The Province Of Cheshire.

The Province of Cheshire .

PART I . —EXTINCT LODGES .

FFREEMASONRY in Cheshire dates back to "time immemorial , " but unfortunately none of the pre eighteenth century lodges are now in existence , and even those started by the premier Grand Lodge of England in 1724 have long ceased to work , which is much to be regretted . The

late Bro . John Armstrong maintained that the present No . 425 ( the " Cestrian , " of 18 34 ) , is virtually a continuation of a lodge which assembled about 1650 onward , through lodges meeting from 1724 , which , on collapsing , were represented by one formed in 1739 , and another later on ,

Till- ; TWO OLD CHKSTKK LOIX'KS , A . I ) . 172 . 1 . followed by the "Cestrian" of A . D . 18 34 , then No . 615 . The ingenious arguments employed by Bro . Armstrong to establish his case are worth considering , and are to be found

in an able paper on the " Antiquity of Chester Masonry " ( 1900 ) , and a valuable volume on the " History of Freemasonry in Chester " ( ryoi ) . I am not prepared to accept the evidence submitted in favour of direct continuity from 1650 though probably one

, or more survivors of each of the old lodges took part in the establishment of later Masonic organizations as formed from time to time , from the year 1724 . The earliest facts so far traced concerning the Craft in Cheshire , are made known by Randle Holme of Chester ,

" sometimes Deputy for the Kings of Arms . " This celebrated Herald of the old city obtained the position of " Server of the Chamber in Extraordinary to Charles II . " in 166 4 , and other privileges , because his father , Herald ( the 2 nd Randle Holme , son of the 1 st Randle Holme , Deputy to the College

of Arms for Cheshire , & c ) , lost considerably during the siege of Chester in 16 43 . These occur in the " Harleian MS ., No . 2054 , " British Museum , and include not only a curious form of O . B ., but a list of subscribers to a lodge of which Randle Holme was a member , some 26 in number . It is stated

what" William Wade giue for to be a Freemason , " and also , apparently , the sums paid in quarterage by the other brethren . In a very interesting paper by Bro . W . H Rylands , F . S . A . ( Mas . Mao ., 1882 ) , are given a series of abstracts of wills , bonds , & c , from the original documents

preserved in the Court of Probate , Chester . Evidently the majority of the lodge had no connection with the operative Craft , so that the roll practically is of a speculative character . Bro . Holme was the author of an important work entitled" The Academie of Armory , or a Storehouse of

, Armory and Blazon , " & c . ( Chester , 1688 , folio ) in which he says" I cannot but honour the fellowship of the Masons because of its antiquity ; and the more , as being a member of thai Society called Freemasons . "

It is one of the scarcest and most valuable of books , and there is in the national collection the portion which the author had prepared for a second volume , which dates from 1661 and for some years onward , a peculiar representation of the arms of the Freemasons being also given .

Some seven years after the Grand Lodge of England was started in the Metropolis , lodges were constituted beyond London , Westminster , and neighbourhood . The first set thus established were located at Bath , Bristol , Norwich , Chichester , and Chester , & c , in 1724 .

In the latter city there were three , the lirst two of which occur in an engraved list of 1725 ( in the library of the Grand Lodge ) , but without any place of meeting . In a 2 nd edit .

Till * . CITY' OK ClIKSTKIt AND TI 1 K CRAFT , A . I ) . 17 : 11 . of the 1725 list , the senior of the trio is noted as held at the " Sun , " Bridge Street . It did not last long , however , and by 1729 , when the lodges appear under a consecutive enumeration for the first time , two only of the trio were left .