Freemasonry In Dorsetshire.——History Of The Province.

The first Knights Templar conclave in Dorset on record was held in Dorchester , for Dunckerley constituted one at the Royal Oak in 1792 , and is known to have attended it . It will thus be seen that Dorchester ' s boast of antiquity is not vain . " Durnovarian " Lodge , however , suffered a melancholy fate , for continuing until 18 30 as 395 it ceased to exist . For

four years Masonry was dormant here , and in 18 34 , when it rose from its ashes , by some strange lack of wisdom , the brethren of the day revived the Craft under the less distinctive name of " Faith and Unanimity . " The old chapter , Knights Templars , and Mark lodge perished with the -ancient name ,

and a new era of Masonry was begun . The lodge , started on such pious principles sixty-three years ago , has continued to this clay in various habitations , but since 18 5 6 in the present Masonic Temple , of which an illustration is given . Several years ago an effort was made to revive the old name , " Durnovarian , " around which so many warm Masonic

associations cluster , but , unfortunately , it failed to excite that sentiment of enthusiasm for " the old order " that might have been expected . Dorchester has both a strong lodge and chapter , and the fact that the present popular Deputy Prov . Grand Master first saw the light here , and is a feivent and zealous working member , lends to Masonry in the county town no little prestige .

INTl'lilOT ! OP FAITH AX 1 ) UNANIMITY LOW ; K , DOliCllKSTKl ) .

The only other South Dorset lodge is at Portland , which , though less than forty years old , is numerically the strongest in the province . It is largely used by service brethren , both Naval and Military . Masonry in Portland has prospered abundantly of late years . A large and handsome Temple , erected a year or two ago , is an abiding symbol of the

vitality of the Craft on this rocky " island . " Blandford , with a history of no mean degree , has the reputation of being one of the best-worked lodges in the province . As far back as 1771 a lodge was at work here , but ten years saw its end . According to the admirable

history by W . Bro . G . E . Turner , Masonry was not revived here till the year of Waterloo . All records of the old lodge have disappeared , but in his search through the later minutes now in existence Bro . Turner found much quaint and interesting history . There appears also to have been a strong artistic faculty in the scribes of the times , for they

had a curious habit of illuminating the pages of the minute book with pen and ink sketches . He thinks the exaggerated features of the " man in the moon" refer to some brother ,

there being a great similarity of visage throughout the sketches . Unhappily the old minute books , from 177 1 to 1781 and from 18 42 to 1851 , have completely disappeared . The old lodge struggled on till 18 33 , but at what precise date it stopped cannot be learnt , as the minutes of the final meetings were on loose sheets , and from such disjecta

membra little authentic information can be gleaned . The lodge was closed by consent , and the furniture "lent" to various lodges . Shaftesbury has the old Master ' s chair , and there is a hope that some day Shaftesbury may be magnanimous enough to return it . On the authority of Bro . Hughan , there was another lodge constituted in 1842 as 714

and erased in 1851 , but of this , alas ! no records exist , or Bro . Turner would assuredly have found them . The date of the present warrant is 186 9 , and since that date " Honour and Friendship" has flourished abundantly . There is no Royal Arch chapter here , though there was one in existence

as long ago as 1823 . The lodge room , as our illustration shows , is a large and handsome chamber , and is embellished with many valuable Masonic engravings , the gift of Bro . Turner , who , as a recognition of his conspicuous services , received a P . M . ' s jewel and an illuminated address in 1889 . One of the oldest lodges in the province is at Shaftesbury though its present warrant bears the recent date of 1840 .

Dunckerley often alluded to the " Shaston " Lodge , and the old minute book gives particulars of the foundation in 1786 under the name it now bears , " Friendship and Sincerity . " One of the earliest Provincial Grand Lodges was held here in honour of the birthday of the Royal Grand Master in 1792 . There are two other lodges in North Dorset , namely ,

"Benevolence" ( Sherborne ) and "King ' s Court" ( Gillingham ) . The latter is quite a new creation ( 18 97 ) . With regard to Sherborne , the warrant is dated 1867 , but , as stated earlier . Masonry flourished here long anterior to that date . There was a lodge here in 1786—in fact , the earliest records now

extant , refer to a Provincial Grand Lodge held at Sherborne in 1793 . Unfortunately all the old minutes and papers tire non-existent . There are very few brethren still on the rolls ( of whom W . Bro . Louis H . Ruegg , P . P . S . G . W ., is one ) who petitioned for the revival under the new number , 1168 .

Among the West Dorset lodges , Lyme Regis has probably the greater antiquity , though the brethren are apparently unaware of the fact . The statement of the local authority that " nothing pertaining to ancient Freemasonry