Beach Lodge No 2955 A BRIEF HISTORY THE FOUNDING

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Beach Lodge No 2955 A BRIEF HISTORY THE FOUNDING On the evening of Thursday 4 December 1902, fourteen brethren comprising members from Albert Edward Lodge No. 1780, Peace & Harmony Lodge No.

1 Beach Lodge No 2955 A BRIEF HISTORY THE FOUNDING On the evening of Thursday 4 December 1902, fourteen brethren comprising members from Albert Edward Lodge No. 1780, Peace & Harmony Lodge No. 359, Royal Gloucester Lodge No. 130 and Wood Green Lodge No met with the idea of forming a new lodge named after the late Provincial Grand Master, The Rt. Hon. William Wither Bramston Beach. Prior to the meeting, contact was made with the widow of the late Provincial Grand Master, and a transcript of her reply is set out below. December Dear Sir, I received your letter this morning. I shall feel great pride and pleasure in your calling the lodge Beach after my husband. My son will feel the same with me as he is a Mason, but being in the diplomatic service, he cannot attend as he would wish. I remain yours faithfully, Caroline Beach The Founders of the lodge expressed a wish for the three oldest lodges in Southampton to be the new lodge sponsors. However, that was not to be. The eight Founders from Albert Edward Lodge on the committee expressed their disappointment at having to give up the honour of sponsoring the Beach Lodge and subsequently agreed that Southampton Lodge is approached with a view to joining Royal Gloucester and Peace & Harmony as the three sponsors of the lodge. While Southampton Lodge then played no active part in the Founding of the lodge as none of its members were Founders, they did, however, agree to sponsor Beach Lodge. By the time the petition was sent to Provincial Grand Lodge, the number of founders had grown to 22. The Founding Fathers agreed the Founder s fee would be 5 and the annual subscription would be 30 shillings ( 1.50).

2 THE CONSECRATION The Consecration and Installation of the lodge by the Provincial Grand Master, Rt. W. Bro. Sir Augustus Webster, Bart, took place at 3 pm on 3 June 1903 at the Masonic Hall in Albion Place, Southampton. After the completion of the consecration ceremony, the Provincial Grand Master instituted the lodge and installed W. Bro. R. W. Denness in the chair of King Solomon. Beach Lodge was the first lodge to be consecrated in Hampshire for 24 years and brought the total number of lodges within the Province to 50. THE CONSECRATION BANQUET The Consecration Banquet took place held at 5.30pm at the South Western Hotel, Southampton with eighty-eight (88) brethren in attendance. MENU ******** Hors d œuvres Tortue Claire Salmon bouilli Sauce Mousseline Salade de Concombre Vol au Vent à la Godard Quartier d agneau Sauce Menthe Choux-fleur au Gratin Pommes Nouvelles Asparagus en Branche Sauce Mousseline Pintade piqué Roti Pluvier d Or sur Canapés Salade de Saison Pouding à la Royal Buche au Chocolaté Bourdure Pierrre le Grande Bombe à la Diablo Rose Dessert et Café ******** The banquet costs were 30.6s or approximately 35p per head in today s money. This sum might appear cheap, but in those days, it was almost three times the cost of a meal at the festive board. The average cost of a festive board nowadays is 15, so in real terms, the cost of a meal at the Consecration Banquet amounted to something like 45 per person. A receipt for the bar bill at the South Western Hotel in the sum of 38.9s. 6d seems to indicate the brethren had a good time. Beach Lodge was obviously not a Temperance Lodge when it was founded!

Following the consecration banquet, the Founders posed for a photograph. It would appear from the first balance sheet that all 21 founders bought a photograph, each costing 1.

3 Following the consecration banquet, the Founders posed for a photograph. It would appear from the first balance sheet that all 21 founders bought a photograph, each costing 1. Two additional photographs were subsequently purchased, of which one was presented to Mrs Beach. The other was requested by the Masonic Hall Company and hangs in the lodge Room. None of these photographs appears to have survived the ravages of time. There is, however, a portrait of the founding Master W. Bro. R. W. Denness, which hangs on the wall of the Grand Officers dressing room at Albion Place. >> In 1994, the grandson of the late Bro. Thomas White sent the Secretary, a photograph of his Grandfather; the picture is undated but portrays him as a Senior Steward with a Beach Lodge Master Masons apron and what I believe to be a founder s jewel alongside a Chapter jewel. As Bro. White was the Senior Steward in 1903; it appears that this photograph is the oldest surviving photograph belonging to the lodge. THE EARLY YEARS OF THE LODGE The Founders had decided to hold meetings monthly with the installation ceremony in February. During the first eight meetings, up until the first installation ceremony, the minute book records busy, but fairly uneventful, meetings. During the second regular meeting on 28 July 1903, W. Bro. Ellis Hicks Beach, the son of the Late Provincial Grand Master, took the Chair and carried out the second-degree ceremony for three Entered Apprentices. Also on this evening, a total of five brethren were initiated, a ballot for five prospective members took place, and a further three gentlemen were proposed. The lodge on this occasion was close tyled at 6.45pm and closed at 8.40pm. In those first eight months of the lodge, saw a total of twenty-three candidates proposed and twenty-one balloted for, and twenty initiations, fifteen second-degree ceremonies and fifteen third-degree ceremonies were carried out.

During the first installation meeting in February 1904, not only did they carry out the normal installation ceremony, but five Entered Apprentices were passed to the second degree.

4 During the first installation meeting in February 1904, not only did they carry out the normal installation ceremony, but five Entered Apprentices were passed to the second degree. THE LODGE BANNER The dedication of the Lodge Banner, which is based on the Beach family crest, took place at the 545th regular meeting held on 13 November The Assistant Provincial Grand Master, the Revd G. W. Page RN, P. G. Chaplin, carried out the dedication ceremony. The banner cost the princely sum of 60 and is proudly displayed in one of the banner boxes at Albion Place. TEMPERANCE OR NOT For many years Beach was a Temperance Lodge. One of the stories regarding this subject was that the founding of Beach Lodge came about because of the disapproval of the Founders towards the heavy drinking that was prevalent in many lodges at that time, and they had decided to form a Temperance Lodge. This story cannot be proved; none of the minutes recorded at the Founders meetings and likewise none of the lodge Minute books or its bylaws mention or state that the lodge be a Temperance one. Indeed, from the bar bill at the consecration banquet, it is obvious that some heavy drinking occurred. The mystery is if the prime reason for forming a lodge was to have a non-drinking lodge, why was it not mentioned in the accompanying letter to the Provincial Grand Secretary and why did they consume so much at the banquet? A letter from the War Office in 1915, recorded in the Minute Book, requests Freemasons to help with the war effort and cease partaking in the festive board after lodge meetings and from consuming alcohol; this may also have been the reason Beach Lodge went tea-total. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Beach Lodge was known as the Cider Lodge because flagons of cider were plentiful on the table during the festive board. We were therefore not a Temperance Lodge during this period, although some brethren liked to believe that

5 misguidedly cider was not alcoholic. The cider tradition ended when lodges meeting at Albion Place needed to obtain a drinks licence from the Courts. However, in the Centenary year of the lodge in 2003, it was suggested that the consumption of alcohol be allowed at the festive board; this was voted on and agreed unanimously. THE PRESENT Beach Lodge has suffered from falling numbers over the past few years as have most lodges, but with the enthusiasm and dedication of its members, the lodge has now turned the corner and is a friendly, progressive, and fun-loving lodge with a very bright future. See next page list of Masters of the Lodge to date:

6 MASTERS OF THE LODGE 1 R. W. Denness W. Harris L. A. Topp * 2 T. A. A. Cleveland B. F. Sampson P. J. Cooper * 3 E. A. Lisle A. J. Wilkins P. G. Hilton T. G. Dacombe C. C. C. Camfield P. G. Hilton * 5 L. Stevens S. C. Rowland J. I. Godsall ** 6 W. J. Feltham J. R. L. Kitcher J. Donaghue E. C. Jarvis A. H. Sweet M. J. Eves J. E. Adams A. W. Hawkes J. I. Godsall *** 9 H. Hampton W. T. Bailey J. F. Steele L. P. Hughes R. J. Nash D. Lawrey A. O. Alford A. B. Rashleigh P. G. Desty ** 12 T. H. Sanders W. S. H. Ingram R. J.G Eves J. Douglas L. C. P. Ringer D. Mellor A. G. Newton E. J. Payne D. G. Walbridge J. Hampton H. W. Rowles T. Haslam H. H. Lock F. W. Holmes S. Minshall S. Hounsall F. C. Moxon J. F. Gross M. A. Batey W. A. Steward R. W. C. Gardner F. J. Brecknell R. N. Chivers M. Jackobsson V. P. Cooper E. C. Knight R. S. Rowland F. Smedley J. F. Jefferis C. R. Gladdiss L. J. Tremayne P. J. Alexander C. Ross E. Hicks-Beach L. W. Clark C. E. Yonge G. H. Roberts R. B. Denniss A. H. Sweet * 30 G. Tanner L. A.Topp R. Thomas J. Wyatt A. E. Johnson J. Zeal C. H. Cawte P. J. Young I. Baker R. H. Angel W. Holgate R. S. Rowland * 36 G. R. Tanner M. H. N. Veal T. G. M. Leeson P. G. Desty F. G. Symes E. W. A. Gay A. H. Blanchford I. P. Atherfold F. S. Sheppard P. J. Cooper H. C. Symes P. G. Desty * 42 R. H. C. Martell C. A. Savage H. S. Welch G. M. Rowles W. H. Tucker C. A. Savage * 45 P. W. E. Thatcher S. R. Cook A. Harris J. I. Godsall P. Bennett J. I. Godsall * 48 C. S. Cole T. J. Hurlstone R. T. Phillips M. F. Gay R. W. Reeves G. A. Knight *Denotes a second year as Master Edited by W. Bro. Brian Crane, PPAGDC to Oxford and Ars Quatuor Coronatorum Style Guides July 2017.

A passage through time A short history of the London Lodge No 108 Written and presented by W Bro Richard Mead LGR on Thursday 21st January 2010

A passage through time A short history of the London Lodge No 108 Written and presented by W Bro Richard Mead LGR on Thursday 21st January 2010 This page and its content has not been approved by the United