Consecration Of The Cheselden Lodge, No. 2870.

Consecration of the Cheselden Lodge , No . 2870 .

'pHK consecration of the above lodge took place in the I ( Governors' Hall of St . Thomas ' s Hospital on Monday-November 4 th . The most Worshipful Grand Master , the Duke of Connanght and Strathearn , K . G ., who is the President of St . Thomas ' s Hospital , had signified his intention of being present at the ceremony of consecration and of

performing a most important part of the ceremony himself . Most unfortunately , however , for the founders of the lodge and their guests , a dense fog prevailed , which rendered it impossible for the Duke of Connanght to reach the place of meeting , and a message by telephone was received to say

that he could not come . In his regrettable but unavoidable absence the ceremony of consecration was most impressively carried out by V . W . Bro . E . Letchworth , F . S . A ., Grand Secretary , assisted by the following Grand Officers : — W . Bro . Clement Godson , M . D ., P . G . D ., as S . W . ; W . Bro .

Alfred Cooper , F . R . C . S ., P . G . D ., as J . W . ; V . W . Bro . Sir Borradaile Savory , Bart ., Grand Chaplain ; V . W . Bro . W . C . K . Bedford , Grand Chaplain ; V . W . Bro . Frank Richardson , P . Dep . G . Registrar , as acting D . C , assisted by W . Bro . Fitzroy Tower ; W . Bro . Woodhouse Braine , F . R . C . S .,

S . G . D ! , as I . G . ; and W . Bro . W . Walmsley-Little , Mus . Doc , Grand Organist . There was a very large and distinguished gathering , both of Grand Officers and of well-known members of the medical

profession and others interested in hospitals in general and St . Thomas ' s Hospital in particular , including R . W . Bro . the Lord Mayor , P . G . W . ; R . W . Bro . the Earl of Templetown , S . G . W . ; R \ V . Bro . F . S . W . Cornwallis , J . G . W . ; R . W . Bro . G . Richards , District G . Master Transvaal ; R . W . Bro . Colonel John Davis , Prov . G . M . Surrey ; Bro . Sir William '

MacCormac , Bart ., K . C . B ., K . C . V . O . ; Bro . Sir Reginald Hanson , Bart ., P . G . W . ; the Yen . Archdeacon Sinclair , P . G . Chaplain ; and J . Strachan , K . C ., G . Registrar . Doubtless the fog was responsible for keeping many others away , but despite the weather the attendance was very large . The officers of the lodge are as follows : —W . Bro . Thomas Wakley , jun ., L . R . C . P . Lond ., P . P . G . D . Surrey ,

W . M . ; V . W . Bro . Alderman W . Vaughan Morgan , P . G . Treas ., I . P . M . ; Bro . H . H . Glutton , F . R . C . S ., S . W . " ; W . Bro . G . Crawford Thomson , M . D ., J . W . ; Bro . Sydney Phillips ( Steward of St . Thomas ' s Hospital ) , Treasurer ; Bro . Charles R . Box , M . D ., F . R . C . S ., Secretary ; Bro . W . S . Colman , M . D ., F . R . C . P ., S . D . ; Bro . T . G . Nicholson , M . D ., J . D . ;

W . Bro . Samuel Hague , M . D ., P . P . G . D . C . Middlesex , D . C . ; W . Bro . L . A . Bidwell , F . R . C . S ., I . G . ; and W . Bro . H . J . Prangley , M . R . C . S ., L . R . C . P . Lond ., and W . Bro . W . H . Lawrence Copeland , M . D ., Stewards . At the conclusion of the ceremony the brethren made their way as speedily as the fog permitted to the Trocadero

Restaurant , where the banquet w ; is held , the number of members and their guests amounting to about 120 . V . W . Bro . E . Letchworth , in responding to the toast of " The Consecrating Officers , " mentioned that he had that morning seen the M . W . Grand Master , who had said that he

was looking forward with pleasure to the meeting that evening ; and it was most unfortunate that the density of the fog had rendered it impossible for His Royal Highness to reach St . Thomas ' s Hospital in order to carry out his intention of being present .

The Worshipful Master , in replying to the toast of his health , which was proposed by V . W . Bro . Vaughan Morgan , gave a few particulars concerning the name of the lodge . The hospital lodges which preceded it had , he said , followed no uniform plan with respect to their names . Some

—St . Mary ' s practically and classically , and Middlesex and London absolutely and in the vernacular—had very naturally adopted the actual names of the hospitals . They had been precluded from following such a course , for they had found that there was already a St . Thomas ' s Lodge in existence—a St . Thomas ' s Lodge , moreover , which was very closely connected with St . Thomas's Hospital . This lodge held its

meetings at Tibshelf in Derbyshire , on an estate ( in a colliery district ) which was one of the hospital ' s most valuable properties , the hospital authorities being Lords of the Manor , and the greater part of their possessions there having been derived under a Charter of Edward VI ., and having belonged to the ancient hospital of the Savoy . St . Bartholomew ' s , the

pioneers of modern Hospital Lodges , had taken the name of their great founder Habere , and Charing Cross had taken the very appropriate and pleasing name of " Chere Reine" in double allusion to Queen Eleanor , one of whose Crosses was erected at the village of Charing , and to our late beloved

Queen Victoria , who was their patroness . The Founders of the lodge , which had been that day consecrated , had called their lodge after the name of an illustrious anatomist and surgeon , William Cheselden , the introducer of the operation of lateral lithotomy , who was a member of the medical staff of St . Thomas ' s Hospital from 1718 to 173 8 . He ( the W . M . ) had been endeavouring to discover whether Cheselden was a

liRO . THOMAS WAKLKY . Freemason , but was unable to arrive at any definite conclusion . He had , however , in the course of his enquiries , had his attention directed to a trustworthy record of Sir Robert Claytonwho was President of the hospital in 1691 , having

, summoned a lodge of his brother Masters to meet at St . Thomas ' s Hospital in 16 93 , « idvise the Governors as to the best design for rebuilding the hospital , and of a lodge in connection with the hospital having continued long afterwards . So they had done no new thing that clay in holding

a Masonic lodge in St . Thomas ' s Hospital . They had but renewed an association after the lapse of 200 years . Although Cheselden , perhaps , had not been associated with Freemasonry in the past , he hoped that they would be able to win for the Cheselden Lodge—and so for his name—a

reputation as honourable in Freemasonry as he won for himself in surgery and anatomy . The Worshipful Master , in proposing the toast of " The Officers , " took the opportunity , having previously referred to the great assistance that had been so willingly given by the

Immediate Past Master , V . W . Bro . Vaughan Morgan , of calling attention to the invaluable services that had been rendered in the foundation of the lodge by Bros . Glutton , Crawford Thomson , Sydney Phillips , C . R . Box , Colman , and Nicholson , the work of the Secretary being particularly arduous and responsible , though all had lent themselves devotedly to the work .