Items of Interest

Items of interest

The duties of the Secretary of the Lodge must have been very arduous in getting the Lodge off the ground. The Worshipful Master, Worshipful Brother Captain Chaloner was a Member of Parliament, and as such, most of his time was spent at his London house, 56 George's Square, N1.

It can, therefore, be appreciated that a considerable amount of correspondence passed between the Worshipful Master and the Secretary, especially during the time from the consecration of the Lodge and the first Meeting.

To initiate thirteen Brethren in one evening was no mean feat and certainly required some method in its accomplishment. Of the correspondence from Captain Chaloner to the Secretary, are recorded some of interest and amusement.

You will recall the Lodge was consecrated on the 27th February 1897. On the 28th, Captain Chaloner writing from London says:

"I take it our first Lodge will be held on Friday, March the 19th. This is a very inconvenient day for me as I have to be at Melton Mowbray to ride in the House of Commons Point to Point Steeplechase. Would it do to have a Lodge of emergency on the Friday before that, on March 12th? In any case you must apply for a dispensation to initiate all the candidates the same night, which according to Rule 192, Book of Constitution can be done. If all the candidates are able to turn up, which is doubtful, we could commence early, say 6pm. and put them through in four lots, the first lot told to be there at 6pm. sharp, the next at quarter to seven and the next, quarter to eight and the next at quarter to nine. We could then give them the charge all together at the end, or else, how would it be to have a Lodge of emergency the night following the regular Lodge and take half each night, Friday and Saturday?"

At the first meeting of the Chaloner Lodge the Worshipful Master did, in fact, initiate thirteen of the candidates on the one evening.

He arranged the order in which the candidates were to be initiated and the details were set out in a letter dated the 4th March. Mr. W. Heward Bell to be the first as he was a Lewis and Mr. Charles Awdry second on account of his age. He also instructed the Secretary to put on the Agenda, the matter of the proposed Bye-Laws.

"These have been considered by the committee and it will hasten matters considerably "

"I was very done up on Saturday morning (the day after the Lodge Meeting on the 19th) and did not get to London till well after 4am., in bed at 6am., called at 7am. to catch the special train to Melton Mowbray and as a consequence was so beat I could not hold my horse for the first two miles and fell heavily twice or I think I should have won. As it was, I made up a tremendous lot of ground at the end, and was only 50 yards behind the winner, although each fall made me lose about 200 yards or more. Very disappointing!"

In a letter dated the 23rd March he discusses the question of putting all the initiates through the Second Degree with the initiation of Mr. Spackman to follow, saying,

"if we start at 4pm. we can do the lot comfortably ". He then goes on, "I think the Lodge was too cramped last time, especially with so many candidates. I am all for a big airy space in the centre and lots of room for the perambulations. I should like the chairs put right back to the wall all round. If possible, there should be a covered box the same height as the dais on which the Master's chair stands, for the Master's pedestal. My chair is rather high and my feet dangle unpleasantly. If the pedestal is the same height as the chair, I can rest my feet on the sloping board placed there for that purpose at the bottom of the pedestal. A plain wooden kneeling stool covered with baize or red flannel and stuffed with hay, amply wide enough for at least five candidates, which could permanently stand at the end of the hall in front of the Senior Warden's pedestal, would not cost much, would look well and certainly better than the five different sized hassocks. "

It was eventually decided, that at the April meeting, the Worshipful Master, Captain Chaloner, should Pass all those Brethren initiated at the first meeting, and also initiate Mr. Spackman. However, the Secretary had to point out to the Worshipful Master that the 16th April 1897 was Good Friday and according to the Book of Constitution, no Lodge could be held.

Replying to the Secretary, the Worshipful Master stated in rather terse terms that, as far as he was concerned, it was a bit late to point out this fact and that Thursday the 15th April was the only day suitable to him as his diary was full!

The Meeting was accordingly called for Thursday 15th of April and the Agenda for that Meeting, item number four states,

Further complications arose as a result of the date of the Meeting being brought forward. The Secretary was in some doubt as to whether the necessary time had elapsed between the Initiation of the thirteen Members and the date of the proposed Passing.

Correspondence between the Lodge Secretary and Worshipful Brother Bevir, Provincial Grand Secretary resulted in the following entry in the Minutes of the Meeting held on 15th April.

"A letter from the Provincial Grand Secretary, Brother Bevir in reply to his communication with the secretary of Grand Lodge to defer Passing the Brethren who had been Initiated at the last Lodge, until another Regular Lodge was read, as the 28 days required by Law 195 of the Book of Constitution had not been fulfilled".