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CONTENTS . PAGE LEADERFreemasonry in Cheshire ... ... ... •¦••••5 * 17 A New Departure ... ... ... — •_ ••— 54 $ Board of Benevolence ... ... ... •••••••••54 | Important Masonic Gathering at Wigan ... ... ... •¦•54 a The Craft Abroad ... ... ... - •••- 549 The November Magazines ... ... ... ••••••549 Craft Masonry ... ... — — — •••549

MASONIC NOTHSThe School Elections ... ... ••¦ ... •••553 Conserration of the Maiden Lodge , No . 28 75 ... ... ... 553 The Late Bro . Horatio Ward ... ... ... ... 553 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ••••••554

Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... •••554 Instruction ... ... ... ... ... •¦••*•55 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... - 55 * 3 Science , Art , and the Drama ... ... ... ... •••557 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... •••55 s

Freemasonry In Cheshire*

FREEMASONRY IN CHESHIRE *

Tlie history of the Provincial Grand Lodge , or at least of so much of it as is supported by minutes that are still extant , fills upwards of 200 pages , and by reason of the light that it throws upon tlie manner in which thc Province was carried on , as well

as from the particulars which Bro . ARMSTRONG has made it his business to furnish where possible about thc officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge , is full of interest , and will be read with pleasure not only by our Cheshire brethren , but likewise by

members of the Craft throughout the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of England . In the first place , Cheshire is ihe oldest of oui Provinces , dating , as it does unquestionably , from thc year 1725 , while it may have been organised as a Province—as the author

suggests—for many years prior even to that early date . But not only is it recognised by our Grand Lodge as tlie earliest of our Provinces , but a mere glance at the Statement giving the " Succession of Provincial and District Grand Masters in

Provinces and Districts in the Grand Lodge and United Grand Lodge of England , now existing , from 1717 to thc Present Time , " whicli is published in oui * Grand Lodge Calendar , and to which we had occasion to refer in our former article , will show that

there are but very few Provinces which , if all their minutes of proceedings from the grant of their earliest Deputations had been reli giously preserved till now , could go further back than a few years beyond the date of the earliest Provincial Cheshire

record—the re-election of Captain Robert Newton , of Chester , as Provincial Grand Master on December 27 th , 1 743 . Exclusive of Cheshire , the number of districts for which Provincial Deputations were granted before 1 743 is , according to the Calendar ,

eight—namel y , North Wale ? , South Wales , Warwickshire , Shropshire , Northumberland , Durham , Lancashire , and York shire—and it is not a little singular that , excepting , of course the two divisions of Wales , nearly all these districts are in the

North of England , where thc Grand Lodge of all England at iork , though it does not appear to have claimed or exercised authorit y over the Masons in the other counties , must certainly have exercised a considerable influence . Hence , as we have said , the exceptionall y great value of this history , supported as it

Freemasonry In Cheshire*

is by evidence than which it will be difficult to discover much that relates to an earlier period . We have seen that Col . F . Columbine was Provincial Grand Master in 1725 , and in Chapter I . will be found a letter addressed

to the Grand Master of England , dated from the " Castle and Falcon" Lodge in Chester , 15 th April , I 727 , and signed by H . Warburton as P . G . M ., his Deputy ( Samuel Smith , who was also Col . Columbine ' s Deputy ) , ' and his Wardens ( Roger

Comberbach and John Coleclough ) . How long Warburton remained in office cannot , in the absence of any definite statement , be shown ; but in 1742 Captain Robert Newton was P . G . M ., and he was re-elected on St . John ' s Day in winter in the following year .

Under Bro . Newton ' s auspices Freemasonry does not appear to have greatly prospered . There were lodges at Congleton and Macclesfield , but they do not seem to have sent representatives to the Provincial Grand Lodge at Chester . The old " Castle and

Falcon had been erased in 1739 and the " Spread Eagle" Lodge , though still on the register , was , as Bro . ARMSTRONG suggests , very probably in a moribund state , as it was erased soon afterwards . Thus the only active lodge was the Royal Oak , No . 180 ,

Chester , which , apparently not without reason , Bro . ARMSTRONG considers lo have one and the same with the old " Sunn " Lodge , of Chester , of which both Col . Columbine and H . Warburton were members . The Master of the Royal Oak Lodge—Bro .

Edward Orme—was elected Dep . Prov . G . M . to Captain Newton , while the old P . G . Wardens remained in office . In 1744 , the Prov . Grand Officers were re-elected , and in 1745 , the P . G . M . and his Deputy were re-elected , but new Wardens were chosen ,

nor was there any further change until 1754 . Bro . Newton after 1 745 appears to have neglected his duties , and in 1 749 we are told that the one active lodge in Chester had onl y seven members . He seems to have died in 1750 , at all events , letters of administration were granted to his widow in October of that year .

In 1750 , Alderman John Page was admitted a Mason in the "Royal Oak" Lodge , and on thc 27 th December , 1754 , was elected Prov . Grand Master . Under his rule the fortunes of the Craft were greatly bettered . In the year following his election ,

when he filled the office of Mayor of Chester as well as that of P . G . M ., 18 new members were admitted into the old or " Sunn " Lodge and two new lodges in Chester , at the " Raven " and "Plume of Feathers'' respectively , were constituted , while

many valuable presents were made to the lodge , notably certain chairs given by Thomas ffarington , which are still in use in the Cestrian Lodge , No . 425 . On St . John ' s Day—in—winter , 1755 , a Prov . Grand Secretary was for the first time elected , and in

175 6 , the roll of Provincial Officers was still further extended by the election of a Treasurer . Till now , the officers of the Prov . Grand Lodge had been elected at the meetings in December , but in 1757 , the deputation from the Grand Master appointing

John Page , P . G . M ., was read in open lodge , and henceforth the P . G . M . appointed his officers—the Prov , G . Treasurer being included . The next year further evidence * was forthcoming of the increased activity of the brethren . A quarterl y

communication of Prov . Grand Lodge was held in November , and on the following St . John ' s Day , the P . G . M ., his officers , and the brethren went in procession to the parish Church of St . John the Baptist for divine service , the custom then inaugurated

having been since observed most religiously , " notwithstanding hints from the highest quarters that it is no longer in keeping with the dignity of the Order . " In 17 60 , the custom of " Interlodge Visitations " appears to have been introduced , an I for the