The Province Of Hertfordshire.

In 1831 began what we may call the colonisation of the province from within ; the first settlement had been in the central district , the second in the west , the third took the district bordering on the east , and the scene of it was the ancient town of Bishop ' s Stortford . Of the eight founders live were members of the Hertford Lodge , and the W . M .

designate was Bro . G . P . Philipe , of the Grand Master ' s Lodge , No . 1 . It was consecrated on the 27 th December , 1831 , by Bro . Philip Broadfoot , one of the ablest Masons of the time , at the Crown Hotel , Hockerill , a suburb of the town . On that occasion Paul Cheffins , the parish clerk , was

initiated as a serving brother . Thus the third settlement was completed , though it only possessed as officers the Worshipful Master and the two Wardens .

PULPIT IN THK NAVE OP ST . ALBANS CATHEDRAL .

In the first year , seventeen candidates were initiated and the vacant offices were gradually filled . Bro . Philipe seems to have been a very able Master , influential in character as well as skilful in work , for the record of him , which has gone down to posterity in the minutes of the lodge , is that not only did he possess Masonic knowledge , but exercised

strictness of discipline , and yet exhibited gentle demeanour in the service of his office—higher praise would scarcely be possible . One of the joining members of that year was Bro . Roland Alston , who became Provincial Grand Master of Essex in

18 3 6 , nor was he the only Provincial Grand Master which the province has produced , for Bro . Augustus Smith , M . P ., became Provincial Grand Master of Cornwall in 186 3 , and Colonel William Stuart , Pvovincial Grand Master of Bedford in 188 5 , both initiates of the Watford Lodge , the name the Bamborough Lodge assumed in 1833 .

1 here are two items in the expenditure of the Stortford Lodge tor the year , which are of interest : " Randall , Hertford Tyler , for horse and cart with Hertford Regalia , £ 2 1 os . " Paraphernalia is rather a wide term , but probably it was the necessary furniture which had been lent to the new lodge , for we find the Stortford Lodge in 1833

, purchased the furniture of a defunct lodge in Braintree , Essex . The other item is "Coach hire and travelling expenses of Past Masters to open and install , £ 1 2 s . 6 d . " This gives us a glimpse of the difficulty of intercommunication in the days of Masonry ' s first settlement in the county ;

and how important it was to provide , by such means as paying travelling expenses , that an adequate number of Past Masters should be present , lest an installation in a new lodge should

miscarry . In the summer of 18 31 , R . W . Bro . Harvey resigned his position , and Bro . Gascoigne Cecil , second Marquis of Salisbury , an initiate of the Hertford Lodge ,

succeeded to the no longer barren honour of Provincial Grand Master , although he was not formally installed into office until 7 th November , 18 33 . From the three lodges now

firmly established other off-shoots were sent out , and the first to become a parent was the Stortford Lodge . A warrant was granted on April 9 th , 18 34 to six members of

, the Stortford Lodge and one outsider to found the Lodge of Friendship , No . 604 , at the Crown Hotel , Hockerill . It was consecrated in May , 18 34 and the

, parent lodge emigrated in the same year to the George Hotel , Bishop ' s Stortford . It is now at the Chequer ' s Hotel in that town . The daughter lodge proved a very

delicate shoot ; its inauguration was evidently premature , for it deceased in August , 1851 , when its warrant was returned to Grand Lodge . The next attempt was more fortunate . On March 31 st 18 ^ 6 ,

a warrant was granted to eleven members of the Hertford Lodge , amongst whom was Bro . Francis Crew and one member of No . 7 , to establish an offshoot at the Falcon Hotel , Waltham Cross , under the

title of the Salisbury Lodge , No . 630 . It was consecrated by Bro . John Davis , P . P . D . G . M ., in the presence of the Provincial Grand Master , the Grand Secretary , and Dr . Crucifix , whose publication of Masonic

proceedings caused such a fluttering among the Grand Lodge dovecotes . It had a prosperous career , and in 18 47 was removed to Enfield , in Middlesex , thereby severing its connection with its original province . It now meets at Freemasons' Hall , No . 435 .

The Hertford Lodge having colonised the extreme east now turned its attention to the ultimo Ihule of the province , Hitchin . It numbered amongst its own initiates several inhabitants of that town , and these having tasted of the fruits of the Masonic tree of knowledge desired to benefit

their fellow townsmen bv planting it in their midst . This was accomplished on the 19 th May , 18 3 8 , when the Cecil Lodge , No . 6 57 ( now No . 449 ) , was consecrated at the Sun Hotel in that town . The Marquis of Salisbury was present with several members of the Watford Lodge , who must have driven the twenty odd miles in order to attend . We find amongst