The Province Of Derbyshire.

return from South Africa . Bro . Colvile ' s activity was unbounded , and during the twenty years that he practically ruled over the province Freemasonry made great strides . Fourteen years after his appointment there was a change in the Grand Mastership , the sixth Duke of Devonshire being

succeeded by the then Marquis of Hartington , now eighth Duke of Devonshire . The Duke , who was installed on the 9 th of May , 18 5 8 , has not taken the deepest interest in the welfare of the Craft , but the advantage to the Order of having the foremost man in the county at its head are

sufficiently obvious . Only one Provincial Grand Master has held office longer than his grace , that being Lord Leigh-During his reign he has been most fortunate in having two able Deputies—Bro . Colvile and Bro . Okeover . The latter brother represents a family that has been settled in the

neighbourhood of Ashbourne for the best part of 1000 years , and his venerable figure is familiar to every Derbyshire Mason . His little speeches at the annual meetings of Provincial Grand Lodge are models of that simple , unadorned eloquence which goes straight to the heart , and are looked forward to bv the brethren with a zest that would

lUtO . WILLI AM XAYLOR , P . C .. S . H . ( KSCJLAXD ) , PROV . ORAM ) SKCHKTAHV .

scarcely be excited bv the most studied efforts of oratory . On the occasion of the marriage of his daughter to Sir Andrew Walker , in 18 C 8 7 , there was a striking manifestation of the esteem and affection in which he is held by the brethren , the present to the bride from the Derbyshire

Freemasons being one of the most magnificent of the many she received , from the Sovereign downwards . When the Marquis of Hartington became Provincial Grand Master , in 1858 , there were seven lodges in Derbyshire . Mention has already been made of the Tyrian , the

Royal Sussex , the Mundy Grove , and the Scarsdale , but , in addition to these , the Devonshire had been founded at Glossop in 1 853 , the Peveril of the Peak at New Mills in 1883 , and the Arboretum at Derby in 1857 . The lastnamed lodge is now one of the most important in the Craft .

Its membership is in excess of 100 , and in all respects it maintains the best traditions of Freemasonry . In its earl y days it met at the Arboretum Hotel , within a stone ' s-throw of the Arboretum , from which it takes its name . Following the new Provincial Grand Master ' s appointment came a

a period of great Masonic activity . The Beaureper Lod ge came into being at Belper in 1859 , with Lord Hartington as its first Master ; in the same year the Repose was formed

DUO . COX , A VKTERAX DKRUYS 1 I 1 RK MASON .

at Derby for the special benefit of installed Masters , with the Deputy Provincial Grand Master at its head ; in i 860 the St . Oswald at Ashbourne ; in 1861 the Derwent at Wirksworth ; and in 186 4 the Royal Alfred at Alfreton . It was the Derwent Lodge , by the way , that witnessed the

early Masonic career of Bro . J . M . McLeod , the well-known Secretary of the Roval Masonic Institution for Boys . Bro . Okeover ' s accession to the position of Deputy Provincial Grand Master saw this rate of progress considerably accelerated . The Hartington Lodge was consecrated

in 1863 , its first meetings being held at the ordjrly rooms of the Derbyshire Yeomanry Cavalry in St . Mary ' s Gate , Derby ; in 1867 the Rutland came into existence at Ilkeston ; in 1868 the Pluenix at Buxton ; in 1870 the

Till : MASONIC HALL , I 1 KHI 1 Y .