Masonry In Northumberland.

May , 1736 , and was the first , as the present Viscount Ridley is the 5 th , Bart . The title descended to his nephew , Mathew White Ridley , Member of Parliament for Newcastle , who died in 1813 , and whose son , the 3 rd Bart ., was made Provincial Grand Master in 1824 . Thus the present P . G . M ., Viscount Ridley , is the ycd of his family who has been Right W . P . GM .

of this Province ; and we have the evidence given above that another ancestor is " Master , " probably the "Grand Master , " chosen by the local fraternity before Provincial Grand Masters were appointed by any London authority . The first Provincial Grand Master died in 1 778 , John

Erriiigton having been appointed as Prov . Grand Master in 1771 . The third was Sir John Swinburne , who was appointed in 1807 ; the fourth . Sir Mathew White Ridley , in 1824 , who had previously been Deputy Prov . Grand Master , and who was succeeded by John George Lambton , first Earl of Durham , in 18 37 . He died in 18 40 , and for

some years the province was under the Grand Registrar . In 18 45 , General Lord Frederick Fitzclarenee was appointed , but he was never installed . He was followed in 18 4 8 , by the Rev . Edward Challoner Ogle , who during his tenure of the office , was only sent from one of the regular meetings

of Provincial Grand Lodge , and he reigned till 1870 , when Earl Percy , the present Duke of Northumberland , was appointed , who resigned in 1886 , and was succeeded by the present R . W . Prov . Grand Master , the Right Hon . Viscount Ridley , of Blagdon , whom may the G . A . O . T . U . long preserve to rule over us .

The Deputy Prov . Grand Masters have been Sir Mathew White Ridley , Bart ., M . P ., in 1814 ; Sir Charles Loraine , Bart ., 1824 ; William Loraine , 18 35 ; Richard Medcalf , 18 57 ; Mark Lambert Jobling , i 860 ; Lonsdale M . Cockroft , 1870 ; and Richard Henry Holmes , P . G . D . of England , 1881 . Only one of these brethren has held the cilice for less than ten

years , viz ., Mark L . Jobling , and in his case , death was the withdrawing cause . The present W . D . P . G . M . is an alderman of Newcastle , and a J . P ., and one of the city ' s most respected citizens . The system of provincial visitations to the different lodges in the province , initiated by D . P . G . M . Wm . Loraine , M . P ., and strongly urged by Lord Percy , has been thoroughly carried out by our present deputy with the happiest results .

WEST END OF ST . DAVID'S LODGE ROOM , HF . lt WICK-ON-TU'EED .

ANCIENT MASTER'S CHAIR , ST . DAVID'S LODGE , 13 ERWICK-ON-TWEED No more cordial feelings can possibly exist in any province than those at present existing in this province between all the various lodges and Provincial Grand Lodge ; and the

working in the lodge has gradually improved till now it is as nearly perfect and uniform as possible . It is interesting to note the variation which has taken place in the offices of Provincial Grand Lodge . In the first United Provincial Grand Lodge an Usher figures . I suppose he takes the place of the present I . G ., although sometimes

his name comes next to that of the J . D ., and afterwards , till 18 3 8 , after that of the Provincial G . D . of C , when it ceases to appear . How different is now the status of Provincial Grand Stewards . Sometimes , even , the W . M . of a lodge does not think it worth while to nominate one . In 1814 the following were appointed , and their names recur for some years : —Sir

Charles Loraine , Escj . ; Ed . Swinburne , Esq . ; Chas . Wm . Bigge , Esq . ; Ralph Wm . Grey , Esq . ; Dixon Brown , Esq . ; and Isaac Cookson , Jun ., Esq . —names of the highest respect in the county . Would it not be well , in order to raise the estimation in which this office is held—especially now that Stewards hold Past rank—if they were required to carry out

a resolution passed in Provincial Grand Lodge to save the Provincial Grand Lodge from any expense in holding its annual meetings ? In 1822 Stewards flanked His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex , M . W . G . Master of England , in a procession to lay the foundation-stone of the Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle , and in the lodge on

this same occasion , they preceded him in procession up the lodge It always seems a pity that an office should lose its dignity , and the consideration of its reinstatement in the estimation of the Craft is respectfull y urged upon R . W . Provincial Grand Masters and , if necessary , upon the Grand Lodge itself .

In connection with a visitation paid by Provincial Grand Lodge to Newcastle-on-Tyne Lodge , No . 24 , in the year 18 49 , the following appears in the Book of Transactions : — "The R . W . G . ( sic ) Master , accompanied by the following Provincial Grand Officers , this evening paid an official visit to the Master , Wardens , and brethren of the Newcastle-