Royal Arch Masonry in Belfast.

Transcription

1 Royal Arch Masonry in Belfast.

2 Royal Arch working has been an integral part of Masonry from its earliest beginnings, evolving from the original Master s Part ritual used at the beginning of the 18 th century. On a recent visit to the collections of the Provincial Grand Lodge museum, in Rosemary Street, Belfast, one can see many fine examples of old manuscript certificates, Lodge charts, and indeed old Lodge banners replete with Royal Arch and High Knight Templar working symbolism. Our late Rt Ex Companion Philip Crossle has researched at great length the history and development of Irish ritual and his findings were published in 1923 by The Irish Lodge of Research. Suffice to say, this work clearing illustrates the evolution of Royal Arch Masonry from early Craft Workings. However, before we begin, I would like to take a couple of moments and tell you all a little about the building where these records are housed. This is the Rosemary Street Masonic Hall, built to be the headquarters of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Antrim. This particular building was designed by Belfast architects Messrs Young & MacKenzie and built by Messrs Stewart & Partners, building and civil engineering contractors. The Foundation Stone was laid on the evening of the 7 th October 1954, by the Most Worshipful the Grand Master of Ireland, Most Wor Bro Raymond F. Brooke ably assisted by Right Wor Bro Rupert Stanley LL.D, Provincial Grand Master of the Masonic Province of Antrim. The building was designed in the Neo-Classical style and constructed in a new modern constructional process known as post tensioned insitu reinforced concrete. It took some fifteen months to complete and was officially opened on Saturday the 1 st December Beside us, in the Provincial Museum is a small collection of black and white photographs of the Works underway and the Trowel and other implements used in the Foundation Laying and Opening ceremonies.

3 The building itself was four storey high, comprising, a large under-croft with Kitchens, Museum, Offices and sundry Storerooms. On the ground floor were located the formal Dining rooms, the Administrative Offices for

4 the Province, the old club-rooms and the Library. The first floor had a series of Lodge-rooms where the individual Lodges meet and the Provincial Grand Lodge-room is also located here. The Second floor had more Lodge-rooms for the accommodation of the Brethren. This Hall is the administrative headquarters of Antrim, and in its time was home to over sixty separate Lodges, Chapters and Perceptories. The Provincial Grand Lodge-room on the first floor is a large assembly room with provision for seating some three hundred Brethren. The P.G.M and his team sit on the raised dais to the east of the room, with the various other Lodge Officers in their usual positions. This room is considerably enhanced due to the presence of an elaborate and vibrant mural by the local artist Mr John Luke. This work, based on the biblical scene of the Building of King Solomon s Temple is most apt for a Masonic Hall. The mural was originally commissioned in 1955, by Messrs Young and Mackenzie Architects, and was their gift to the new Provincial headquarters then under construction. It is one of only three such murals painted by John Luke in Belfast, the others being located in Belfast City Hall and the old Belfast College of Technology. Other smaller examples of Luke s vibrant use of colour can be examined in the collections of the Ulster Museum,

5 located adjacent to Queen s University, just off the Malone Road. The other Lodge-rooms were quite plain and functional in appearance and scattered throughout the building are portraits of many of the Masonic Brethren associated with both the Province of Antrim and the Rosemary Street Hall. As you came through our Main Porch, you will have seen the commemorative plaque to Henry Joy McCracken, the Belfast Leader of the United Irishmen, who originally lived in this area. Henry Joy came from Presbyterian stock and as a result of his involvement in the 1798 rebellion, he was brutally put to death, as a warning to others. There were many Freemason s involved in the 98, and we are pleased to be able to mark these links by providing a home for this fine plaque. As most of you know there are many other Masonic sites in the city including the Masonic Pillar and commemorative Perceptory window located within St Anne s Cathedral and the Masonic lamp standard which can be seen directly outside of the Ulster Hall. In St George s Parish Church there is a magnificent memorial to the memory of Sir Robert Baird a well known Belfast business man and a past Treasurer of The Grand Lodge of Ireland, and just across the way in Cornmarket, is the magnificent Arthur Square Hall, which is currently under renovation to bring its facilities right into the twenty first century. Other Halls found within

6 the city boundaries include Crumlin Road, The Glen, The New Mount, Newtownards Road, Shaws Bridge and Rosetta.

7 Now, we shall spend a few moments looking into the early history of Freemasonry in Belfast, looking at a few of Belfast Lodges from their earliest beginnings in the middle of the Seventeenth Century to the present time. As most of you are already aware, Freemasonry in Belfast has a long and proud history behind it. The first formal published listing of Belfast Lodges is to be found in the 1782 edition of Ahiman Rezon edited by Lawrence Dermott, the Secretary of The Grand Lodge of the Antients in London, and this particular issue ( the 5 th Edition ) was printed and published by James Magee at The Bible and Crown, in Bridge Street, Belfast. In those days they didn t stint in the titles of their books and in this case the full title reads :- AHIMAN REZON or A HELP TO A BROTHER shewing the Excellency of Secrecy, and the first cause of the Institution of FREEMASONRY; the Principles of the Craft, and the benefits arising from a strict observance therof ; the sort of Men that ought to be Initiated into the Mystery, and the kind of Masons that are fit to govern Lodges,

8 with their proper behaviour in and out of the Lodge. The ancient Manner of Constituting new LODGES and all the CHARGES etc, likewise, the prayers used in Jewish and Christian Lodges etc etc. This remarkable work an able fore runner to our Laws & Constitutions of modern times was the first such work widely available in the kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland. There were earlier works such as Anderson s Constitutions of 1723 and Pennel s 1730 Irish Constitutions, But these were not as widely known or disseminated as Lawrence Dermott s Ahiman Rezon. And it is here that we get our first published record of the Lodges then working within the towne of Belfast at that time. The Regular Lodges at present in Belfast The Members of the Orange Lodge ( No 257 ) Assemble once a fortnight at The Donegall Arms; the Lodge consists of about 120 members. Past Master Amyas Griffith Esq. Master John Brown Esq; Major of the Belfast Battalion. II The Members of the New Blue Lodge ( No 272 ) Assemble once a month at The Sailor in Mill Street, about 30 Members. III The Members of No 491 Assemble once a month in Hercules Lane, upwards of 40 Members. IV The Member s of Rodney s Lodge ( No 587 ) Assemble once a month, in Pottinger s Entry; this Lodge consists of upwards of 30 Members. V Also a military Lodge ( No 354 ) held at The Sailor in Mill Street. We have a full list of Members for The Orange Lodge No 257 at that date, and it includes most of the prominent people of Belfast, Members such as Samuel Bristow, James Hyndman, William Magee, Thomas Banks, Samuel

9 Ferguson, George MacCartney, John McKibbon, Thomas Sinclair and James Fowler. There still survives the words of a song written specially by a Brother for the Orange Lodge No 257 Belfast, and originally published in Walker s Dublin magazine in February I won t inflict it all on you, but it goes something like this :- In the social amusements of life let us live, Prove every delight, Love and friendship can give. Where easy good nature gives converse a zest, And sense in the bright robe of humour is dressed. Where Wisdom, Strength and sweet Beauty combine, Our souls to improve and our tempers refine. Where arts of past ages, by Compass and Rule, Are taught in our Lodges, as of Science the school. At festive boards where fair Phoebe may share The jest, which her pureness unsullied, might hear, Unblushing enjoy, or reproving approve, Whilst Mason s trust freely to Friendship and Love. Interestingly our friend Dermott actually omits the earliest recorded Belfast Lodge from his list. There is no mention of True Blue Lodge No 182, which was originally Warranted on the 5 th October This may be due to the fact that the Lodge had stopped meeting for a few years and was not revived until March 1782 when the Lodge was known as the Belfast Orange Lodge. I should at this point remind you all, that the colours Blue & Orange had no party or political significance at that time, and were merely a way of distinguishing the Lodges, one from another. Lodge 257 The Orange Lodge was originally Warranted on the 6 th June 1755, and it was revived, mainly by the efforts of Amyas Griffiths on the 4 th January It was also at that time known as The Gentleman s Lodge. Historically we find that this second title was well deserved as Lodge 257 was clearly very active in the social occasions of the day. One good example of this, in 1783, was their selfless donation of towards the erection of a new Linen Hall in the centre of Belfast. Proof of this generosity can still be found inscribed on a copper plate 8 long x 5 inches broad, which was recovered during the removal of the old White Linen Hall, for the erection of our current Belfast City Hall. This was found lying across the Foundation

10 Stone, and had the following inscription :- The first stone of the Belfast White Linen Hall was laid the 28 th of April, A.D in the year of Masonry 5783 by John Brown Esq, Worshipful Master of The Orange Lodge of Belfast No 257, High Sheriff of The County of Antrim and Major of the Belfast Battalion of Volunteers, assisted by the Wardens & Brethren of said Lodge and accompanied by the Members of the other Lodges, the Sovereign, Burgesses and Principal inhabitants of the town. In aid of which Building, the Orange Lodge presented the Managers with the sum of This copper plate is now safely stored and duly deposited in the archives of the Ulster Museum, and hopefully will be put on display in the not too distant future. The new White Linen Hall was conceived with a desire to promote the welfare of the community at large, and the Masons, by supporting the scheme with such generosity, proved once again, that their charity was not confined to their own Order, but as Lawrence Dermott said in the dedication to his fifth edition of AHIMAN REZON in 1782 :- You pay no particular attention to Country, Religion, or to Station, but are happy in diffusing Bliss indiscriminately to all the Honest, and Worthy of every Denomination, of every Country, of every Persuasion and of every Rank In proof of that statement, one can also point to their support of the old Poor House, which was strictly undenominational. The earliest public action of Lodge 257, after its revival in 1781, was to assemble at the Donegall Arms on St John s Day, 1781 and march in procession to St Anne s Church, where their Chaplin, the Rev Matthew Garnet, Vicar of Carnmoney and Constable of Belfast Castle, preached. A handsome collection was taken up for the Poorhouse of the towne. On the following St John s Day, the preacher was the Dissenting Minister, the Rev James Bryson. The attendance at Divine Service on St John s Day became an annual event and, on each occasion, a collection was taken on behalf of the old Poor House. St Anne s Parish Church was not the only Church that the Orange Lodge attended, as will be seen from the following circular :- Orange Lodge-room, Belfast. Wednesday July 1785.

11 At the particular request of the commanders of the Belfast Volunteer Corps, The Brethren of the Orange Lodge of Belfast No 257 are requested to meet at the Lodge-room precisely at ten thirty o clock in full uniform, in order to clothe, and march in procession to the Roman Catholic Mass-house, where the agreeable Priest of Belfast has undertaken to preach before them. Signed by Order, James Hyndman, Secretary. The Mass-house referred to was the old Catholic Church of St Mary s in Chapel Lane, which stood behind the row of houses, where the present St Mary s now stands. We have already learned that John Brown, the Master of Lodge 257 was Major of The Belfast Battalion of Volunteers. Other prominent Lodge members serving with the Belfast Battalion included Robert Bradshaw, the Junior Warden who was a Lieutenant and the Rev James Bryson, who was Chaplain to the Belfast First Volunteer Company. It was this same John Brown, who in 1797, when the Antrim coast was threatened with French invasion, was responsible for raising four companies of Yeoman Infantry. In June of that same year, the Members of 257, in open Lodge, gave voice to their view :- That we will, with our lives and fortunes, support and maintain his present majesty, King George III, our happy Constitution and the succession to the Throne in his Majesty s illustrious House. That we will aid and assist, to the utmost in our power, all civil magistrates in the execution of their duty. And that we will use our utmost endeavour to suppress all riot and disorder and support and maintain our ancient and honourable Society in its truest intent and meaning. Signed by Order :- James Montgomery, Master : John Brown, Past Master : John Gault Smith, Secretary. To our eyes today such a political statement is unthinkable, but in the period of 1798, political comment from Masonic Lodges was widespread, and could be read in most of the newspapers of the day. Indeed matters reached such a state in 1798 that Grand Lodge itself was finally forced to go to the press and publish the following reminder :-

12 that no discussion on political or religious topics are permitted in open Lodge and the Grand Lodge must insist that all Irish lodges refrain from such discussions, or the publication of same from this day forth, Signed by Order Nicholas Loftus Grand Secretary 3 rd January Before leaving our Brethren in the Orange Lodge, I would just mention a few of the Lodge Brethren who did walk close to the edge in Members such as Henry Hazlett, a pronounced radical and one of the shareholders in The Northern Star, a newspaper virtually synonymous with the movement of the United Irishmen in Belfast. He was eventually arrested by the Dublin Authorities, and imprisoned in Kilmainham Jail on a charge of Treason. Another Member John Hughes, a bookseller from 20 Bridge Street, Belfast was arrested as A United Man in October 1797 and was charged with High Treason. To save his neck, he eventually, and reluctantly turned informer and eventually emigrated to Charlestown in South Carolina. On the side of the Crown Lodge 257 was represented by Brethren such as The Rev George McCartney, an active magistrate, and the man who originally issued the Warrant for the arrest of William Orr, who after a Memorable trial, (where the jury were believed to be nobbled by the Crown) Orr was later hanged at Carrickfergus Castle. McCartney was in Antrim to attend a meeting of Magistrates as the Rising commenced and was one of the men who tried to go to the aid of Lord O Neill, as he was fatally piked in the early part of The Battle of Antrim. Lord John O Neill himself, a well regarded and benevolent landlord and magistrate, was himself a member of The Orange Lodge No 257. Then finally we come to the most infamous Member of all James McGuckian, a Belfast solicitor with his home and offices on the corner of Fountain Street and Donegall Square North. He joined the United Men in 1796 and acted as their solicitor. He was arrested in 1798 and turned Informer and consequentially gave over to the Authorities many low ranking United Men. He remained in Belfast and eventually died in It is interesting to note, that the meeting place of the Orange Lodge the Donegall Arms was seized by the Military and used as a prison during the latter half of 1798.

13 In previous discussions we have considered in depth the early history of the Royal Arch, with its first public appearance in Youghal in the 1740 s We have looked at the earliest recorded meetings in Vernon Lodge, Coleraine and we have tracked the formation of Supreme Grand Chapter in 1829, under the control of Augustus Frederick 3rd Duke of Leinster, after the earlier failed attempt to form a Supreme Grand Chapter in Today, I plan to look very briefly at the growth of Royal Arch Masonry in the Antrim side of the city. There are four main centres in Belfast located within the District Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Antrim. The oldest, of these Arthur Square is home to some thirty three chapters as follows :- Chapter 10 constituted in 1849, Chapter , Chapter , Hertford Chapter No 54, Alfred s Chapter No , Sir Charles Lanyon Chapter No 64, Chapter , Chapter , St John s Chapter No , Union Chapter , St George s Chapter No , Freedom Chapter , Chapter , Tyrian Chapter No 182

14 1920, Thomas S. Dixon Chapter , Falls Chapter No , Chapter , Duke of Leinster Chapter No , True Blue Chapter No , Tower of Lebanon Chapter , John Arnott Taylor Chapter No , Redfern Kelly Chapter No , Corinthian Chapter , Sir Charles Cameron Chapter No , Hills Gillhall Chapter , Minerva Chapter , Rev S. Cochrane Chapter No , Cliftonville Chapter No , Crusaders Chapter No , Ardath Chapter No , Friendly Companions , Chapter and True Friendship Chapter No 663 constituted in The Crumlin Road hall is home to nine Royal Arch Chapters as follows :- Thomas Valentine Chapter No 21 constituted in 1892, Golden Pillar No , George Andrews Chapter No , Shaftesbury Chapter No , J.Pim Thompson Chapter No , Doric Chapter , J.Creed Meredith Chapter No , Killeen Temperence Chapter and Britannia Chapter No 726 constituted in Then we have Ligoniel Chapter No 513 constituted in 1875 and sits up in The Glen Hall, Ligoniel. Finally we return to Rosemary Street where some fourteen Chapters continue to operate. Amongst this number are :- Chapter 7 constituted 1864, Ultonia Chapter No , Prince of Wales Own Chapter No , Richard Irvine Chapter , York Chapter No , Sir Crawford McCullough Chapter No , Volunteer Chapter No , St Andrews Chapter No , Invictus Chapter No , Finiston Chapter No , Glandore Chapter No , Amon Chapter No , Rechab No and Sharon Chapter No 770 constituted as recently as Now Companions, there are many interesting stories to be told on the individual histories of these Chapters, and I shall be trying to add some further detail before this paper is eventually published. However in the meantime I will just comment briefly on one or two of the foregoing. Amongst this number is Ultonia Chapter No 29, which is worthy of note as being the venue used on the 18 th January 1902 by M.E. Provincial Grand Superintendent Redfern Kelly to convene, for the first time in Northern Ireland, a council of Royal Masters. At this meeting M.E. Companion Kelly

15 had brought up a Council of nine qualified Dublin Royal Masters and conferred this degree on all forty one actual or past kings present on the day. Chapter 51, always worthy of note had its warrant issued on the 7 th June 1851, but does not appear to have held any meetings until Surviving records show that it worked the degrees of Virtual Past Master, Excellent, Super-Excellent and Royal Arch ( all on the one evening ). The warrant of 51 was suspended by order of Grand Chapter in 1861, and returned to 51 on the 17 th May However since this revival Chapter 51 has grown from strength to strength. At one period in the 1870 s, Chapters 88 & 51 worked closely together, but about 1878 went their own separate ways. Tower of Lebanon Chapter No 285 is, I feel, worthy of note for one reason in that my namesake and relation Charles Bashford was foundation registrar in 1917, Falls Chapter No 226 was constituted in 1903 in Arthur Square. However some Brother of the Lodge commissioned a most beautiful watered silk apron in the 1870 s shortly after the Lodge itself was constituted. There is so much more Masonic history attached to the City of Belfast, and I hope that this short presentation will encourage some other Companion to further research in this field.

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