History Of The Airedale Lodge, No. 387,

pedestals so much better adapted for their original purpose in the Lodge , and superior in every way to the new ones by which they were replaced in 1868 , and this having somehow come to Bro . Marchbank ' s knowledge , he at once , in the most generous and disinterested manner , presented them back to the lodge . After ninety years' use , they are apparently as imperishable as the institution they have served so well . The old large ornamental candlesticks have been in

continuous use at all lodge meetings since 1788 . The lodge banner was purchased in 1827 , but it had originally no number on it , the figures 387 having been put on in 1870 , when the " Airedale" and many other Lodges in West Yorkshire walked in procession with the Provincial Grand Master ( Earl de Grey and Ripon ) and his officers to lay the foundation-stone of the new church of St . James , at Thornton , near Bradford , on the 26 th of October in that year .

SECTION II . —1821 TO 1832 . IN the year 1821 the Masonic province of York was divided , and the first Provincial Grand Lodge of the North and East Ridings of York was held in the Grand Lodge-room , York , on the 14 th August , the Right Hon . Lord Dundas , D . G . M ., as Provincial Grand Master . It was not until April 23 rd , 1823 , that , under the presidency of Viscount Pollingtonfirst Provincial Grand Master

, , the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire was constituted at Wakefield . The Craft did not flourish in Yorkshire for many years before and some time after this period , and it was not until 1825 that a new lodge was constituted , the Integrity Lodge , Brighouse , No . 799 , the Airedale Lodge , Baildon , No . 814 , being the next in 1827 . Bros . John Smith , William Fox , and Jonathan Walker ( the two former being petitioners for the warrant ) were members of

the Duke of York ' s Lodge , Bingley , and they , with Bro . Wainman Holmes , of the Lodge of Hope , No . 565 , Bradford ( initiated October 16 th , 1826 ) , were the originators and founders of our lodge , assisted very heartily by several members of the Royal Yorkshire Lodge , Keighley . The first petition emanated entirel y from members of the Keighley Lodge . Bro . Wainman Holmes was not named in the original petition for a warrant as first Masterbut his name had to be

, substituted for that of Bro . William Simpson , who should have known his disqualification , for , as W . M . of the Duke of York's Lodge , at Bingley , he could not be unaware of its long-continued irregularities . * At a quarterly communication of Grand Lodge , 5 th March , 1828 , fifty-nine lodges were erased , amongst them being the Duke of York ' s Lodge , Bingley , No . 502 ; Lodge of Amity , Steeton-in-Craven , No . 280 ; and Royal Oak Lodge , Ripon , No . 412 . In

the same Grand Lodge circular the first return of Airedale Lodge , No . 814 , was notified . Had our founders been willing to pay up the arrears to the Fund of Benevolence owing by the Duke of York ' s Lodge , and carried it on under that name ( as they certainly wished to do ) , there is no doubt they would have been allowed to work under the old warrant . The Warrant of Constitution of the Airedale Lodge is as follows : —

AUBTJSTUS FREDERICK , G . M . To all and every our Right Worshipful and loving Brethren . We , Prince Augustus Frederick of Brunswick , Lunen . bn . rgh , Duke of Sussex , Earl of Inverness , Baron of Arklow , Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter , GRAM MASTER of the Most Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of England , SEND GREETING : Know Ye that We by the Authority and under the Sanction of the United Grand Lodge of England vested in us for that purpose and at the humble Petition of our trusty and well beloved brethren , Wainman Holmes , Jno . Smith , Abrm . Hartley , Bicnard Stell , Thomas