History Of The Airedale Lodge, No. 387.

Building negociations were now in progress , and at the St . John ' s , 19 th December , 1877 , plans were submitted of new premises at Well Croft , Shipley , and being recommended by the committee , were duly passed . I received a letter on the 20 th February , 1878 , from Bro . John C . Taylor , P . M ., which 1 have much pleasure in giving in the Appendix . The writer of this letter ( Appendix H ) is Masonically known in Bradford and district as "Working Taylor" a cognomen he hadin factearned when I was received

, , , into Masonry . He was initiated in the Lodge Three Graces , August 18 th , 1834 ; was greatly attached to Airdale Lodge , of which he has long been an honorary member , and I know of no brother more generally respected . In the earl y part of my Masonic career , Bro . Taylor , the late Bro . Samuel Priestley , and myself , met on Saturday afternoons , for Masonic practice , in the fields at Hortonwhere is now Scholemoor Cemetery . I take this opportunity of

pub-, licly acknowledging the pride I always felt in his Masonic friendship , as well as thankfulness ancl gratitude for inexhaustible Masonic information and instruction received at his hands . He is a worth y Mason , ancl no eulogies of mine will add to the praise he has universally gained and merited . Of a naturally retiring disposition , Bro . Taylor has not found it possible

to entirely neglect Masonry m his old age , and one of his greatest pleasures is in receiving brethren at his own house and communicating to them "light and instruction " from a fountain of Masonic lore , alas ! too rarely equalled . Bro . Taylor took a very active part in the Airedale Lodge between 1863 ancl 1869 , during which time he was a constant attender and undertook all the principal working . He , moreover , instructed the " workmen , " who ultimately again raisedalmost on its very ashesthe superstructure of our lodge . Palmam

, , qui meruit ferat . A feature , not unworthy of imitation by all lodges , characterised the business of the meeting on February 20 th , 1878 , for , as a practical illustration of cosmopolitan Masonry ancl true charity , a subscription was . made on behalf of a distressed brother of a nei ghbouring lodge . It ought to be remembered that the brethren hacl continual claims upon their liberality at this timeas the Charities were not allowed to sufferwhilst so many sacrifices

, , hacl to be made for the new premises now actively progressing . The chief business of every meeting consisted of committee reports and building suggestions and arrangements , but on the 17 th April receipts were handed to the Secretary for thirty guineas subscribed to the Girls' School for the purpose of endowing chairs of the lodge .

Bro . Bentley Shaw , J . P ., P . D . P . G . M . of West Yorkshire , and our highly esteemed ancl justly beloved Prov . G . Supt . of R . A . Masons , died at his residence , Woodfield House , near Huddersfield , on the 20 th March , 1878 . The memory of his virtues as a man , not less than as a Mason , will long live in the hearts of the Freemasons of West Yorkshire . To him I was indebted for the first practical example of what Masonry can do for the destitute

and oppressed . I shall never forget the circumstance , nor could I ever see him afterwards , either in Prov . Grand Lodge or in any other capacity public or private , without calling it to mind , and no doubt many readers will recognise it . At one of the Prov . Grand Lodge meetings , years ago , held at the Masonic Hall , St . George-street , Leeds , a peculiar case of charity came before Prov . Grand Lodge—one in fact which to all appearance had to be

dragged there . It was a case of the real poor , ancl the subject a widow lady . In the absence of the R . W . Prov . Grand Master ( Earl cle Grey of Ripon ) , Bro . Bentley Shaw presided , as Deputy Prov . Grand Master , and I was present on this particular occasion . Suffice it to say , owing to the urgency of the case , no petition hacl been forwarded to the Charity Committee in the usual way , and it could not on that account be officially entertained by Prov . Grand Lodge . It happened , however , that the poor lady ' s late husband had been a member of the same lodge as the worth y Deputy Prov . Grand Master , who made himself acquainted with the particulars ; and the explanations and