The Province Of Warwickshire.

The Province of Warwickshire .

ONE of the earliest lodges chartered in the provinces was formed at the "Wool Pack , " Warwick , in 1728 , as No . 52 , but was erased in 1754 as No . 4 6 . Singular to state there was not another established there until 1802 , being a continuation of one formed at Norwich in 1792 . In 179 6 the lodge was held in the Warwickshire Regiment of

Militia , and had a varied experience for several years , journeying to Ireland and several English counties subsequently , until it became a stationary lodge in 1802 . It is now the " Shakespeare , " No . 28 4 , and was so named in 179 6 . The " Unity " was started in Warwick in 18 49 , and has been 567 from 1863 .

. Vt ornnsUr , . IX ^ Vt ^__ _ - /(/^ L ^ t ^ BRO . GEORGE BEECH , P . G . D ., DEPUTY PROV . G . M . The senior lodge on the present roll , and , in fact , the

oldest on the list , when the Warwick Lodge was erased in 1754 , is St . Paul ' s , Birmingham , chartered in 1733 as No . 125 , and was held at the " Swan , " Great Brook Street , for about thirty years . The fee for its constitution was paid 18 th March , 1734 but the valuable document authorizing its

, establishment seems to have been lost , as a warrant of confirmation was granted in 1767 ( now in Grand Lodge ) , and another in 1824 . It has had nine numbers , its name was selected in 1784 , and a special centenary jewel warrant was granted in 1864 .

In 1733 the " warrants" were not of the kind familiar to the " moderns " from about twenty years later , but consisted of a document empowering a certain brother , or brethren , to convene the petitioners and constitute them into a regular lodge . The original charter of No . 39 of 1732 , is still

, preserved , and so of others of that decade , so we know the sort of authority granted to the present No . 43 . The Earl of Strathmore was then the M . W . G . M ., having as his Deputy Thomas Batson , Esq ., and as Wardens Bros . James Smythe and John Ward .

which was at Handsworth ( Staff . ) in 1793 , journeyed to Birmingham in 1795 as No . 514 , but fell through in 1832 , and the " St . George's , " of 1842 , was struck off five years later as No . 708 . The " Ancients " scarcely got a footing in Warwickshire ,

No . 6 4 of 1757-1764 , No . 71 of 175 8 , and No . 124 of 1764 , all of Birmingham , assembling but a few years , and practically failures from first to last . Another formed under same auspices was at Kenilworth , and numbered 206 in 1778 , which lapsed within two or three of its start as the other

" Atholls "; the original warrant for which of 15 th June , 1778 , was recently offered for sale by a second-hand bookseller . There were also two " Atholl" Lodges chartered at Coventry , No . 42 of 19 th November , 1755 , which ceased to

work about two years later ; and No . 43 , of the 3 rd December , 1755 , which was cancelled in 1793 ; the last entry in Grand Lodge not being later than 1781 . It is curious how most of these lodges keep occurring in subsequent lists of the " Ancient" Grand Lodge though long defunct , thus proving

the unreliability of the registers in the official " Ahiman Rezons , " especially those of 1807 and 1813 . The only " Ancient " Lodge in the present register is the " Atholl , " No . 74 , which , however , did not get to Birmingham until 1811 from Stockport , Cheshire , where it was formed in 1760 as 83 , and its name was taken on its removal being consummated .

There are twenty lodges which meet in Birmingham out of thirty-five in the province , returning in all 106 3 members , the total strength of the county being just 1800 subscribers , or an average of over fifty per lodge .

BRO . F . G . SWINDEN , P . D . G . SWD . BR ., PROV . G . SEC . Coventry is the next town for several lodges , there being four , commencing with the Trinity , No . 254 , of 1785 , the others being of much later date . With the exception of the

two at Warwick , the other lodges are distributed in single file in different parts of the province . The fifth of the senior lodges is the "Apollo , " held at Alcester , numbered 301 , since 186 3 , and has had a centenary jewel warrant from 18 94 . The other centenary lodges similarly distinguished are No . 254 , Coventry , and No . 28 4 , Warwick , the trio being of the ordinary pattern . The one for No . 43 , Birmingham , is of

Another lodge was started in Birmingham in 173 6 , paying for its constitution in the following year , being numbered 149 . It removed to Wolverhampton ( Staff . ) in 1766 , and was erased in 1772 . The " St . Alban ' s" of A . D . 1762 , No . 273 , kept on the roll to 1829 , when it was removed as No . 18 4 . Still another , which was struck off the list in 18 37 ,

as the " Shakespeare , " No . 353 , did not get to Birmingham until 1811 from Henley-in-Warden , where it first assembled in 1791 , and was called the "St . John's . " The " Union"