durham , and died in 1840 , as Pro Grand Master , joined from the Scientific Lodge , then
No . 105 , Cambridge , and was a few * years later—in 1857—appointed Senior Grand Warden of England . In January , 1854 , the late Bros . Sir W . Williams-Wynn , Bart ., M . P ., and Lord Methuen , who were at the time Provincial Grand Masters of North Wales and Salop and Wiltshire respectively , were accepted as joining members , and later in the 3 * ear Bro . John Fawcett , Provincial Grand Master of Durham ,
joined , and Bro . Stephen Cave was initiated . In 1 S 58 , Captain William Piatt , of the Surrey Militia , who for many years was a prominent figure in Metropolitan Freemasonry , and in 1873 was invested with the insignia of Junior Grand Warden , was initiated , and Bro . George W . K . Potter , who had been Junior Grand Deacon in 1850 , and the Hon . Thomas H . G . Fermor , a brother of the 5 th and last
Earl of Pomfret , joined . Tho additions to the roll during the year following included Bro . Winthrop Mackworth Praed , initiate , Bro . John Bowes , late Provincial Grand Master of Durham , who rejoined , and Bros . Colonel Daniel and Lord de Tabley , joining members . The latter was at the time Senior Grand Warden , and six years later was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Cheshire in succession to the
late Bro . Viscount Combermere , the hero of Bhnrtporc and a Field-Marshal . His lordship was also Grand Superintendent of Cheshire , and from 1 S 70 to 1883 Grand Third Principal in Supreme Grand Chapter . On the Sth March , 1860 , Bro . Sir James Fergusson , Bart , M . P ., who served with distinction in the Crimean War , was Under-Secretary of State for India 1866-7 , and for the Home Department in
1867 , Governor successively of South Anstralia , New Zealand , and Bombay , and who only the other day was transferred from the Under-Seeretaryship for Foreign Affairs to the office of Postmaster-General , joined from Scotland , where he was for several years Provincial Grand Master of Ayrshire , though in the first instance he was introduced into Masonry under the English Constitution , having been
initiated while at University College , Oxford , in tlie Apollo Universit y Lodge , in 1850 . A month later thc list was swelled by another eminent Mason in the person of Bro . Alexander Dobie , who in his several capacities of Junior Grand Deacon , President of the Board of General Purposes , Grand Registrar , and of Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of Surrey , and Grand J . in Supreme Grand
Chapter , rendered services to the Craft which will ever entitle his memory to our admiration and respect . During the same year Bro . Lieut .-Colonel Reginald Gipps , now Major-Genera ! Riv 11 . Gipps , joined from the Lodge of St John and St . Paul , No . 437 , now No . 349 , Malta ; while in 1861 there were elected as joining members , though it is recorded in Grand Lodge Register that they never joined , Bros .
J . W . R . Powell , M . P ., and Lord Powerseourt , Lord de Grey and Ripon , Deputy Grand Master ; and the Duke of St . Albans , the principal founder and first Worshipful Master of the Isaac Newton University Lodge , No . 1161 , now No . 859 , Cambridge , which had been consecrated earlier in the year . The recruits in 1862 consisted of two initiates and a brother , who was elected from the Universit y Lodge of Oxford , but never joined .
PART IV . —1863—1891 . On the closing up of nnmbers in 1 F 62—by which operation , however , as in 1832 , the position of the lodge on the roll of Grand Lodge was not affected—the Lodge of Friendshi p numbered upwards of 70 members , of whom quite one-third were Past Grand Officers , while
a large proportion of the remainder weie Past Grand Stewards . The senior member was the venerable Bro . W . II . White , who had joined in 1806 , and in 1856 bad vacated the office of Grand Secretary , after holding it either conjointly with another or solely for 46 years . The next in order of seniority was the equally venerable Bro .
Stewart Marjoribanks , who joined in 1811 , had been a member of Grand Lod ge for 40 years and a member of our Society for 67 years , Bro . Welbore Ellis , who had become a member in January , 1813 , and stood third on the lodge roll , being the only other surviving member whose connection with Freemasonry antedated the Union of the "Ancient" and "Modern" Societies . Among the additions made to the roll ' n 1863 and the two following years I find iwo brethren who were initiated of the name
Told By The Lodge Register.
of Dobree—Bros . Henry Hankey Dobrce and Augustus C . Dobreeand Sir Gilbert East Gilbert-East , Bart ., who died in September , 1866 , was initiated in 1865 , while Bro . Sir George Prescott , Bart ., joined from Isaac Newton University Lodge , No . 859 , Cambridge , in 1864 , and re-joined in 1867 .
In 1 S 66 Bro . Pryse—now Sir Pryse-Pryse , Bart ., the baronetcy having been conferred upon him the same year—was initiated , and in 1 S 67 was appointed Provincial Grand Master of the Western Division of South Wales , and in 1867 Bro . Lord Eliot—subsequentl y Earl of St . Germans—joined from the Lodge of Sincerity , No . 189 , Plymouth , being appointed S . G . W . the same year . In
1868 Bro . Beaumont Lubbock , a brother of Sir John Lubbock , Bart ., M . P ., was initiated , and in 1869 Bro . Lewis W . Novelli . Bro . the Hon . Justice Prinsep , the present District Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of Bengal and Bro . Lord Cremorne—eldest son of the Earl of Dartrey—who was S . G . W . in 1884 , were elected joining members , the former from Lodge Star-in-the-East , No . 67 , Calcutta ,
and the latter from the Irish Constitution . The Earl de Grey and Ripon , who was installed M . W . G . M . and Grand Z . in 1870 , was also accepted as a joining member from the Lodge of Truth , No . 521 , Huddersfield . Among the initiates of 1870 were Bro . Sir Bruce Maxwell Seton , Bart ., who was S . G . D . in 1886 , Herbert Frances Eaton , and Viscount Milton , M . P ., eldest son and heir of the Earl
of Fitzwilliam , and Bro . Montague John Guest , M . P ., S . G . D . in 1875 and present Provincial Grand Master of Dorsetshire , joined from St . Cuthberga Lodge , No . 622 , Wimborne , and the Hon . Will . Warren Vernon , who was appointed J . G . W . in 1876 , from the Foresters ' Lodge , No . 456 , Uttoxeter . In 1871 the Earl of Limerick , Provincial Grand Master of Bristol from 1866 to 1889 , and Past Grand Master of the Mark Grand Lodge , Great Prior of the Supreme
Council , Ancient and Accepted Rite , joined from the Lodge of St . John and St . Paul , No . 349 , Malta , and tlie Earl of Donouglimore , S . G . W in 1876 , from the Apollo University Lodge , No . 357 , Oxford . The initiates of 1872 included another member of the Dobree famil y —Robert Bainbrigge Dobree , and Bro . W . T . — , now the Right Hon . Sir W . T . —Marriott , Q . C ., M . P ., Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Sussex .
In the years that have since elapsed , the lodge has well maintained its prestige and numerical strength . Scarcel y a year has passed without some addition or additions having been made to the roll of members either as initiates or joining brethren . Among the former may bo mentioned Bro . Philip C . Novelli—possibhy a relative of Bro . Augustns Novelli , P . G . W ., and Bro . the Hon . John Augustus
de Grey—half-brother of Lorn Walsingham—who were initiated in 1879 , and Bro . Sir Hardinge S . Giff-ird—now Lord H . ilsbnry ( Lord High Chancellor of England ) , who was initiated in 1881 , and appointed S . G . W . in 1888 . Bro . William Wightman Wood , initiated in 1883 , was last year representative of the lodge on the Board of Grand Stewards , the last of all who is entered in the books of Grand
Lodge being Bro . F . W . Crookshank , who was introduced into our Society under the auspices of Friendship early in the present year . Among the joining membei-s the most prominent is Bro . Sir Seymour Fitzgerald , who made his first acquaintance with our mysteries in 1837 , during his career at Oxford , in the Apollo University Lodge , and who , though he may not have had much leisure
to devote to Masonic pursuits has , at different times , and in different capacities , done good service to the State , having represented Moi'fthnm for . several yonm in the House of Commons , and hayi ' iif held the post of Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1858-9 , that of Governor of Bombay from 1867 to 1872 , and that of Chief Commissioner of Charities for England since 1875 .
I now close this rough sketch , which is almost literall y " Told by the Lodge Register . " It is probable that in glancing down the long list of names I may have omitted to notice several who have distinguished themselves in the Craft . It is by no means an easy task lo build up even so crude a lodge history as this from a mere register of names , but if I have omitted some , I do not think the omission will have seriously affected the purpose of this record . My principal
object was to demonstrate that the Lodge of Friendship from the time it assumed its title has borne itself in a manner worth y of its rank as the oldest warranted lodge tinder the Grand Lodge of England , that its members have been men of good s icial standing , and have acquitted themselves honourabl y in their Masonic career . In this I trust I have been not wholly unsuccessful , and that the reader will be in a position to form some idea of its constitution during the greater part of its existence . G . BLTZARD ABBOTT .