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Past News Story The
second Tuesday in May is a very important night for the Humber Lodge because
on the May 7th 1827 our ancestors laid the Foundation Stone
of the Humber Lodge’s first temple in Osborne Street\Anne Street in Hull. On Thursday
the 8th May 2001 the Association of Atholl Lodges visited the
Humber Lodge N0 57 (Hull) on a fraternal visit. The first Master of Pelham Pillar was a Past Master of the Humber. The Ceremony started with the Committee of the Association of Atholl Lodges parading into the lodge proceeded by an Honour Guard of Members of Atholl Lodges attending, below Provincial Rank, and followed by members of the Committee. |
The Banner of the Association proceeded the President V.W. Bro. Walter Crombie, the President of the Association of Atholl Lodges. After the visitors were welcomed into the Lodge, Bro. Charles B Harrison, who was Initiated in January, was passed to the Second Degree. W. Bro.
Abraham, Chairman of the Association, then gave a short talk on the aims
and objects of the Association. This was followed by a presentation of
a Gavel from the Association by V.W. Bro. Crombie to the W. Master. W.
Bro. T.W. Fisher. The Festive Board was a great success and Bro. John Proudly gave the toast of the evening night, which was ‘The Laying of the First Foundation Stone, and the Brethren who saved the Humber Lodge from extinction’. A Bottle
of White and Red ‘Atholl’ wine was presented to be raffled (Profits to
the Humber’s choice of worthy causes). Unfortunately, due to the lateness
of the night the raffle could not be held and will be drawn on a future
occasion. As a by-note many years ago, W. Bro. Abraham and his lady were residents of Hull and during that time, he was a member of the Lodge of St. Michael No 7833, which is also meets at Dagger lane. Brethren
of Atholl Lodges look forward to the next fraternal visit to the North
of England and more especially as this year is the 250th anniversary
of the founding of the Ancients Grand Lodge in 1756. |
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Compiled from the Atholl
Association ‘Atholl Story’ written by The
Atholl Story |
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At the corner of London’s’ Greek and Compton Streets, Soho, stood the ‘Turk’s Head tavern and during the Scottish Rising of 1745, it was headquarters of the Loyal Association. In 1764, the Literary Club was founded there by Samuel Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds, Burke and Goldsmith being among the original members. In 1783, the tavern was converted to a private house. On 17th July 1751, about eighty mainly Irish freemasons from six lodges met in Committee at the tavern to consider setting up a rival Grand Lodge and the meeting was soon followed by the founding of the ‘Grand Lodge of England According to the Old Institutions’. The new body immediately began accusing the old Grand Lodge (formed in 1717, and dubbed the ‘Moderns’) of introducing innovations and claiming that only themselves preserved the Craft’s ancient customs. The significant impact on British freemasonry by the more progressive Grand Lodge of the Ancients was enhanced by the arrival in London during 1748, of Laurence Dermott, a journeyman painter by trade. He had learned his freemasonry in Lodge No 26 of the Irish Constitution in which, apart from other offices, he had been Secretary and he eventuality became Right Worshipful Master in 1746. Dermott became Secretary of the Ancients and his career in London was extremely successful. The inevitable improvements in his social status were largely due to his untiring energy. He never pretended to be scholastic, but he cultivated his mind and acquired knowledge of languages and of literature and history. Dermott soon realized that to give his Grand Lodge the needed status, it was imperative to have a figurehead in much the same way as enjoyed by the older Grand Lodge, and he persuaded a number who had the required social standing to help. Amongst these were the Third and Fourth Dukes of Atholl, who were to serve the Ancients so long and so well. John, the Third Duke, was elected Grand Master Mason of Scotland on 30th November 1773, and as has already been installed as Grand Master of the ‘Ancients’ in 17761, he was in the unique position of holding two Grand Masterships in the same year, and it was this influence upon the Order that brought about the title of Atholl Masons. His death in 1774 caused much concern as it was not easy for the Ancients to find someone of eminence to give his name and time to a voluntary Order. Fortunately, he left a son who inherited the title in 1775. Being only nineteen years old and not a Freemason, he immediately applied to the Grand Master’s Lodge No 1, and was initiated there on 25th February 1775, when, as a matter of urgency, the whole three degrees were conferred upon him at the same time. At the same meeting he was installed as Master of the Lodge.
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At the next meeting of Grand Lodge, he was proposed as Grand Master of the ‘Ancients’ and was installed as such on 25th March 1775. Over the years many Freemasons on both sides worked diligently to remove the misunderstandings and enmity between the rival Grand Lodges, but none more so than the Third and Fourth Dukes of Atholl, in the desire for a Union which happily took place in 1813. On 25th September 1990, the Lodge of Prudent Brethren No 145 arranged and hosted a well attended meeting of all Lodges whose Warrant of Constitution had been issued during the Mastership as Grand Master of the Third or Fourth Dukes of Atholl. From that first meeting, the Association of Atholl Lodges was formed, which today consists of 124 Lodges -–a number which can never increase. Their locations are widely spread throughout the world, from Bermuda to Bristol, Gibraltar to Guernsey, and from Liverpool to London. In the United States of America, there are seven Grand Lodges, which originated from the Grand Lodge of the Ancients. For a time there was little progress in widening the Association’s scope, but with certain administrative changes and the encouragement of Grand lodge, rapid strides were then made which culminated in another successful reunion in September 1995. There is no set Atholl ritual, and indeed, the Association encourages all Atholl Lodges to continue with their own traditions. The Association has visited many Lodges both at home and abroad, and in 1995 visited four Lodges in Atlantic City, USA. In 1996, the Association visited Jersey and were received by the Duke of Normandy Lodge No 245. The Association of Atholl Lodges was established to provided a focus for the common interest of those surviving Lodges which were warranted by the Grand Lodge of England according to the Old Constitution (Atholl Grand Lodges) The Aims of the Association is to preserve the Atholl heritage by fostering and promoting fraternal links between members of the Association by: 1. Maintaining a definitive list of surviving Atholl Lodges 2. Encouraging inter-visiting between members of the Association 3. Holding a periodic celebrations to mark events as the Association in General Meetings shall decided 4. Maintaining close and proper links with the United Grand Lodge of England
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