Centenary Celebration Of The St. Luke's Lodge, No. 225.

Worshipful Master is W . Bro . Ralph D . Taylor , and th wielder of the secretarial pen is W . Bro . G . Powell Price , P . M ., P . P . G . Std . Br . Lodge was opened at six o ' clock , when the W . M . ( W . Bro . Taylor ) presided , supported by the officers of the lodge and

a large number of members and visitors . The minutes of the last lodge having been confirmed , the Provincial Grand Master , the Earl of Stradbroke , accompanied by the Grand and Prov . Grand Officers , entered the lodge . The following interesting sketch of the century ' s history

of the lodge was given by the Secretary , W . Bro . G . Powell Price , P . M . : — I must first mention why we are so late in celebrating the centenary . Application was made , and in due course the warrant was granted ; but from some unaccountable

cause it was mislaid or lost . Therefore a fresh warrant had to be prepared , and ultimately it was signed by the G . M ., and forwarded to St . Luke ' s Lodge , No . 309 , and in the words of the confirmation of the warrant : " This warrant was first installed in the Regiment of Foot , the 10 th day of October ,

in the year of our Lord 1797 , and transferred from the Grand Lodge to the Second Regiment of Royal Lancashire Militia this present twenty day of October , 1803 , and in the year of Masonry , 5 , 803 . " Therefore the lodge was undoubtedly a military one , and according to the minutes the

first settled home was at a house known by the name or sign of the " Duke of York Inn , " in the parish of St . Helen's , in Ipswich . But it could not have remained there long , for

in March , 1806 , a proposition was made that the lodge be removed from the " Curriers' Arms" to the Bare and Crown Inn . " In 1813 , on the union of the two Grand Lodges , the No . of the lodge was altered to 393 . In March , 1817 , the lodge was at work at the "Admiral's Head Inn . " On the 8 th day of May , 1820 , a special meeting

was held by Lodge St . Luke ' s and the old Lodge Perfect Friendship ( then No . 4 80 ) , and it was unanimously carried that the two lodges be incorporated , and it was also agreed ( with two dissents ) that the warrant of St . Luke's be the warrant continued in consideration of the privileges of

the Royal Arch chapter , and that the lodge of instruction be held at the " Royal Oak Inn" in consideration of the Lodge Perfect Friendship removing from that house . It was decided about this time that only one festival ( that of St . John the Evangelist ) be held , instead of

two . At the end of the year 1832 , the No . of the lodge was again altered to 272 , and in November , 18 37 , the lodge moved to the house known by the name or sign of the " Coach and Horses Inn , " and three years later ( viz ., 9 th December , 1840 ) moved to the house known by the name or sign of the

" Cock and Pye Inn . " It remained there for 16 years ; but upon a sale taking place in 1856 it was compelled to return to the " Coach and Horses . " In August , 186 3 , the No . of the lodge was altered to 225 , which No . it is now known by .

In May , 1877 , the lodge moved to the Masonic Hall , St . Stephen ' s Passage , Brook Street ; but after holding five meetings there the building was sold and the lodge moved to the " Golden Lion Hotel , " and remained there until the opening of the new Masonic Hall , Soane Street , in 1879 , the present building . Of public functions , the lodge in 1842

took part in laying the foundation stone of the new church dedicated to St . John Baptist at Woodbridge ; also , on the invitation of the Angel Lodge , Colchester , on the 13 th September , 18 43 , to lay the foundation stone of the new Town Hall ; alsoon the invitation of Bro . BuIIen ( W . M . of

, the British Union Lodge , and D . P . G . M . Suffolk ) to attend him on Thursday , 19 th October , 18 43 , to assist in the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of a new Custom House of this port of Ipswich ; also of the corner stone laying of the Ipswich Corn Exchange , 1880 , and the

foundation stones of All Saints , Ipswich ( two occasions ) ; St . John the Baptist , Felixtowe ; St . Bartholomew ' s , Ipswich ; and the restoration of the tower of Holy Trinity , Long Melford . Mention is made of many schools or lodges of instruction meeting at various houses in St . Clement's , which at that

time seemed to be the most important part of the town . The Secretary read the Centenary Warrant which granted the permission of the Grand Master to the members of the lodge to wear a Centenary Jewel .

The Prov . Grand Master , in presenting the Centenary Warrant to the W . M ., said the very interesting sketch of the history of the lodge to which they had just , listened reminded them that the lodge had been in existence for more than 100 years . Therefore , the honour might have been conferred on the lodge previously . Perhaps the members thought it

hard that it was not ; but , selfishly , he was rather glad , because if it had been presented in the year that it should have been , he would not have had the honour of presenting it . He could assure them that in presenting this Warrant , he could offer , not merely the hearty congratulations of

himself , but of every Mason in the province . They all felt it a great honour that this Warrant should be presented . He thought he was right in saying that this was only the second lodge in the province that had had this distinction . In comparison to the number of centuries since the Craft was

formed , the centenary of this lodge was a very short time ; therefore they were very forcibly reminded that night of the great traditions of which they were the guardians . They must—as he was sure they always did—be on their guard to preserve its traditions , so that they could send them down to future generations , and that Masons in times to come might say that the Masons of Suffolk did their duty by the Craft .

A Centenary Jewel was then presented to the Prov . Grand Master by the oldest Past Master , Bro . J . Tilbob , P . P . G . S . B ., and the lodge was closed . A banquet afterwards took place at which a large number of members and visitors were present .

Memorial Stone Laying.

Memorial Stone Laying .

A CEREMONIAL of much interest took place on the 21 st September at Holy Trinity Church , Southport , in connection with the re-building , in the presence of a large gathering of Freemasons , members of the congregation , and the general public . It was the laying of a

foundation memorial stone by the Right Hon . the Earl of Lathoin , Prov . Grand Master of West Lancashire . This being the first function of the kind that has taken place under the present Earl of Lathom , it was fitting that the Earl should have been asked to perform the ceremony on

account of the connection of the late Earl of Lathom with Holy Trinity , and the fact that he laid , in 1879 , the foundation stone of St . Luke ' s , the daughter church , with Masonic ceremonies , in addition to which a memorial

service was held by request of the late Earl of Lathom in the old church on November 23 rd , 18 9 8 . Nearly every ceremony in which Masonry plays a part has taken place in Holy Trinity , and the present function was in every respect equal to its predecessors and rellected the greatest credit on

all who took part . The work of erecting the nave is steadily advancing , and it was thought the above date would be a suitable one on which to carry out the ceremony . The weather was gloriously fine , and the interior of the edifice , including the gallery , was crowded by interested spectators .

A procession was formed , and the arrival of the Prov . Grand Master at the site was announced by a flourish of trumpets , and the procession then entered the enclosure . The Rev . C . S . Hope said that some twenty-six years