Provincial Grand Lodges.

being now Vice-President of the Board of General Purposes , so that we feel assured it will not require another fifty years to increase the number of Hampshire lodges by five . Three days later the Provincial Grand Lodge of Suffolk was held , and with the installation of a new Provincial

Grand Master , one standing deservedly high in the estimation , alike of Masons and of non-Masons throughout the province—we hope entered on a new era in its prosperity . The Provincial Grand Master in his address to the brethren promised that , as far as any

exertions of his could tend to promote the prosperity of the Craft , they should be fully given , and explained that the only reason why he had not before accepted the office when requested to do so by the M . W . Grand Master was a fear that he might not be enabled to find

time properly to discharge the duties attached to it . We ivish Bro . Adair a prosperous reign , and hope next year to be enabled to announce that Masonry has prospered in the province even to a greater degree than it did under the rule of the gallant Colonel's predecessor ,

Sir Edward Gooch . Seven years is a long interregnum to be without a Prov . G . Master , and though the Eev . E . W . Ereeman has , under the Grand Eegistrar , proved a most efficient D . Prov . G . M ., we repeat our opinion that no province ever flourishes so well as when presided over by an active and efficient Prov . G . M . whose standing

in the district adds dignity and importance to his office . On the 27 th , Surrey had its meeting—and a right p leasant meeting it was , notwithstanding the lodge room was much too small . The business was unimportant , if we except the voting of £ 5 5 * . to the widow of a deceased

brother , and a like sum to the Boys' School . The various lodges of the province were reported to be going on prosperously , and the Prov . G . M ., Bro . Dcbie , P . G . Beg ., may ivell be proud of being enabled to boast that throughout the ivhole time he had presided over'the province that there had never been a complaint from

any of its members cither to the Prov . Grand Master or the Board of General Purposes . We could wish that every Prov . Grand Master could make such a boastbut to do so he must be as respected as Bro . Dobie , and have an equally efficient deputy as Bro . Harcourt .

On the 30 th July came the Grand Lodge of Essex , and though the various lodges in the province boasts a muster-roll of 257 members , there were not more than forty or forty-five present at the lodge—and many of these left before the conclusion of the proceedings of the day—no very great compliment to the Prov . Grand

Master , who ably fulfils his duties , and is seconded in his efforts by an excellent deputy . But wo are not surprised at the non-attendance of the brethren of Essex , seeing that they have allowed the widow of a brother of one of their lodges to continue on the list of applicants for' an annuity from the Widows' Eund for eight

years without carrying her election , ivhich one united effort might easily have accomplished . Essex is celebrated for the number of candidates she sends up for oar various

Provincial Grand Lodges.

charities , and the little she does for the support of either institution . We have now arrived at the end of July , and will therefore bring our present article to a close , to be renewed at an early period , when we shall call attention

to the Prov . G . Lodges of Kent , Sussex , Herts , & c , probably concluding with a few remarks applicable to the large majority , —if not all .

Masonic Contemporaries.—No. Ii.

MASONIC CONTEMPORARIES . —No . II .

THE W . JOHN HAVERS , P . S . G . D ., AND LATE PRESIDENT OE THE BOARD OE GENERAL PURPOSES . THE W . BRO . JOHN HAVERS is a descendant of an old family of the same name , who have long been settled

in the county of Norfolk . Without going back to a very remote period , the Havers first seem to have risen into notice as retainers of the noble house of Norfolk . The first of these was a John Havers , who was a gentleman of the horse to John , Duke of Norfolk , and , in that

capacity , followed his patron to the Battle of Bosworth-Eield , where the Duke was slain . Eor many generations the family have been connected with the Howards , both of the Dukedom , and as Earls of Arundel . One of the successors of the John Havers , mentioned above , Thomas Havers , of Winfarthing ,

purchased the manor of Thelton , in the county of Norfolk , in the year 1592 , and he subsequently erected the present manor house , Avhich is very nearly in its original state , and has been , since his time , in the constant occupation of the family . The present head of the house is the father of eight sons . He is himself remarkable as being one of the finest men in Norfolk , ancl having eight sons ,

none of which are less than six feet m stature , while the squire is said to overtop them all . Our W . Bro ., JOHN HAVERS , is the fourth son of Thomas Havers , Esq ., by his wife Dorothy , daughter of Eorster Charlton , Esq ., of Alndyke , in the county of Northumberland , Early in life , our W . Bro . entered

upon his studies , for the medical profession , at St . Bartholomew ' s Hospital . In 1837 , he passed his examination and became a member of Eoyal College of Surgeons of England , In the following year he was admitted a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries , and in 1849 was chosen a Eellow of the Eoyal College of Surgeons .

Bro . HAVERS enjoys a considerable practice amongst private families , and is much respected . He is also surgeon to that valuable institution , the Artists' Benevolent Eund . The Masonic career of Brother HAVERS has been a distinguished one . He ivas initiated in the Jordan

Lodge ( No . 237 ) on the Sth of March , 1838 , and joined the St . George and Corner-stone Lodge ( No . 5 ) in 1843 , in which latter , we believe , he passed the chair , and of which he is now a P . M . Bro . HAVERS ivas exalted to the Eoyal-Arch degree on the Sth of October , 1839 , in