Extracts, With Notes, From The Minutes Of The Lodge Of Friendship, No. 277, Oldham.

EXTRACTS , WITH NOTES , FROM THE MINUTES OF THE LODGE OF FRIENDSHIP , NO . 277 , OLDHAM .

BY THE REV . JOSEPH HARRISON , M . A ., 18 ° , S . W . No . 277 ; PROV . G . C . ( MARK ) LANGS ., PRELATE OF THE PALATINE CHAPTER ROSE CROIX . THE Warrant of the Lodge is dated August 22 nd , 1789 , and was granted on the petition of Bros . Jonathan Raynor , Joseph Dunkerley , and Isaac Clegg , by the P . G . M . of Lancashire , John Allen , acting for H . R . H . the Duke

of Cumberland , G . M ., ancl countersigned by William Hall , Dep . P . G . M . The No . was 554 in 1791 ancl 463 in 1793 , as appears from the Cash Book . There is no mention of the number in the minutes . It does not appear that the ceremony of Consecration was performed . The minutes simply state that " The Lodge of Friendship opened on Wednesday , the 2 nd clay of September , 1789 , at five o ' clock in the afternoon , in due Form at the ' Ring of Bells , ' Oldham , by the Lodge of Sincerity , Bull's Head , Manchester . "

Including the W . M ., twelve Brethren were present ; one member was " absent on business . " Bro . Jonathan Raynor , the first W . M ., w as made a Mason in Lodge 354 , attached to the 49 th Regiment ; the S . W . in No . 213 of the Grand Lodge of Ireland ; the J . W . and three other Brethren in the Union Lodge 534 , Ashton-u-Line ; two brethren from Lodge of Relief , No . 40 , Bury ; one brother from No . 92 , ancl another from No . 58 , Grand Lodge of Scotland ; ancl one from the "Fleece , " No . 393 , Manchester . The three

brethren last named are styled " P . M . " The Social position of the brethren forming the Lodge may be gathered from the business of each ; the W . M . was a " weaver ; " four w ere " cotton manufacturers , " a "hat manufacturer , " an "inn-keeper , " a "tailor , " a " shoe-maker . " Three candidates were " admitted Entered Apprentices " ; one of these was the Rev . Miles Wri gley , A . M . " Lodges of Emergency were held on the following clay , and the 6 th and 19 th of the same month , at the last of which " Br . the Rev . Miles Wri gley , A . M ., was passed a fellow craft , and rais'd to the sublime Degree of a Master Mason . "

There is no mention of the presence of visitors until the ei ght meeting , held on October 28 th of the same year , when the names of twelve brethren from , the Union Lodge , No . 534 , St . John ' s Tavern , Manchester , are given . The Union Lodge , No . 534 , is said above to have been held at Ashton-u-Lyne . On the 8 th of December following it was resolved to hold the Lodge at the Angel Inn : — " Pursuant therefore to this agreement the Box was this evening removed in clue form and good harmony . "

January 1 st , 1790 , Festival of St . John . The second W . M . was installed , ancl held office for six months . This continued the term of the office until 1815 , when the W . M . was elected to hold office for twelve months ; but this arrangement was again put aside in 1820 , when the W . M . was elected for half a year ; in the following December the W . M . was elected for a year , and this rule has subsequently been observed . It was usual to ballot for all the officers of the Lodge until January 1822 , when the W . M . ancl Treasurer , only , were voted for .

July 21 st , 1790 . A Br . gives notice that he " Wishes to have a Certificate in 3 months . " The first notice of subscriptions appears in the Treasurer ' s Book at this date . Each member paid 9 d . every Lodge night , 6 d . for expenses and 3 d . for charity . The fee when a candidate was proposed , or , as the minutes give it , " reported , " was 10 s . 6 d ., and another 10 s . 6 d . o ; i initiation ,