In the presence of the Wor Master of Friendship Lodge No 447 Wor Bro Stephen Arnold, Most Wor Bro Douglas Gray Grand Master of The Grand Lodge of

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In the presence of the Wor Master of Friendship Lodge No 447 Wor Bro Stephen Arnold, Most Wor Bro Douglas Gray Grand Master of The Grand Lodge of Ireland, Rt Wor Bro John C.

1 In the presence of the Wor Master of Friendship Lodge No 447 Wor Bro Stephen Arnold, Most Wor Bro Douglas Gray Grand Master of The Grand Lodge of Ireland, Rt Wor Bro John C. Clarke Deputy Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Down, Rt Wor Brother S. Gordon Leathem B.E.M., Past Senior Grand Warden of The Grand Lodge of Ireland, and a large gathering of visiting Brethren and Lodge Members the following historical paper was read on the 8 th November 2016 to celebrate and commemorate some 250 years of Masonic endeavour here in the town of Newtownards. And what a story there is to tell, as we celebrate a quarter Millenia of Freemasonry tonight. I m not too sure how I ve ended up speaking, as your Wor Master, Wor Bro Stephen Arnold a P.P.G.Lodge Standard Bearer of Down, a past Master of the Irish Lodge of Research Number 200 and the current Master of Friendship Lodge No 447, presented an excellent, well researched and thoughtful paper on the history of Lodge 447 over the last 250 years. It was from Wor Bro Arnold that we learned two interesting facts in that 447 is the 3 rd oldest Lodge

2 on the registers of The Provincial Grand Lodge of Down and is the 24 th oldest surviving Warrant in the Irish Constitution. Friendship Lodge came into being with the issue of warrant 447 on the 6 th November 1766, and has continued working in the town of Newtownards for the last two hundred and fifty years. Its Foundation Master was Samuel Mahon and the two Wardens were James Wallace S.W. and Samuel Frederick J.W. First Lodge Secretary was David Alexander and two Lodge Deacons were John Kenny S.D. and Robert Turner J.D. In its first year of existence it attracted some 20 more local Brethren to join or affiliate, and amongst that number were Brothers John Grace, William Adams, John Campbell, Edward McDonald, Thomas Orr, William Gunning, Robert McCully, Hugh Park and James Jackson, to mention but a few. You may be interested to learn that The Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1731 introduced Warrants to the World of Freemasonry. The Grand Lodge of the Ancient s under Lawrence Dermott adopted the practice in 1750 and some twelve years later the Grand Lodge of the Moderns began issuing Warrants of their own. From that time the Irish Warrant has been accepted by all Masonic Constitutions around the globe, and is used by all other Constitutions without exception. The new Lodge held its early meetings in The Cock Inn, a licensed tavern located in High Street, Newtownards, on the south side of Conway Square, between the years It is generally accepted that the Inn once stood on the site, used as a Manse by the Minister from the old Presbyterian Church which met in Greenwell Street. We do know that after the Freemasons left in 1812, the Inn was eventually bought in the year1838 by Andrew Moore of Moore Bros, and was converted into a grocery store and hardware emporium. Then eventually the Moore s sold up and the house was taken over by The Church. Like all organisations, the new Lodge in Newtownards quickly met and decided on the rules and regulations required for the efficient running of this new grouping. After considerable debate, in 1770 they established some 28 rules and regulations, and each member had to append their name within this new rule book confirming their acceptance to these regulations, as a condition of their membership.

3 Here we will find the usual regulations setting out annual fees, times of meetings, dates of meetings, process for selection of officers, rules for selection of new members, rules for selection of Officers and behaviour within the Lodge- room. Some of the rules may seem a little strange today, for example the requirement that each member spends 5 old pence at every meeting of the Lodge and that he should deposit a further 3 pence each month with the Lodge Treasurer. There is even one rule setting out the punishments to be applied to a member who swears in the Lodge Room. On the first occasion, he shall pay a penny, on the second he has to pay two pence and if he persists, he may be excluded all together. One interesting regulation was that all preferments within the Lodge will be grounded on real worth and personal merit only, and not upon seniority. Another rule sets out the period of a Master s office as six months, from John s Day to John s Day. For those of you familiar with Chris McClintock s seminal book The Craft and The Cross, you will find much of interest that could be applied to the history of this old Lodge. The six-month period between elections survived in Friendship Lodge right up to the year Surviving records from the 28 th September 1768 record the purchase of Lodge equipment comprising A Square, Plumb-Line, Level and Twenty Four Inch Gauge from a Mr William Dickson in Newtownards at a cost of one shilling and one pence. On the same night the Master, Junior Warden and Secretary were all fined sixpence each for being absent from their Lodge Meeting. One of the most interesting pieces of furniture in any Lodge was the Lodge Chest. It was a strongbox with three separate locks, one for the Master and one for each of the two Wardens. In this box was stored the Warrant of the Lodge, Cashbooks, Minute Books and other Lodge correspondence and records. Lodge aprons, sashes, officer s jewels and other regalia. The Chest could only be opened when all three keys were present, which meant that all three Officers had to attend all meetings for the Lodge to be officially able to operate. Interesting there was a second tier of security in the Lodge chest used by the Brethren of Friendship Lodge. Once the main chest was opened, and only then could the Lodge Treasurer, use his key, in front of the three Principal officers to open a small lockable drawer known as the Treasurer s Till. But despite all these safeguards, from time to time there were differences with some of our Brother Treasurers. We should of course remember that in those early days,

4 there were no Banks in existence in Newtownards and strenuous efforts were made by the Lodge to find Brethren of good worldly substance, who could be charged with the safe custody of the Lodge funds, and the diligent preparation of financial records, members payments and Lodge accounts. In Friendship Lodge, as in others throughout Ireland at the time, when a Brother died, he was interred with Masonic Honours, and an Emergency Meeting of the Lodge would be arranged to escort his mortal remains to the Cemetery. In the case of a poor Brother the Lodge would pay costs associated with his funeral. Unusually for the time Lodge 447 acquired a burial plot in the old Movilla Cemetery, located over by the ruins of the Old Abbey. The Lodge plot was marked by a Cromlech, in which the horizontal stone rests on two vertical stones, about four foot above the grave. Carved on the face of the stone, at the Eastern End were two pillars, surmounted by an Arch, and located between were the symbols for Compasses and Square. Over the Arch is the inscription Newtownards Lodge No 447 and under the Square and Compasses are the words Cemented With Love. At the close of the 18 th Century and the first quarter of the 19 th Century was a period of great political unrest, which took us through the period of The United Irishmen. One well known history of that period Betsy Grey or the Hearts of Down A tale of the 1798 Rebellion, written by W.G. Lyttle and published by The Mourne Observer in 1968, records many of the folk memories from that period, including references to Freemasons and their involvement in the events of that time. However, our Lodge Records from this period have not survived and these stories, written in 1968, can only, at best be surmise. Friendship Lodge was one of many, influenced by Alexander Seton in the year 1801, when he was appointed Deputy Grand secretary of The Grand lodge of Ireland. He led a Northern breakaway, establishing a body known as The Grand East of Ulster, which set itself up as a rival Grand Lodge for a ten year period up to Many Lodges and Brethren in the North were led astray for a short time, but thanks to the sterling work of Lord Donoughmore, Grand Master at the time, the truth eventually came out and most Lodges including 447 Friendship re-joined the fold in The Grand lodge of Ireland. Seton, who had been guilty of selling duplicate Warrants was eventually dragged through the courts in Dublin and the principal Grand Lodge Barrister was none other than Wor Bro Daniel O Connell, a well-known Masonic Lecturer, Master of his

5 Mother Lodge in Kerry and attendee at many Masonic functions in Dublin at the time. As befits any organisation with a history extending back for a quarter of a millennia, the Brethren of Friendship Lodge No 447 I.C. have witnessed many changes over the past 250 years of their history. When their original home in The Cock Inn, on High Street, fell into dis-repair, they got funds gathered in and purchased their current site on Regent Street / Lodge Street Newtownards. Over the front door, you can still see the date plaque 1812, recording the erection of their new Lodge Room. In 1836 the portico of fluted sandstone pillars was added and an ornamental Arch was constructed on which were carved various Masonic symbols. Their membership remained remarkably, strong during these early growing from the original 26 members to somewhere in the region of 60 on the books by the year And at a time when the only recognised Masonic authority was the blue or Craft warrant, we find many references in the Craft Minutes to Royal Arch and High Knight Templar meetings. For example the Minute from the 3rd August 1797 reads as follows :- An emergency being called, the Worshipful Thomas Jackson in the chair when William John Ross and William Martin were initiated into the sublime degrees of Excellent, Super-Excellent and Royal Arch Masonry, and the night concluded in Harmony. Signed by Order. Thomas Jackson ( Secretary ).

One tradition, maintained by the Lodge in those early days was the customary lecture presented by the Worshipful Master, on the Lodge Floor Cloth, which was given on the first Lodge Meeting night of

6 One tradition, maintained by the Lodge in those early days was the customary lecture presented by the Worshipful Master, on the Lodge Floor Cloth, which was given on the first Lodge Meeting night of the year. In 1800 Worshipful Brother John Purse was Master and he gave his lecture, the event being recorded in the Minutes presented by Wor Bro Christopher Porter ( Secretary pro tem.). A few tears later on the 16th June 1810, we find the following Minute in the Lodge records :- Emergency being called, the Worshipful Brother Robert Campbell in the Chair when Bro William Logan received his Knight Templar degree in Masonry, and the night concluded in Harmony. Signed by Order of the Master - Robert McAllister ( Secretary.). There must have been a Higher Degree than that of Sublime Degree of Knight Templar (very likely it was Pillar Priest) for we find the following in the minutes of 8th May 1818:- "The Lodge being met according to order, the Worshipful Brother Logan in the Chair when Brothers Hugh Mulligan, John McKee and Andrew Bryson received their Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest Order. John McAllister, Secretary."

This extract has a smoke seal affixed and it is the only example of its kind throughout this book. It consists of a Cross and the Letters I.N.R.I. above the horizontal arm and the letters I.H.S.V.

7 This extract has a smoke seal affixed and it is the only example of its kind throughout this book. It consists of a Cross and the Letters I.N.R.I. above the horizontal arm and the letters I.H.S.V. underneath. Round the edge are the words `Newtownards Union Band '447. The Smoke Seal for the first three Steps consisted of a Hand holding a Trowel and the words surrounding are Newtown Lodge No The seal for the Royal Arch is an Arch on two Pillars with the Compass and Square between the two Pillars. The wording is P.E.S. Royal Arch and on an inner circle round the Pillars and Arch there is the word Newtown on the one side of the Arch, and Ards on the other and at the bottom, No The seal attached to the Minutes of the Knight Templar depicts a Skull, Cross

8 Bones, and Coffin with the words Newtown Ards Lodge No. 447 surrounding. If only Craft Degrees were given, only the Craft Seal is affixed, and similarly for the Arch and Knight Templar Degrees. Where Arch and Knight Templar are given at the one night's sitting both seals are attached, but in the example given for April 12th, 1816, the three seals, Craft, Royal Arch and Knight Templar are affixed. From the Cash Book of this time we find that it was the custom to confer the first two steps on the candidate fir which he paid 11s. 9½d [ 0.58½] and on the next night he received his third step and again paid 11s. 9½d. [ 0.58½] The Royal Arch and Knight Templar Degrees were conferred when the candidate was in a good financial position to pay the extra fees for them. In those early days, Lodge discipline was administered by the Worshipful Master and a committee of senior past Master's of the Lodge. Any Brother unhappy with the decisions of this committee did have the right of appeal to Grand Lodge in Dublin, but correspondence (letter writing) was expensive, postage was charged not only on outgoing letters, but in incoming letters as well, and it took a letter at least three days to travel from Newtownards to Dublin. However once it got to Dublin it could take between a year and eighteen months for Grand Lodge to appoint three local Lodges to investigate, send them the details, wait for them to carry out their investigations, send their report to Dublin, where it would be considered by The Grand Lodge Board of General Purposes and then the Grand Secretary would write back to the Lodge with a decision on the facts of the case, which could lead to the offending Brother being suspended or in more serious cases being Expelled from the Order. In one famous case in Kellswater County Antrim the offending Brother was suspended from the Rights of Freemasonry for a period of Nine Hundred and Ninety Nine Years. Presumably, he could apply to re-join, once his period of suspension was complete. This very convoluted system of administration implemented by Grand Lodge in Dublin eventually came under consideration by The Grand Lodge Board, who eventually came out in support of the appointment of Provincial Grand Masters, who would be responsible for all the Lodges in their Provinces. The first such Provincial Grand Master - Archdeacon Walter Bishop Mant was appointed in 1829 with responsibility for the newly formed Province of Cary and Upper Dunluce, located in the North East corner of County Antrim. In 1836

9 Grand Lodge constituted a second Provincial Grand Lodge known as Belfast, Antrim and Massereene. The love which our Ancient Brethren had for walking in procession and showing their colours on St. John's Day, 24th June, in defiance of Grand Lodge instructions, very nearly brought dire consequence to the Lodge on two occasions. The first was in 1839 and the second in From an old Manuscript Book, which was subsequently used as a Minute Book for the R.A. Chapter we find that in 1836 the Grand Lodge had issued directions that no processions of Free Masons should take place without the special permission of the M.W. the Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge. As the Lodges in this district were not under the jurisdiction of any Provincial Grand Lodge at that time they simply ignored the commands of the Grand Lodge. The matter was reported to the Grand Lodge by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Belfast, Antrim and Massereene, and the Grand Lodge in 1839 sent a warning to all the Lodges in the District, cautioning them not to walk in procession, and if they did so the Warrants of those Lodges offending would be cancelled and their members suspended. It was not until 1848 that the boundaries of Belfast, Antrim and Massereene were extended to include North Down. This new body was to be responsible for some 44 Lodges in South Antrim and a further 34 in North Down. As with all these things, it took some time for these new arrangements to bed in, and some years later in 1868, Grand Lodge implemented more boundary changes to form a total of 13 Provincial Grand Lodges throughout the Island of Ireland. These are the boundaries that are still in existence today, setting out the boundaries for both Antrim and Down in the local area. Both of these Provincial Grand Lodges will celebrate their 150th anniversaries, along with many other Irish Provinces in St. John's Day, 24th June, 1844, must have been a very busy day in Lodge 447 when the members met at 5 o'clock in the morning to confer the first and second degrees on three brethren who each had paid the sum of one pound and to quote from the Minutes of that date:- "The Lodge afterwards went in procession to Comber to lay the foundation stone of the Monument in memory of Major General Gillespie in honour of his services to his King and Country, and Brother Mason, he being a native of Comber. A Special Communication of the Lodge was held on 2nd August, 1912, to

10 celebrate the Centenary of the laying of the Foundation Stone of the Hall, in the year Many distinguished guests attended including R.W. Bro. R.G. Sharman Crawford DL., Provincial Grand Master and the Lodge meeting were followed by a Dinner to mark the event. On the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914, a number of the members of the Lodge volunteered for active service. The Rev. Doctor William Wright, Lodge Chaplain, who went on to be Provincial Grand Chaplain and then, the first District Grand Chaplain of the new District Grand Chapter of Down had four sons connected to the Lodge and Chapter, who went to serve King and Country. Captain William Wright was seriously wounded in the Great War. He went on to be Ex King 1923 and Chaplain from He died in Lt. Matthew. J Wright was killed, on the Somme in The Chapter Room was draped in Black and in a tribute to his memory, a number of Brethren from Friendship, came together and formed the Wright Memorial Masonic Lodge Number 448 I.C. After his son s death, The Brother Rev Wright s health suffered and a project he proposed was to purchase and redevelop Regent House for a Masonic Hall to house all the Masonic Lodges etc in Newtownards. Sadly this idea never came to anything, and the Brethren still meet in their 1812 Lodge room. His other two sons Richard William and Thomas both served as Chief Engineers in the Merchant Navy and at the end of their sea careers, returned to Newtownards and lived out the remainder of their lives Friendship Lodge prospered exceedingly during the period , no fewer than thirty-two members being added to the Roll during these years. It was a time of much activity and great enthusiasm was manifested by the members. The meetings were largely attended and the seating accommodation in the Hall was taxed to its utmost capacity. The congestion at the Lodge Meetings owing to the influx of new members led to the formation of another new Lodge, Eklekikos Number. 542 I.C... This Lodge, at that time, was intended for Past Masters and Senior Master Masons only, and no candidates were to be initiated; only affiliations were to be considered, so that the mother Lodge 447 might not suffer any financial loss in regard to Initiation Fees. It was to be a meeting place for older members who might wish to talk over the glories of bygone days. However, it would not be long until Eklekikos, started bringing in its own candidates, to provide both funds and new blood to grow their Lodge.

11 In due course `Eklektikos Lodge' applied for the use of the Hall, in which to hold their meetings and this was granted. Since the formation of the new Lodges and Chapters the lack of suitable Hall accommodation was very much felt, especially on occasions such as meetings of the P.G.L., Installation Ceremonies, Charity Concerts, etc. There were four Warrants in the town, at that time. One belonging to Lodge 447, another to Lodge 198, then there were the two new Lodges 542 and 448 and also present was the Warrant of Farmers Lodge number 1000, which meets in its own Lodge-room in James Street, Newtownards. It may be a coincidence that the new Wright Memorial Warrant had originally been issued in 1766 as well. It was issued to hold a Lodge Ramelton, Co Donegal, where it remained until From 1814 to 1825 it was situated in Castleblaney and then went to Dunedin, New Zealand from 1866 to It lay dormant until 1919 and was issued to Newtownards. Wright Memorial was dedicated on 17th February 1919.

It would take too long to provide a full history of all their activities, but In more modern times, we would refer to the fact that after the Second World War, in 1948 Bro Paddy Blair Mayne, like his

12 It would take too long to provide a full history of all their activities, but In more modern times, we would refer to the fact that after the Second World War, in 1948 Bro Paddy Blair Mayne, like his father before him, affiliated into Friendship Lodge as a full Member. As you know Paddy was one of the most decorated British soldiers in The Second World War, and his Masonic Jewels are preserved just across the street, in the Mayors Parlour of the Council Offices. We know that Paddy first joined the Craft on 27 March 1945, when the members of Eklektikos Lodge, No. 542 (IC), held a ballot for Mayne to be initiated as a Freemason. Accordingly, Mayne was initiated on 25 September 1945; the lodge records modestly give his vocation as Army. After bailing out of an expedition to the South Atlantic due to serious back problems, Mayne returned to Newtownards in 1946 where he received the second and third degrees on 28 May and 24 September, respectively. An enthusiastic Freemason, two years later he joined a second Newtownards lodge, Friendship Lodge, No. 447, and served as Worshipful Master of his mother lodge in With his war years now firmly behind him and the SAS officially disbanded, Mayne tried to settle back into the routine of domestic life but with some difficulty. Physically, he was not the man he once was, and he suffered terribly with his back. However, an intelligent and sensitive man, Mayne took up

13 gardening, found solace in books and he greatly loved Irish culture. He regularly propped up the local bars to enjoy singing, storytelling and poetry recitals, just as he had done with his men under the desert stars in wartime, but herein also lay his Achilles heel: he loved to party, often excessively. On the night of Tuesday 13 December 1955, after attending a regular meeting of the Friendship Lodge, Mayne continued drinking with a masonic friend in the nearby town of Bangor, before finally making his way home in the small hours. However, he never reached his destination. At about 4am he was found dead in his wrecked red Riley Roadster in Mill Street, Newtownards, having reportedly collided with a farmer s vehicle. News of his death reverberated across Northern Ireland and, at his funeral, hundreds of mourners turned out to pay their respects and to see him interred in a family plot in the town s old Movilla cemetery.

14 Following his passing, his masonic jewel was preserved for many years by an old school friend, before it was eventually presented to Newtownards Borough Council where it can now be seen preserved in the Mayoral Chamber of the Council Offices

15 Friendship Lodge still attracts new Members and is looking forward to more growth in the years ahead. It looks forward to maintaining the important role that it currently has in supporting and promoting the activities of The Grand lodge of Ireland and The Provincial Grand lodge of Down and it continues to play its role, as a part of the community of Newtownards and not apart from its many friends and neighbours. I hope Brethren that I have managed to give you all a flavour of the long and distinguished history of this remarkable old Lodge. I thank the Lodge for this opportunity, to play a small part in marking the history, still going forward in the city of Newtownards tonight.

17 Rt Wor Bro Robert T. Bashford. Irish Lodge of Research.

Some Background on Our Masonic Charities.

Some Background on Our Masonic Charities. Brethren, I would just like to thank the Members of the Masonic Orphan s Welfare Committee for this opportunity to join with them at their annual general meeting and then spend a few moments with them,