Concerning The Ardath Jobacco.

The following were Provincial or District Grand Masters of South Australia under England : — Benjamin Archer Kent 1854 Arthur Hardy ... ... ... ... i 860

y . ' srr [ JJjla , THK IIKIHT HON . THK KAIII , OF KIXTOKK , ( i . C . M . U ., SKCOXI ) UKA . VI ) MASTlOa OF SOUTH AUSTIIAI . IA . The Scottish Constitution had likewise a Province or

District in the Colon } - , the following being the holders of office : — J . Hart 1871 C . H . T . Connor ... ... ... ... 1877 H . C . E . Mnecke 1880 And the Irish Constitution had , and still lias , its share in

the Masonic history of South Australia , seeing that it owns a lodge working in Adelaide , namely , the Duke of Leinster , X ° - 3 ^ 3 , opened in Adelaide in 18 55 , it being the lirst Irish lodge warranted in the colony . The reason why the Duke of Leinster Lodge did not throw in its lot with the Grand Lodge of South Australia is that since the year 1866 it has

owned the Alfred Masonic Hall , the revenues accruing from which arc devoted to an Orphan and a general Benevolent Fund . The Provincial Grand Masters of South Australia under the Irish Constitution were : —

John Tuthill Bagot ... ... ... i 860 William J . Crawford ... ... ... 1871 South Australia , as is pretty generally known , was the pioneer of regular Masonic self-government in the " Sunny South , " as distinguished from the unrecognised Grand Lodges in Xew South Wales and Victoria , which respectively

preceded it in 1 877 and 18 S 3 . Only one year after the latter ill-timed action South Australia founded its Grand Lodge on lines and precedents that insured its instant and cordial acknowledgment by England , Ireland , and Scotland , the parents of the constituent whole of which it was composed . At the outset the leaders of the movement were fortunate

in securing as their prospective Grand Master " a gentleman of the best fashion" and an "eminent scholar , " as the old Constitutions of England so aptly enjoin , in Chief Justice Way , an old colonist and a Demosthenes in eloquence , as very many will testify when they call to mind his officiating at the opening of others of the Australian Grand Lodges .

Our distinguished brother was made a baronet in 18 99 , and he is an Australian representative on the judicial committee of the Privy Council . Further , he was gazetted Chief Justice of the colony in 1876 , Lieut .-Governor in 18 77 , and

he has been Chancellor of the Adelaide University since 1883 , besides being a D . C . L . of Oxford , and LL . D . of Cambridge . It was in 188 4 that the Grand Lodge of South Australia was inaugurated , or fifty years after the warrant for the first lodge was granted , the Jubilee of Masonry in the colony thus being most happily conceived . The new Grand

Lodge opened its career with twenty English lodges , i ' we Irish , and six Scottish , or a total of thirty-one lodges . Seventeen new lodges have since been warranted and four have been erased , making a total of forty-four lodges in 1904 . Below are the Grand Masters of South Australia : —

His Honour Chief Justice Way 188 4 The Right Hon . the Earl of Kintore , G . C . M . G 188 9 The Right Hon . Sir Samuel Way , Bart . 18 95 It may here be explained that Lord Kintore ( an eminent Scotch Mason ) as Governor of South Australia was elected

Grand Master , Chief Justice Way acting as Pro Grand Master , only to again assume office on the return of Lord Kintore to the old country . In the interim the present Grand Master was honoured by his sovereign with the dignities of baronet of the United Kingdom and member of the Privy Council . The Grand Lodge of South Australia ever since its foundation

has gone on progressing slowly but surely , and the one and only rift in the lute occurred the year after its opening , when bv some oversight or forgetfulness recognition was granted to the then irregular Grand Lodge of Xew South Wales , when the Grand Lodge of Scotland , on St . Andrew ' s Day , passed the following resolution : —

THK HON . Sill JAMKS PKNN BOUCAUT , K . C . M . C "The Grand Lodge met to-day , . and it was unanimously resolved , that , in respect of the Grand Lodge of South Australia recognising the so-called Grand

Lodge of Xew South Wales , the recognition of the the Grand Lodge of South Australia be withdrawn . " However , this little unpleasantness was very soon removed , and relations between the two Grand Lodges were resumed .