The Province Of Derbyshire.

of his exalted office who was not a pluralist . He held the reins until 1814 , when William Spencer , sixth Duke of Devonshire , entered upon his long Mastership , which extended over a period of more than forty years . Exemplary as the Duke was in the discharge of all the duties and responsibilities of his high station , he certainly took less

lino . A . AVOODIAVISS , p . n . G . n . c . ( KX « LAM >) , CHAIRMAN" OF THH MASONIC HALF . COMMUTE ! :. interest in the affairs of Freemasonry than might have been expected . He commenced auspiciousl y with the consecration of the Royal Sussex lodge in 1817 , but it was not until

18 44 that another Masonic banner was unfurled in Derbyshire , the Mundy Grove Lodge being then formed at Shipley Gate . The Royal Sussex Lodge was an offshoot of the Tyrian , and met at Repton , a village which hundreds of years before had played its part as capital of the kingdom

of Mercia , and in more recent times has become known as the seat of a great public school . As the personal interest of the Tyrian in its offspring declined , the lodge had a hard struggle for existence , and it was probably only saved from extinction by its timely removal to Winshill ,

Burton-on-Trent , since when it has enjoyed uninterrupted prosperity , and is known throughout the Craft by reason of its munificent support of the great Masonic Charities . There was another

lodge of some historic interest which was founded at Buxton in the early part of the nineteenth century . This was the Derbyshire Lodge , which also met at Longnor , in Stalls ., and was consecrated in 1810 . It appears to have been reconstituted from a lodge numbered 165 , which , founded

in 1770 , met at the " Ship , " Long Lane , Borough . In its Derbyshire home it flourished until 1865 , when it was erased from the roll . Two years later the Phoenix Lodge of St . Anne was founded , its title , of course , indicating that it rose from the ashes of its predecessor . The first Master of the

Pluenix was Bro . Milward , a member of a well-known Derbyshire family , who had been connected with the old Derbyshire Lodge and possessed a wealth of information concerning local Freemasonry . At his death his records appear to have been lost—at all events , they were lost to

Freemasonry . It is not quite clear what connection there was between the lodge that met at the "Ship" and the one that was reconstituted at Buxton in 1810 , but there must have been some sort of affinity between them . This fact is

made clear by certain relics m possession of the Pluenix Lodge , which undoubtedly belonged to the brethren who met at the "Ship . " These take the form of jugs bearing - Masonic emblems , with the number 16 5 , and part of the lodge furniture is said to have been procured from the same

source . No doubt Bro . Milward ' s papers , bad they been preserved , would have thrown a good deal of light on the precise connection between these ancient and modern representatives of Freemasonry . The Masonic activities of the sixth Duke of Devonshire

had so far relaxed by the year 18 3 6 ( hat lie took ( he opportunity of appointing a Deputy . The first occupant of this office was Bro . Philip Gell , D . C . L ., of Hopton Hall . A certain amount of historic interest attaches to the appointment of a member of this ancient Derbyshire famil y to a

position in the Order , following as it did comparatively closeon the Grand Mastership of a Stanhope . During the great struggle between Charles I . and Parliament the Cells and the

Stanhopes espoused opposite sides , and to political enmity was added the deeper feelings of personal rivalry . An ancient chronicle tells us that when the forces of the Parliament , under Sir John Gell , captured the home of the Stanhopes at Elvaston , he pursued his malice " with

such barbarism after Sir John Stanhope ' s death that , pretending to search for arms and plate , he came into the church and defaced the monument that cost six hundred pounds , breaking in the nose and other parts of it ; he digged up a garden of flowers , the onl y delight of his widow , upon

the same pretence ; and thus wooed that widow , who was by all the world believed to be the most affectionate and prudent of women , deluded b y his hypocrisies , to marry him , and found that was the utmost point to which he could carry his revenge , his future carriage making it apparent ( hat he sought her for nothing else than to destroy the glory of her bnsband and his house . "

liliO . I'KHCY U'AU . I . S , PAST PROV . SK . VIOR GUAM I WAnDK . V , CHAIRMAN OF Till : CHARITY COMMITTKK . Bro . Gell remained in office until 18 44 , and was then succeeded by Bro . Charles Robert Colvile , of Lullington Hall , Derbyshire , one of the most popular men in the

county . He was for some years Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire , and was the father of the Major-General who recently came into collision with the War Oilice on his