The History Of Selby, Its Abbey, And Its Masonic Associations.

In 1834 the Hull ancl Selby Railway was opened , one of the first in the kingdom . In 1878 our M . W . G . M . paid a short visit to Bro . Lord Londesborough , and hacl a day ' s shooting here , when the town was illuminated , and he received a heartYorkshire welcome .

y In Selby we have the usual institutions of a small agricultural market town , of which not the least is , I venture to say , the Masonic Lodge of St . , Germain . The arms of the abbey , ancl since of the town , are—sable , three swans argent . I am glad to be able to say that that virtueso endeared to every Mason ' s

, heart—I mean charity—is not unknown amongst us , for we have several charities , the majority of which are vested in a Board called the Feoffees of Selby ; the other charities being the Blue Coat Charity , the Brown Coat , Chamberlain ' s Charity , ancl Hudson ' s Charity . The oldest part of the town is the Church Hill , where the original parish

church stood ; ancl a few years ago , whilst digging down for the foundation of a house , some half-dozen coffins were found , composed of trunks of trees half split , some pieces of tiles and hazel-twigs , also two pieces of stone carving , which evidently belonged to the orig inal church . Close to my house is the landing-place sometimes called the Abbot ' s Staith , to which I have before referred . Further north is Bondgate , which was occupied b y the lord ' s tenants ,

a class of men equivalent to copyholders of the present day . Retracing our steps to the corner of Mitigate , we come into a spacious street called by three names— -Micklegate , Broad Street , ancl Finkle Street . Here was erected the Norman castle of King Stephen ' s time , traces of which were discovered whilst excavating for drainage in 1854 . In connection with this drainage an ancient sea-cobble pavement was discovered in the adjoining streetcalled Gowthorpe

, , about 3 feet 6 inches below the surface . At the southern end of this street was the old Postern Gate , which led to the property now called Portholme . The abbot ' s house was situate in what is now the Crescent . This was the extent of Selby at the time of the dissolution of the monastery . The population in 1574 was about 1390 , in 1801 , 2361 , and at the 1881 census , 6031 .

Apart from the abbots of Selby and their time , the town of Selby cannot be said to have produced many distinguished men , but the following were natives of Selby : —• Thomas Johnson , an English botanist of the seventeenth century ; his chief work was anew edition of " Gerard ' s Herbal . " He went into the army on behalf of the king and attained the rank of Lieut .-Colonel , and died from the effects of

a shot received near Basingstoke , in September , 1644 . Smithson Tenant , a celebrated English chemist , born in 1761 . He contributed many valuable papers to the Royal Society , of which he was a Fellow . Dr . Bateman , a distinguished civil servant ancl lawyer , born 1797 , ancl ultimately Assistant Secretary of the Board of Excise , London . He wrote many valuable legal works .

With respect to the Masonic history of the town , there is not , unfortunately , a great deal to be said . No doubt amongst the numerous builders of the abbey were many Freemasons ; indeed , from the proximity to our Great Mother Lodge at York , it could not fail to be so . Bro . Fort , in his excellent work "The Early History ancl Antiquity of Freemasons "—a work which should be in every Freemason ' s library—has on page 330 etc . iven some illustrations of

, , g Masonic marks taken from the abbey . I may add that I have in my possession a stone which I found whilst altering my house which bears Masonic marks , and which I shall be most happy to show any of the brethren . The earliest records we have of Freemasonry in modern times are to be found in the minute book of the Mariners' Lodge , which was consecrated on the 7 th June , 1799 , and which lasted apparently until about 1814 ; and I commend to