History Of The Airedale Lodge, No. 387,

In 1803 the Lodge of Three Grand Principles , No . 283 , King ' s Head , Islington , was removed to Dewsbury , as was also the Lodge Amphibious , No . 407 , from Stonehouse , Devon , to High Town , in this province . The Allman ' s Lodge , 575 , Almondbury , and Mariner ' s Lodge , 576 , Selby , were also established . After the St . John ' s meeting above referred to , and without any record of

installation at any time , another brother ( initiated in the lodge by Bro . Hawley , September 3 rd , 1792 ) , occupied the W . M . ' s chair , and on the St . John ' s meeting , March 4 th , 1805 , occurs the following minute , which to my mind conclusively establishes the sad state into which the lodge had fallen , as well as the heavy loss it had sustained by Bro . Hawley ' s resignation . It is the last extract I intend to give from the records of the Duke of York ' s Lodge whilst at Doncaster :

When the Master deputed Bro . Sleeford as Past Master , and he then invested Bro . Geo . Pollard the late Master , with the jewel of his office , as Master for the ensuing twelve months ; the Master then invested Bro . Wm . Sleeford his senior warden . It is scarcely necessary to point out that as Bro . Pollard considered it imperative that he should be "invested" by one Past Master , he had a most convenient way of surmounting an otherwise great difficultbcreating or

y , y " deputing " one for the occasion . The concluding ceremony wherein this questionable Past Master descends to the position of a Senior Warden is a tooevident specimen of the loose lodge-working at this time . The lodge continued a comparatively lifeless existence up to April 7 th , 1806 , the concluding portion of the minutes on that date being to this effect :

The business of the lodge being over , it was regularly closed till the first Monday in October , emergencies exempt . Evidently the lodge was not then regarded as defunct . However , on April 21 st , 1807 , it was removed to the Elm Tree Inn , Bingley , by William Simpson and John Whitley , as is recorded in the minute book . How these two brethren gained possession of the lod I have been unable to ascertain

ge , as they certainly were not members of the lodge whilst it existed at Doncaster . At this time probably both were itinerant brethren and subscribing members of no lodge . In 1806 the Amit y Lodge , No . 224 , Preston , was removed to Steeton , in this province . The first meeting of the Duke of York ' s Lodge , No . 438 , at Bingley , was on May 20 th 1807 and after continuing to work and initiate candidates

, , , etc ., up to February 10 th , 1808 , a regular meeting was held ( on the lastmentioned date ) "for the purpose of opening the Duke of York ' s Lodge , No . 438 , in forme , " which was clone in the presence of the following brethren from the Royal Yorkshire Lodge , No . 439 , Keighley , and Prince George Lodge , No . 550 , Haworth : —Royal Yorkshire , No . 439 : Bro . Phineas Smith as W . M ., Bro . Wm . RobinsonP . M . ; Bro . Thos . Bradley as S . W . BroThosFox as JW

, , . . .., Bro . Geo . Wilson , Bro . Samuel Whitehead , Bro . Jos . Bowman ; Prince George , No . 550 : Bro . David Bastow ancl Bro . John Craven ; " when William Simpson was invested W . M ., and John Allen , Junior Warden . " It is a noteworthy and singular coincidence that the present Bingley Lodge ( Scientific ) is the same number on the Grand Lodge Register now as the Royal Yorkshire was on its visit to the Bingley Lod at that timeThe

ge . minutes of the Duke of York ' s Lodge grew more and more unsatisfactory , and many of them are so badly written and . spelt that it has been with the greatest difficulty that I could deci pher them even assisted by my intimate acquaintance with Yorkshire dialects . Apparently , however , the lodge could not be said to flourish on its new soil , therefore little of importance took place during its existence at Bingley , as in nearly every instance ( excepting