Installation Meeting Of The Sefton Lodge, No. 680.

Installation Meeting of the Sefton Lodge , No . 680 .

TT 7 ITH the exception of the annual Masonic ball , no truly \/ y Masonic function has for over thirty years been held in the Town Hall of Liverpool . It yvas therefore an almost local historic event yvhen the Lord Mayor of that City , Bro . William Watson Rutherford , yvas on Friday , the

9 th January , installed as Worshipful Master of his lodge , during his year of office as Lord Mayor of the Citv . The ceremony of installation yvas performed in the small ballroom at the Town Hall , and was attended by nearly 250 Grand Officers , Provincial Grand Officers , Masters , Past Masters ,

and brethren . The actual ceremony of the installation yvas performed by the Provincial Grand Master , the Earl of Lathom , the Worshipful Master elect being presented by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master , Bro . R . Wvlie and Bros . Rickman and Watt . Having been duly installed , the

Worshipful Master then invested his officers for the ensuing year as folloyvs : —Bros . E . W . Morrice , S . W . ; W . Mapplebeck , J . W . ; R . R . Bevis , Treasurer ; T . R . Pennington , Secretary- ; G . Hall Neale , S . D . ; J . Rutherford , f . D . ; G . E . Marsden , P . P . G . W ., D . C . ; J . Cantor , P . P . G . O . " , Organist ;

H . T . Boothroyd , I . G . ; and W . H . Gilmour , E . Berry , W . W . S . Glover , and R . D . Cripps , Steyvards . One of the marked features of the function yvas the large number of Past Masters yvho yvere present , amongst them being many of the leading brethren in the district . After the installation the banquet yvas held in the large

ball room of the Town Hall , the brethren all dining in their Masonic clothing . After giving the usual loyal toasts and that of " The M . W . Grand Master , the Duke of Connaught , " the Worshipful Master submitted that of " The M . W . Pro Grand Master , the

Earl Amherst , the R . W . Deputy Grand Master , the Earl of Waryvick , and the rest of the Grand Officers , Present and Past , " yvith yvhich he coupled the names of Bros . S . Gibson Sinclair and Colville Smith .

OFFiCF . RS OF LOIKJK CHARITY , No . SCi , UMliAl . LA . JXIIIA .

The Worshipful Master then gave that of " The Provincial Grand Master , the Earl of Lathom , " and in doing so said that he yvas the son of a loved and honoured father , yvho had not onl y been respected amongst Masons , but by all classes throughout the country . He ( the Worshipful Master ) thanked Lord Lathom personally for having come that

evening to the Sefton Lodge . They yvould one and all agree yvith him that his lordship had conducted the proceedings yvith great ability , and he yvas sure they yvould join heartily in responding to the toast . The Provincial Grand Master , in responding , said it gave

him very great pleasure to attend yvhat he might call that historic gathering of the Sefton Lodge . There yvere one or tyvo matters rather agitating them in the Masonic yvorlcl at the present moment , first and foremost being the question of registering their lodges as clubs . He yvas of opinion that in

many cases it yvas quite unnecessary- to register ; but , as Masons , thev yvere pledged to be layv-abiding subjects , and , for that reason alone , he yvould counsel all lodges meeting in unlicensed premises to come yvithin the Iiuv and register themselves as clubs .

Lord Lathom subsequently- proposed " The Health of the Worshipful Master , " yvho , he said , had yvorked his yvay throngh the various offices until at last , by a fortuitous circumstance , and by no special design , he had reached the chair in the same year that he happened to be Lord Mayor

of that ancient and historic town of Liverpool . The Worshipful Master , in responding , said he felt it an especial honour that they should have assembled in such Masonic splendour that evening . "The Health of the Visitors " and " The Officers of the Lodge " yvere duly honoured .

An interesting fact yvas disclosed during the evening ' s proceedings , viz ., that the M . W . Pro Grand Master had been six times Master of a lodge .