Note: This material was scanned into text files for the sole purpose of convenient electronic research. This material is NOT intended as a reproduction of the original volumes. However close the material is to becoming a reproduced work, it should ONLY be regarded as a textual reference. Scanned at Phoenixmasonry by Ralph W. Omholt, PM in May 2007.
GOULD'S HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
VOLUME IV
CHAPTER ONE
FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION OF CANADA
AND NEWFOUNDLAND - ALBERTA - BRITISH COLUMBIA
MANITOBA - MARITIME PROVINCES - NEWFOUNDLAND - ONTARIO - QUEBEC
SASKATCHEWAN
CHAPTER TWO
FREEMASONRY IN MEXICO
CHAPTER THREE
FREEMASONRY IN CENTRAL AMERICA
BRITISH HONDURAS - COSTA RICA - GUATEMALA - HONDURAS - PANAMA
NICARAGUA - SAN SALVADOR - SPANISH HONDURAS
CHAPTER FOUR
FREEMASONRY IN THE WEST INDIES
CUBA - HAITI AND SANTO DOMINGO - JAMAICA - PUERTO RICO - THE
VIRGIN ISLANDS - THE LESSER ANTILLES, OR CARIBBEAN ISLANDS - THE
LUCAYAS, OR BAHAMA ISLANDS - THE BERMUDAS, OR SOMERS ISLANDS
CHAPTER FIVE
FREEMASONRY IN SOUTH AMERICA
VENEZUELA - COLOMBIA, FORMERLY NEW GRANADA
ECUADOR - PERU - BOLIVIA - ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, OR
CONFEDERACY OF LA PLATA - PARAGUAY - URUGUAY - BRAZIL
- BRITISH GUIANA - DUTCH GUIANA, OR SURINAM - FRENCH
GUIANA, OR CAYENNE - CHILI
CHAPTER SIX
FREEMASONRY IN ASIA - CHINA - JAPAN - PERSIA - THE EASTERN
ARCHIPELAGO - SUMATRA - PALESTINE
CHAPTER SEVEN
FREEMASONRY IN INDIA AND CEYLON - BENGAL - MADRAS -
BOMBAY - CEYLON
CHAPTER EIGHT
FREEMASONRY IN AFRICA - SOUTH AFRICA - WEST
COAST OF AFRICA - EGYPT - TUNIS - SOUTH AFRICAN ISLANDS
CHAPTER NINE
FREEMASONRY IN AUSTRALASIA - SOUTH
AUSTRALIA - NEW SOUTH WALES - VICTORIA - NEW ZEALAND TASMANIA
WESTERN AUSTRALIA -QUEENSLAND
CHAPTER TEN
SEA AND FIELD LODGES
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE HOLY ROYAL ARCH
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE MARK DEGREE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN THE ROYAL ORDER OF SCOTLAND
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
OTHER RITES AND SMALLER GROUPS - SOCIETAS ROSICRUCIANA - THE
PRIESTLY ORDER OF THE TEMPLE - ORDER OF THE SECRET MONITOR -
OTHER MASONIC ORGANIZATIONS - NEGRO MASONRY IN THE UNITED
STATES
ILLUSTRATIONS VOLUME IV R.‑. W.‑. Brother Colonel William Jarvis, First Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Upper Canada Frontispiece PACING PAGE Bow River Lodge, Calgary 2 Twenty‑fifth Anniversary of the Grand Lodge of Alberta 2 Masonic Temple, Calgary 4 Masonic Temple at Edmonton, Alberta 6 Old Hudson's Bay Block House at Nanaimo 10 Masonic Hall, Barkerville, British Columbia 16 Old Fort Garry, Winnipeg 20 Hon. Edward Cornwallis, Governor of Nova Scotia, 1749‑1753 28 Petition for the First Lodge of Halifax, 1750 34 Old Clock Tower and Harbor, Halifax, Nova Scotia 3 8 H. R. H. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent 40 A Certificate of 1807 of the Lodge of Harmony, Placentia, Newfoundland 64 Masonic Temple, St. John's, Newfoundland 66 The Bay at Kingston in 1838 72 Chairs Presented by H. R. H. the Duke of Kent 92 The Masonic Temple, Regina, Saskatchewan 96 The Masonic Temple, Gouan, Saskatchewan 98 ''The West," Gouan, Saskatchewan 98 The Masonic Temple, Port Lemon, Costa Rica 120 Entrance to Masonic Temple, Port Lemon 120 Masonic Lodge at Sagua la Grande, Cuba 126 A Certificate, Port au Prince, Haiti 130 Masonic Temple at Kingston, Jamaica 138 Masonic Temple, Ponce, Puerto Rico 142 Xl ILLUSTRATIONS PACING PAGE Masonic Temple, Bridgetown, Barbados 148 Masonic Temple, St. George's, Bermuda 152.
Simon Bolivar 156 Regalia Worn by Bolivar 158 Masonic Temple, Buenos Aires 170 The Caves of Solomon 196 Masonic Grand Lodge, Madras, South India 2‑16 Curious Masonic Apron, Johannesburg, South Africa 2‑2.8 The First Masonic Temple in Egypt, at Port Said 2‑34 The Ordeal of the Egyptian Initiation 2‑36 Reception of the Thirty‑third Degree of the Scottish Rite 310 Warrant for Massachusetts College page 315 Statesmen and Patriots, Members of the Masonic Fraternity William J. Bryan, Edmund Burke, Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, Oliver Ellsworth, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, John Jay, Henry Laurens, Edward Livingston, Robert R. Livingston, William Pinkney, and Edmund Randolph At end of volume GOULD'S HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD VOLUME IV A HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD VOL. IV CHAPTER I FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND ALBERTA CANON S. H. MIDDLETON A VENTURE, exploration, commercial enterprise, empire‑building and missionary endeavour all played their several parts in bringing Freemasonry to the Province of Alberta. The early traders, Northwest Mounted Police and others, meeting as they ofttimes did around the camp‑fire, trading‑post, and barrack square, made themselves known to each other by sign, token, or symbol.
In the late '7o's and the early '8o's the frontier post of Edmonton was already famous as a meeting place for all sorts and conditions of men. That some were members of the Craft was obvious, for in 1882 a Lodge, under the caption of Saskatchewan, No. 17, was organised and received its Charter from the Grand Lodge of Manitoba. This was subsequently surrendered about the year 18go. Meanwhile, the Masonic urge for a Lodge and official recognition was strongly felt in Calgary, where in May 1883 a notice was issued calling upon all Masons there to meet in Bro. George Murdock's store, which was then situated on the east bank of Elbow River. Although the meeting was held, as had been planned, only five Masons were present. They were: Bro. George Murdock, Bro. E. Nelson Brown, Bro. A. McNeil, Bro. George Monilaws, and Bro. D. C. Robinson. Although Bro. James Walker and Bro. John Walker had hoped also to attend, they were unable to do so. At this meeting the Brethren expressed the unanimous opinion that the time was not opportune for the formation of a Lodge; there being no suitable meeting place available; that the population was too scattered; and that there was not yet a sufficient number of Masons in Calgary to warrant such a venture.
After a few months, however, with the advent of the railway, people began to arrive in greater numbers. On August 15, 1883, the Canadian Pacific Railway track was laid through the site of what is now the city of Calgary. A few days z FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION later the first freight train arrived, bringing with it the first printing plant of what was to become The Calgary Herald. The initial issue of that paper carried a notice calling upon all Masons interested in the formation of a Masonic Lodge to meet in George Murdock's shack, east of the Elbow River. A photograph of this Masonically historic building is still preserved in the archives of Bow River Lodge, No. i. To the surprise of all, a large number of Masons assembled. R. W. Bro. Dr. N. J. Lindsay, at that time District Deputy Grand Master for No. i. (Essex) District of the Grand Lodge of Canada, was elected Chairman, R. W. Bra. George Murdock, Secretary. From then on meetings were held regularly every Friday night, an attendance Register was kept, and Minutes of all proceedings were recorded. No Masonic Work was done and no examinations were made, however, until the Petition for a Dispensation was about to be signed. This Petition was forwarded to the Grand Lodge of British Columbia.
After waiting for a period of from six to seven weeks for a reply, the Petitioners then sent a second application, this time to the Grand Lodge of Manitoba. A favourable reply was received from both Grand Lodges about the same time. Communications between Calgary and British Columbia at that time had to go from Calgary to Winnipeg, from there to Omaha, thence to San Francisco, and from that seaport to Victoria three times weekly. Under such troublesome conditions of transit, it was therefore considered advisable to accept the Dispensation offered by the Grand Lodge of Manitoba. Accordingly, the Dispensation was received on January 12, 1884, and the first meeting held on January 28 of that year.
R. W. Bro. Dr. N. J. Lindsay was designated first Worshipful Master. Subsequently he attended a meeting of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, held in Winnipeg on February ii, at which Communication he was elected junior Grand Warden. At that meeting a Charter was granted to Bow River Lodge, at Calgary, recorded as No. 28 on the Register of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba. On the Grand Register of Alberta this Lodge is now known as Bow River Lodge, No. 1. At the same Communication of the; Grand Lodge of Manitoba in 1884, Charters were also granted to Lodges at Regina and at Moosomin. These three newly Chartered Lodges, together with the Lodges at Edmonton and Prince Albert, might legally have formed a Grand Lodge for the Northwest Territories, which at that time comprised the Districts of Saskatchewan, Assiniboia, and Alberta, all of which were ruled by one territorial government. But even at that date it was considered probable that Provincial formations were not far distant, and it was recognised that a Territorial Grand Lodge might eventually be broken by the ultimate division of the Territories into Provinces. It was accordingly decided to leave the matter in abeyance. The events which later transpired proved that those early Masons had been right, the three Districts which then formed the Northwest Territories have since been divided into two Provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, the District of Assiniboia having been absorbed by the latter.
Until the formation of the Grand Lodges of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Grand Lodge of Manitoba claimed jurisdiction over all the Northwest Terri‑ OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 3 tories, although the first Masonic Constitution of the Territories declared that the Grand Lodge was formed in and for the Province of Manitoba. The Constitution also provided that in the absence of the Grand Master the Officer next in rank should assume the duties of that Office. In 1893, Dr. Goggin, of Winnipeg, was elected Grand Master, and Thomas Tweed of Medicine Hat, in what was then the District of Assiniboia, was elected Deputy Grand Master.
During that year, Dr. Goggin was appointed Superintendent of Education for the Northwest Territories; thereupon he removed to the capital city, Regina. This circumstance occasioned a peculiar situation. The Grand Master had left the jurisdiction, and the Deputy who had been elected lived outside the Province. To add further to this anomalous position, the Grand Lodge had decided to hold the Communication of 1894 at Banff, Alberta. Finally, to overcome the difficulty, an amendment to the Constitution was proposed, whereby the Grand Lodge of Manitoba would add the Northwest Territories to its jurisdiction, thus making it the largest Masonic Jurisdiction in America and the only Grand Lodge ever to extend its boundaries after being once Constituted. Although the proposal was at first opposed, it finally passed.
The political changes which culminated in the division of the old Northwest Territories into the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, on September 1, 19o5, also precipitated the division of Manitoba Grand Lodge. Hitherto, though it had long been considered by many Brethren that the large number of Masonic Lodges in the Canadian Northwest, and their separation by hundreds of miles from the central authority, demanded a change, the spirit of loyalty to Manitoba had proved so strong that nothing short of absolute necessity could change it. This necessity arose, however, when Alberta became an autonomous Province. The event had been more or less anticipated and in consequence thereof, on March 21, 19o5, Wor. Bro. the Rev. G. H. Hogbin, then Master of Bow River Lodge, with Bro. Dr. George Macdonald as Secretary, received a letter from W. Bro. Kealy, who was then Master of Medicine Hat Lodge, suggesting that a Petition be made to the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, requesting recognition as a Grand Body, at their next annual meeting in June.
The Lodges in the Territory that was assumed to be Alberta were circularised to meet in Calgary on May 24. At that meeting, nine Lodges were represented by a total of twenty‑nine Delegates. After prolonged discussion, however, it was decided to postpone definite action, since the Autonomy Bill had not yet been passed, and might possibly become a law on the following July 1. Nevertheless, the whole matter of the formation of a Grand Lodge was discussed, and a Committee composed of Bro. Dr. Lindsay, Bro. Thomas Tweed, and Bro. E. N. Brown was appointed to consider the question of procedure. At that time Bro. Dr. Lindsay was the First Worshipful Master of Bow River Lodge, and Bro. E. N. Brown was also a Master of Bow River Lodge, while Bro. Tweed was Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba. The latter would undoubtedly have been chosen as first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Alberta had it not been for his deeply regretted death. Consequently, the meeting was adjourned until July 6, when only eight Lodges were represented. As the Au‑ 4 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION tonomy Bill was still being debated in Parliament, it was decided to adjourn the meeting again, until one month after the Autonomy Bill came into force. This Act was passed, some time previous to, and became effective on, September i, i9o5, and the adjourned meeting called for October I2, on which day the Grand Lodge of Alberta came into being. At that time there were eighteen Lodges in the Province of Alberta and seventeen of these were represented by seventy‑nine Delegates, who were responsible for forming and constituting Grand Lodge by adopting the following resolution: " TO THE BRETHREN WHERE'ER SCATTERED O'ER LAND AND SEA " Whereas it has been made to appear by many Brethren of the Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the newly formed Province of Alberta, Canada, that it is most expedient and desirable for the proper government of the Craft that a Grand Lodge of Masons shall be formed in the said Province of Alberta.
BE IT KNOWN, That at a convention held in the City of Calgary in the said Province on the i2th. of October, Anno Lucis, S9os, in the sixth year of the reign of His Majesty King Edward VII, for the purpose of taking into considera tion a proposition from the Medicine Hat Lodge No. 31, A. F. & A. M. (Grand Register of Manitoba) with this object in view, it was unanimously enacted as follows Whereas, it is the unanimous opinion of the Masonic Lodges of Alberta that a Grand Lodge shall be formed for the said Province, it is hereby RESOLVED, That the Delegates now assembled shall, and do hereby constitute themselves as a true and lawful Grand Lodge for the Province of Alberta, under the Ancient Landmarks existing from time immemorial, to which adhesion is hereby given. The formation of the said Grand Lodge of Alberta being sanctioned by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Manitoba, under whose jurisdiction the said Lodges have been constituted.
Such is the direct statement, pregnant with thought, wisdom and understanding, regarding the genesis of the Grand Lodge of Alberta, A. F. and A. M. Proclamation was then made by the Grand Director of Ceremonies In the Name and by the Authority of the "Ancient Charges and Constitutions of Masonry " and the proceedings of a Convention duly called in accordance with the same‑I now proclaim this Grand Lodge by the name of " THE MOST WORSHIPFUL THE GRAND LODGE OF ALBERTA, ANCIENT, FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS " duly formed and constituted.
The first election of Grand Lodge Officers, which took place immediately thereafter, resulted as follows R. W. Bro. Dr. George Macdonald (28), Grand Master. R. W. Bro. H. C. Taylor (3), Deputy Grand Master. R. W. Bro. T. F. English (66), Senior Grand Warden.
OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 5 R. W. Bro. O. W. Kealy (31), unior Grand Warden.
R. W. Bro. J. T. Macdonald (6;~, District Deputy Grand Master. i. R. W. Bro. C. E. Smyth (31), District Deputy Grand Master. z. R. W. Bro. A. R. Dickson (83), District Deputy Grand Master. 3. R. W. Bro. E. N. Brown (z8), Grand Treasurer.
R. W. Bro. J. J. Dunlop (78), Grand Secretary. R. W. Bro. J. Hinchliffe (73), Grand Registrar.
R. W. Bro. Rev. J. S. Chivers (4I), Grand Chaplain. Bro. J. Finch (6o), Grand Tyler.
The following appointments were made by the M. W. Grand Master: R. W. Bro. M. J. Macleod (65), Senior Grand Deacon. R. W. Bro. R. Patterson (37), junior Grand Deacon.
V. W. Bro. C. H. S. Wade (78), Grand Director of Ceremonies. V. W. Bro. G. Murdock (z8), Grand Organist.
W. Bro. H. W. Evans (4z), Grand Steward. W. Bro. S. J. Currie (58), Grand Steward. W. Bro. F. J. Bennett (76), Grand Steward. W. Bro. A. M. Kay (85), Grand Steward.
R. W. Bro. Rev. G. H. Hogbin (z8), Grand Pursuivant.
The election of Officers over and appointments made, Most Worshipful Bro. W. G. Scott, Grand Master of Manitoba, then assumed the Chair, the Grand Lodge being in Ample form, assisted by Most Worshipful Bro. E. A. Braithwaite, Past Grand Master of Manitoba, he proceeded with the Installation of the Most Worshipful the Grand Master of Alberta and the other Grand Officers. At the close of that ceremony, M. W. Bro. Dr. George Macdonald, Grand Master of Alberta, thanked the assembled Delegates for the great honour they had conferred by electing him to be the first Grand Master of the Craft in the Province. He also expressed appreciation to the M. W. the Grand Master of Manitoba and to the Brethren of the Mother Grand Lodge for their Fraternal support and presence at the inaugural meeting. A resolution was then moved by V. W. Bro. C. H. Stuart‑Wade and R. W. Bro. J. Hinchliffe to confer the rank of Past Grand Master in the Jurisdiction of Alberta upon M. W. Bro. W. G. Scott, Grand Master of Manitoba, and M. W. Bro. E. A. Braithwaite, Past Grand Master of Manitoba.
During the meeting an application for Dispensation to form a new Lodge was presented by a number of Brethren from High River, with the request that its name be chosen by the Grand Lodge. The Application was granted and it was decided that the Lodge should be called Cornerstone Lodge. On the receipt of its Charter the following year, Cornerstone Lodge became Lodge No. i9 on the Register of the Grand Lodge of Alberta.
The first Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Alberta was held in Medicine Hat on Tuesday, February zo, 19o6. During his address, the M. W.
6 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION the Grand Master, Dr. George Macdonald, gave voice to the following sentiments The Grand Lodge of Alberta, A.F. and A.M. is at last a Body in effect and recognised by our Mother Grand Lodge and the fraternity as a trustworthy offspring, capable of ruling and governing, and, we hope and trust, capable of adding generously to the wealth of our Masonic teachings. As far back as the year 1888 several of our Brethren were looking forward to the dawn of this our Grand Masonic Body, and some of them are still s~ ared to join with us in welcoming the existence of a new star in the Masonic fiprmament. May it soon in its symbolic teachings reach its zenith, paralleling the brilliancy of the mid‑day sun, and may it long continue so, and though at times its brightness may dim as fleeting clouds obscure its lustre, may it ever resume its brilliant path and never find a setting.
During this first Annual Meeting of the Grand Lodge, a special Committee on Benevolence was appointed by the M. W. Grand Master to consider ways and means to establish a Masonic Home and School. M. W. Bro. Kealy was elected Grand Master, and R. W. Bro. Rev. George Hogbin, Deputy Grand Master. An interesting sidelight on the history of the Grand Lodge at this stage is shown by the following statement made by M. W. Bro. James Ovas, the revered Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, in his Freemasonry in the Province of Manitoba: At the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, Held in June 19o6, Fraternal recognition was extended with the most kindly greetings and the wish that success and prosperity would attend them, to the first daughter Grand Lodge of this Grand Body, the Grand Lodge of Alberta.
It was decided to have an authoritative system of " Work " in the jurisdiction. Accordingly, during the 1907 Annual Communication the Special Committee on Ritual made the following recommendation Resolved, That this Grand Lodge recognises and authorises for use in subordinate Lodges either of the methods of conducting the Work usually spoken of as the " Canadian Work " or the "Ancient York Work " according to the rituals hereafter issued by it.
This proposal received unanimous support, and from that date until the present both Rites, " Canadian " (Emulation) and "Ancient York " (WebbPreston), have been officially recognised throughout the jurisdiction.
Benevolence has always been a cardinal virtue in Alberta. To prove that the Founders were thoroughly imbued with true Masonic principles and traditions, we may point to the Report made to the Grand Lodge in 19o6 by a special Committee regarding the establishment of a Masonic Home. Just as the bursting of the " South Sea Bubble " had aroused our ancient Brethren of England to alleviate the distress caused by it, so were the Masons of Alberta eager to help others in distress. The San Francisco disaster of 1907 and the Hillcrest, Alberta, OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 7 mine tragedy of four years later, which almost wiped out the Officers of Sentinel Lodge, No. 26, weighed upon the Brethren with such overwhelming force that they felt a great need for a benevolent fund. In fact, the mine disaster was probably more responsible than any other cause for the beginning of the present Benevolent Fund. From the inauguration of the Grand Lodge to the year 1915 four Benevolent Funds were established, each dealing with a specific necessity, as the occasion demanded. Then, in 1919, these four funds were amalgamated. In order to meet the increasing demands made upon its resources, the Grand Lodge in 192o adopted a yet more definite policy towards enlarging the Capital Benevolent Fund by assessing its members on a per capita basis. Ten years later the amount paid to beneficiaries had been trebled, thus indicating the wisdom of that enactment. Moreover, the policy of administering benevolence has always been one of serious reflection in Alberta. This was forcibly expressed by the Chairman of the Benevolence Committee in his Reports of 1925 and 1927. In these he said in part: From a review of the Proceedings of foreign jurisdictions we learn that many of them take ride, and justly so, in the expensive and comfortable homes they have created for their unfortunate members. Your Committee are, however, of the opinion that our system, for the present at least, is better for us.
Our beneficiaries are left in their homes, when practicable, so that the families may be kept together and the children under their parents' care and interest. Those unattached are residing with relatives or in families of Masons to whom the money paid for their lodging is acceptable, and the unfortunates in this way escape the stigma of pauperism, and their opportunities for becoming again independent are greater, should they be restored to health. A feeling of confident self‑respect is at all times preserved, and due care is exercised that the recipient of our bounty is not humiliated in any way. Your Committee feel we are working the right way with the right kind of policy, by which the cost of administering the fund is reduced to a minimum, where every dollar is working, and, if not being used for benevolence, is earning interest against the inevitable rainy days which will come. In doing this, in assisting to do this, Masonry in the Province of Alberta has more than justified its existence, and as the years go by, with increasing numbers, greater responsibilities will be ours and we have no doubt if we fulfil our duties, the Masons of those future years will assuredly fulfil theirs.
During the stress of the Great War, Masonry in Alberta responded nobly to the cause. At least ten per cent of her membership joined the colors, and the Lodges as a whole contributed generously to the Patriotic Fund, which was created in 1915. The Work of the Lodges, however, was seriously impeded, owing to the absence of so many leaders overseas. In many cases the Lodges became so depleted that the older members resumed Office, as an expediency, and to reciprocate for the heroic endeavours of their younger Brethren at the front.
Hostilities ceased, and a feeling was developed that the advent of peace would somehow, in some way, clear away the wreckage of the past; that hence‑ 8 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION forth the pathways of life would be straight and simple; that every man would have equal opportunity and equal share in the best things of life. At this time an abnormal influx into all the Lodges took place. The men who sought admittance were representative citisens from legislative halls, from hospital boards and school boards, from churches and civic enterprises, in short, from every walk of life. To meet the need of these new members, Charters were granted, Masonic Halls were dedicated, and Temples were erected throughout the length and breadth of the jurisdiction. At no time before in its history had it been possible for Masonry to play so great a part in moulding public opinion and in exerting an influence for good upon the body politic. It was here that the teachings of the Craft were sublimated. Perhaps their splendid influence in this field is responsible for the maintenance of the unique and high prestige of the Fraternity throughout the Province in general.
Among the Brethren connected with the Grand Lodge were two of outstanding merit. One of these was M. W. Bro. Dr. George Macdonald, the first Grand Master, who subsequently held the position of Grand Secretary for ten years during the early days of formative policy. The other was M. W. Bro. S. Y. Taylor, who was Grand Master in 1915 and Grand Secretary during the period from 1917 to 192.8. Bro. Taylor was still Grand Secretary at the time of his death in March 192‑8. Of this esteemed Brother it has been justly said: A fine scholarship enabled him to apply with telling force the supremely spiritual values of our Masonic idealism. In consequence of his untiring zeal and efforts in the exposition of these ideals there was developed a high moral tone throughout the whole Craft in this jurisdiction which will remain as a fitting and enduring monument to his memory.
On Saturday, October 11, 1931, a Special Communication of the Grand Lodge to celebrate the twenty‑fifth anniversary of its founding was held in Calgary. Twelve Past Grand Masters, Representatives of four neighbouring Grand jurisdictions, and several hundred Brethren from all parts of western Canada were in attendance. At this unique meeting the first Grand Master, M. W. Bro. Dr. George Macdonald, received a stirring ovation as he rose to address the gathering. The Grand Master, M. W. Bro. Dr. S. N. Sneddon, addressed the Brethren as follows I must, on behalf of myself and the Grand Lodge of Alberta here assembled, express our deep sense of the honour accorded to this Grand Lodge by the presence here to‑day of the distinguished Representatives of the Grand Lodges of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, who are here as our guests to celebrate our twenty‑fifth Anniversary. This is an historic occasion, and from the large attendance from distant points in the province, I think that feature of this gathering is uppermost in our minds: but to me our meeting here to‑day should be more in the nature of an act of homage and honour to those who after all are really responsible for this great occasion. I am referring to those members who had the courage and foresight to form a Grand Lodge in what was then OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND sparsely settled country, of whose possibilities little was actually proved, whose development had scarcely begun, communication was difficult, and the Lodges to which these members belonged were widely scattered.
I venture to say that if the spirit of the pioneer can be transmitted to this splendid gathering, we need have no fear either for the future prosperity of our Order in Alberta or for the future of this great Province.
At the formation in 1905 there were 18 Lodges with 12o5 members. Thirty years later there are 157 Lodges with 12,576 members. Benevolence has always been a cardinal virtue with Alberta, and this is strongly emphasised at the present, with its century mark of beneficiaries receiving assistance. During this time a Library of no mean order has been gradually established, which greatly facilitates the spread of Masonic education. In addition to this a system of holding Annual District Meetings has been evolved, at which the Grand Lodge Officers attend and impart first‑hand information. The Grand Lodge of Alberta is comparatively young, yet withal lusty and strong, and bids fair for an expanding and greater future.
BRITISH COLUMBIA R. L. REID N 1858 a veritable city of shacks clustered about the big fort of the Hudson's Bay Company on the southern end of Vancouver Island. There it had grown up almost in a single night, as did Jonah's gourd. It already had a little weekly newspaper, however, and in the issue of July io the following item appeared: The members of the Ancient Order of F. & A. Masons in good standing are invited to meet on Monday July 12th at 7 o'clock P.M., in Southgate & Mitchell's new store, upstairs. The object of the meeting is to consider matters connected with the permanent interests of the order in Victoria.
The meeting so convened was attended by seven Masons who drafted a Petition to the Grand Lodge of England asking for a Charter for a Lodge in their new city. So far as we have any record, this was the beginning of Freemasonry in British Columbia.
The Colony of Vancouver Island was formed in 1849, and by 1856 it had been granted a representative assembly. But until 1858 the settlement had very few inhabitants aside from officers and employees of the Hudson's Bay Company, which had made Victoria its headquarters on the Pacific coast. The mainlandNew Caledonia as it was then called‑had no organised government until November 1g, 1858, when it became the Colony of British Columbia.
News went abroad in 1857 that gold had been discovered in the sands of the 10 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION Fraser River and the following year thousands of goldseekers came in search of the New Eldorado. Since it was necessary to pass through Victoria in order to reach the mines, the little village so far from the busy world was immediately transformed from a quiet trading‑post into a noisy, bustling metropolis. Vancouver Island and British Columbia were united under the name of the latter in 11866, and five years later this territory became one of the Provinces of the Dominion of Canada.
Once, in 11859, before any regular Lodge had been Constituted, an " Occasional " Lodge was held. It did not come exactly within the meaning of the term as defined by Mackey, for it was not called by a Grand Master; but it did come within the Century Dictionary's definition of " occasional," in that it was " called forth, produced, or used on some special occasion or event." The " special occasion " of this " Occasional " Lodge was the funeral of a Mason. Early in September of that year, S. J. Hazeltine, chief engineer of the Hudson's .Bay Company's steamer Labouchere, died in the city hospital at Victoria. Since he was a Freemason, the resident Brethren decided to honour his memory by a Masonic funeral. An advertisement in The British Colonist, a local newspaper, called a meeting of Masons to take place at the Royal Hotel on September 7. A large number of Masons responded. Several California Masons able to vouch for one another formed the nucleus of the assemblage and examined others who claimed the Master's rank. This done, they exercised their ancient prerogative and formed themselves into a Lodge. Having chosen Bro. John T. Damon as Acting Worshipful Master, and Bro. B. F. Moses as Secretary pro tempore, they made arrangements for the funeral Rite. Next day they again assembled, donned white gloves, and aprons made for the occasion by a tentmaker on Yates Street, formed a procession, and marched to the hospital, and thence to the cemetery, where they interred the body of their departed Brother with due Masonic honours. Following that, they closed the Lodge in due form.
The Grand Lodge of England was ready to grant the Charter asked for in 11858, but technicalities delayed its issuance. The reason commonly assigned for this delay is that the Charter sent out proved to be defective and in consequence had to be returned to London for correction. The probable reason, however, to some extent supported by credible information, is that the application was defective in form, and that it had to be returned for amendment before a Charter could be granted. However this may be, it was not until March i86o, that the Brethren in Victoria received their Charter. Further delay was occasioned at the time by the necessity for obtaining and fitting up a suitable Lodge room and for acquiring necessary furniture and fittings.
Not until August 28, 1186o, was Victoria Lodge, No. 11o85 E. R. ready to begin work. On that date the premier Lodge of British Columbia was duly Constituted on the second floor of the Hibben and Carswell Building at the south west corner of Yates and Langley streets. The ceremony, which included the Installation of the first Officers, was performed by Robert Burnaby, Past Master of Lodge, No. 6611 E. R., of Surrey, England, a prominent merchant of the little From a photograph by Underwood and Underwood.
Old Hudson's Bay Block House at Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, B. C.
OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 11 city. He was assisted by H. Aquilar, R. N., commander of the gunboat Grappler, then lying in Esquimalt harbour, a few miles from Victoria,who was Past Master of Good Report Lodge, No. 159 E. R. The new Lodge numbered eleven Charter members. During 186o nine Masons became members by affiliation, including W.‑. Bro. Burnaby himself. John Malowansky, a Russian news agent and tobacconist, was the first person to be made a Mason in the Jurisdiction by Initiation. This popular young man soon rose to be J. D. of the Lodge, but some five years later he left for the Cariboo gold fields and in 1866 he went to Kamchatka for the Alaska Commercial Company. In 1875 Bro. Malowansky took his demit in order to join a Russian Lodge in Petropavlovsky. No word was ever afterwards received from him. In 1931 Victoria Lodge had 420 members on its Roll. One of its traditions is that the Grand Master for the time being shall Install its Officers. On only one or two occasions since the organisation of the Grand Lodge has this failed to take place.
The example set by Victoria was soon followed by New Westminster, then capital of the Colony of British Columbia. In 186o the Masons there applied to the Grand Lodge of England for a Charter. It was granted, and in December 1861, Union Lodge, No. 12o1 E. R. was duly Constituted.
The Lodges at Victoria and New Westminster used the English Ritual. This was unfamiliar to many Masons who had come from the United States where a different Ritual was in use. Consequently, some of the American Masons residing at Victoria, who wished to use the Work to which they were accustomed, applied to the Grand Lodge of Washington Territory for a Charter in 1861. Victoria Lodge protested that since the Colony of Vancouver Island was British, no Masonic Body other than the Grand Lodges of the mother country had any right to grant either a Warrant or a Dispensation for a Masonic Lodge in the Jurisdiction. It was further declared that any Lodge so established would be treated as clandestine. Foreseeing the difficulties which might arise if their Petition were successful, the applicants withdrew it, and joined by some other Masons they applied to the Grand Lodge of Scotland for a Charter for Vancouver Lodge, No. 421 S. R.
Nine Lodges had been Chartered in the two colonies by 1871. The Grand Lodge of England had established Victoria Lodge, No. 1o85, later .re‑numbered 783, and British Columbia Lodge, No. 1187, at Victoria; Union Lodge, No. 12oi, later re‑numbered 899, at New Westminster; and Nanaimo Lodge, No. logo, at Nanaimo. Besides Vancouver Lodge, No. 421, the Grand Lodge of Scotland had authorised Cariboo Lodge, No. 469, at Barkerville; Caledonia Lodge, No. 478, at Nanaimo; Mount Hermon Lodge, No. 491, at Hastings, now part of the City of Vancouver. At Victoria it also established Quadra Lodge, which should have been numbered 5o8, but which was still under Dispensation when the Grand Lodge of British Columbia was established. In May 1867, the Grand Lodge of Scotland appointed Dr. Israel Wood Powell, a prominent physician of Victoria, as Provincial Grand Master, and in December 1867 the Grand Lodge of England appointed Robert Burnaby of the same place as District Grand Master.
11 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION As the number of Lodges increased, the advisability of forming an independent Grand Lodge was much discussed by members of the Craft. There was every reason against the existence of two organisations in a country having such a small population. Consequently, Dr. Powell and Mr. Burnaby, close personal friends, were anxious to see the Craft united. In December 1868 a meeting was held by Vancouver Lodge, No. 411 S. R., at which a number of visitors from other Lodges were present. At that meeting members introduced a series of resolutions reciting the condition of Freemasonry in the Colony, the desirability of forming a Grand Lodge of British Columbia, and the advantages to be secured by doing so. These resolutions were again considered at a meeting held on January 2, 1869. At that time they were adopted and forwarded to the other Lodges for consideration: All the Scottish Lodges, except Caledonia Lodge, No. 478, at Nanaimo, approved them. Except Victoria Lodge, No. io85, the English Lodges disapproved them. The resolutions were then transmitted to the Grand Lodges in England and Scotland. The latter made no reply, but the Secretary of the English Grand Lodge acknowledged the receipt of the resolutions and expressed his regret that the Brethren in British Columbia should " take any step which might lessen their own influence. As a District Grand Lodge of the Grand Lodge of England, the Brethren in Vancouver Island enjoy a far more influential position than they could possibly do if they formed themselves into an independent Grand Lodge, whose paucity of numbers would simply render it ridiculous." Undismayed, Vancouver Lodge, No. 411 S. R., went on with its work. It submitted its plan to the Grand Lodges in Canada and the United States in order to ascertain what reception the proposed Grand Lodge might expect. The result was so encouraging that, at a meeting on January 18, 1871, it was able to announce that all the Grand Lodges to which it had submitted its plan had signified their approval.
Various proceedings resulted in the meeting of a Committee from Vancouver Lodge, No. 411 S. R. They met with other members on March 18, 1871, to elect a Grand Master and other Officers and to declare a Grand Lodge of British Columbia duly formed. M.‑. W.‑. Bro. Elwood Evans, Past Grand Master of Washington Territory, was invited to Install the Officers of the new Grand Lodge on March Zo, and he accepted the invitation. Notice of the proposed Installation was given to District Grand Master Burnaby of the English Lodges only one hour before the Installation was to take place; he put in a written protest. District Grand Secretary Thomas Shotbolt attended; protested orally; then took off his apron and retired. What happened after he left the Lodge is not known, but the Installation did not proceed and for the time the matter was dropped. Later, R.‑. W.‑. Bro. Powell, and R.‑. W.‑. Bro. Burnaby had a conference about the affair with the result that they agreed to submit the matter to the vote of the Brethren of the various Lodges. This was then done. It resulted in polling 194 votes in favor of the proposal, and 28 votes against it.
Since the majority in favor of establishing an independent Grand Lodge was OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 13 so large, a meeting to be held in Victoria was called for October Zi, 1871, to form a Grand Lodge of British Columbia. All the Lodges in the Province, except Union Lodge, No. 899, at New Westminster, sent Representatives. The Grand Lodge of British Columbia was duly formed, M.‑. W.‑. Bro. Israel Wood Powell being elected as first Grand Master and M.'. W.‑. Bro. Robert Burnaby being given the rank of Past Grand Master. All Lodges within the Jurisdiction, except Union Lodge, No. 899, surrendered their Charters to receive others granted by the new Grand Lodge. Their respective numbers on the Grand Lodge Roll were as follows: Victoria Lodge, No. i; Vancouver Lodge, No. 2; Nanaimo Lodge, No. 3 ; Cariboo Lodge, No. 4; British Columbia Lodge, No. S ; Caledonia Lodge, No. 6; Mount Hermon Lodge, No. 7; Quadra Lodge, No. 8.
The absence of Union Lodge, No. 899, from the Convention, and its failure on that account to receive the number on the Grand Lodge Roll to which it was entitled by reason of its seniority‑No. 2‑was due to the determined opposition of Hon. Henry Holbrook, of New Westminster. He took the stand taken by the Secretary of the Grand Lodge of England, namely, that the organisation of a Grand Lodge having such a small number of Lodges was ridiculous. In 1872, however, this Lodge saw the light, surrendered its Charter, and became Union Lodge, No. 9, B. C. R.
By the close of 1872 all other Grand Lodges in Canada and all those in the United States, except that of Indiana, which awaited " the action of the Grand Lodge of England in the matter," had recognised the new Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge of England gave full recognition and a kind and fraternal greeting in 1874. The Grand Lodge of Scotland granted conditional recognition in 1880, but reserved the right to Charter Lodges in British Columbia if it saw fit. This action was followed by unconditional recognition, granted in 1883. Indiana recognised the Grand Lodge of British Columbia in 1881.
From 1870 to 1880 British Columbia was not prosperous. The output of gold from the mines of the Cariboo diminished year by year. The proposed transcontinental railway that was to connect the Province with her eastern sisters was still a matter of negotiation and exploration. Business of the region was nearly at a standstill, and many who had come there during the Cariboo gold excitement of the 6o's were now leaving. As the population decreased, the number of Lodges did likewise. Nanaimo, the coal‑mining town on Vancouver Island, first felt the strain. Since two Lodges were more than it could maintain, in 1873 Nanaimo Lodge, No. 3, and Caledonia Lodge, No. 6, united as Ashlar Lodge, No. 3. Victoria presently discovered that it could not support four Lodges, and in 1877 Victoria Lodge, No. 1, and British Columbia Lodge, No. S, united under the name of Victoria‑Columbia Lodge, No. 1. That year Vancouver Lodge No. 2, and Quadra Lodge, No. 8, united under the name of Vancouver and Quadra Lodge, No. 2. The decrease in the number of Lodges went no further and when the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway caused a revival of business, applications for Charters began to come in. In 1881, residents of Yale, at that time a centre of construction at the Pacific Coast end of the railway, though 14 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION now only a name and a memory, asked for the Charter of a Lodge to be known as Cascade Lodge, No. io. Owing to fires in the town and to changes in railway construction plans, the application was withdrawn within the year and before the Charter was granted. Five years later a Charter was granted to Kamloops Lodge, No. 1o. In 1887 a Charter was granted to Mountain Lodge, No. ii, at Donald, though this Lodge, with the population of the town itself, later removed to Golden, on the Columbia River. In 1888 Cascade Lodge, No. iz., at Vancouver, and Spallumcheen Lodge, No. 13, at Lansdowne (now Armstrong), were Instituted. Since that time the Grand Lodge of British Columbia, whose mere nine Lodges were likely to make it appear " ridiculous " to the Masonic world, according to the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of England, has steadily grown. In 1931 it comprised 115 Lodges having a membership of 15,577 It early became the custom of the Grand Master for the time being to nominate Brethren of standing to visit Lodges and report to him. In 1888 this course of action received the official approval of the Grand Lodge and the Province was divided into four districts: District, No. 1, Vancouver Island; District, No. z., New Westminster; District, No. 3, Yale‑Kootenay; and District, No. 4, Cariboo. In 1931 there were eighteen such districts with a District Deputy Grand Master for each.
The Grand Lodge of British Columbia has never officially used any set form of Ritual. In his address at the first meeting of the Grand Lodge M.‑. W.‑. Bro. Powell pointed out that ... our Grand Lodge is formed by the Union of the English and Scottish crafts of the Province, each of whom are wedded and are partial to, their own particular work. Hence, under any and all circumstances, Lodges taking part in the formation of this Grand Lodge, should have full permission to continue the work they now practise so long as they desire to do so. But I would even go further, and for the present at least ... allow any Lodge that may hereafter be formed, to choose and adopt either ritual at present practised in the Province.
This matter was again considered in Grand Lodge in 1893 and it was then decided that Lodges might select either the English Work, as exemplified by Victoria‑Columbia Lodge, No. i ; the Scottish Work, really the American Work, as exemplified by Ashlar Lodge, No. 3 ; or the Canadian Work, as exemplified by Cascade Lodge, No. 12. The latter, which is that form of English Work used by the Grand Lodge of Canada in Ontario since 1868, should properly be called the Ontario Work.
Though the English Work generally used in British Columbia is the Emulation Work, two Lodges use the Oxford Ritual and one, the Revised Ritual. Another Lodge, Southern Cross Lodge, No. 44, whose first Master was R.‑. W.‑. Bro. J. J. Miller, at one time prominent in Masonic circles of New South Wales, uses the Canadian Work with some of the modifications of the Ritual accepted in that part of the British Empire where the Lodge's first Master formerly resided.
Union Lodge, No. 9, of New Westminster, having been originally Chartered OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 15 by the Grand Lodge of England, at first used the English Ritual. Since, however, a majority of the members were better acquainted with the Scotch, or American, Work, that form was adopted in 1877. It is said that W.,. Bro. William Stewart, who had been Initiated in Scotland during the early part of the nineteenth century and at different times a member of Union Lodge, No. 9, and of Ashlar Lodge, No. 3, first gave the name " Scotch " to the American form of the Ritual. He probably did so because all Lodges which had been Chartered by the Grand Lodge of Scotland used it.
Cariboo Lodge, which was No. 469 on the Register of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and is now No. 4 B. C. R., merits special mention here. It was the outlying Lodge of all early Lodges. So far out was it, indeed, that a trip of 540 miles had to be made in order to reach it. One had to go seventy‑five miles by steamer from Victoria to New Westminster. Another seventy‑five miles by river steamer took one to Yale, the head of navigation on the Fraser River. From there to Barkerville was a stagecoach trip of 390 miles. The journey required so much time and was so difficult to make that Provincial Grand Master Powell never visited the Lodge. When it received its Charter it began to function without assistance from any but its own members. No Provincial Grand Master or Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia ever visited this Lodge until Grand Master William Downie made the trip to Barkerville in 1892.
It was no small community which at that time existed in the heart of the Cariboo Mountains. Gold was the magnet that drew men there. From the mountain streams of that region more than seventy million dollars' worth of precious metal was taken. In the mid‑6o's, so it is claimed, Barkerville had a larger population than any other place on the Pacific coast except San Francisco. Even in 1872, when the population of the Province had greatly decreased, Cariboo Lodge, No. 469, was the second largest Lodge on the Register.
Headed by W.‑. M.‑. Jonathan Nutt, a zealous Mason who on account of his service to Freemasonry was given the rank of Past Senior Grand Warden in 1877, Cariboo Lodge, No. 469, got under way, bought a lot, and built a Masonic Hall. Its membership increased rapidly. Nationality or religious faith was no obstacle to membership, for Swedes, Jews, French‑Canadians, Italians, and others were to be found among its members. During its early years the Lodge was financially prosperous. On September 16, 1868, however, just as the prosperity of Cariboo was beginning to decline, a disastrous fire burnt the whole town of Barkerville to the ground. Only one building escaped destruction. The Masonic Hall was destroyed but the Records of the Lodge were saved. The Lodge immediately began to rebuild its quarters, and on February 2‑o, 1869, it met in a new Hall that it still uses. Despite generous donations from outside sources, the Lodge had difficulty in financing the erection of its new Hall. Mining claims were being worked out and the population was dwindling. After a time, however, the Lodge overcame all its difficulties.
In those early days Barkerville was by no means a peaceful village, as no prosperous mining town far removed from civilisation could be. Because of a 16 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION clever ruse to which members of Cariboo Lodge, No. 469, resorted, we are led to believe that some residents of the settlement, when in their cups, tried to find out what Masons really do in Lodge. In order to prevent any illicit seeker after truth from succeeding in his quest, some resourceful brain suggested an ingenious " silent " or " mechanical " Tyler when the new Hall was built. The stairs to the Lodge room were hinged in the middle. By means of a mechanical contrivance the lower part of the stairway could be raised and held suspended in mid‑air while the Brethren were at Labour. Besides this interesting piece of handiwork massive and handsome furniture was also made and carved by early members of the Lodge.
The Jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia is not confined to the Province alone but also includes the Yukon Territory. The Grand Lodge of Manitoba, whose jurisdiction extended over the whole of the Northwest Terri tories of Canada before the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were formed, originally constituted Lodges in Dawson and White Horse. It proved more convenient, however, for those Lodges to communicate with British Columbia than with Manitoba. With the consent and approval of their Mother Grand Lodge, the Jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia was extended to include Yukon Territory and in 1907 those Lodges became No. 45 and No. 46, respectively, on the Register of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia.
As has been the case in other jurisdictions, the Grand Lodge of British Columbia has had to deal with clandestine Bodies. In 1914 a Representative of the so‑called American Masonic Federation was prosecuted and heavily fined for his illegal acts. Since that time there has been no other trouble.
In 1921 this Grand Lodge celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in fitting style. Representatives from many other Grand Lodges‑England, Canada, and the United States‑were in attendance. Many of the pioneers in the Craft who were present were fittingly introduced to members of the Grand Lodge. Addresses made by the visitors in the Lodge and by the speakers at the anniversary banquet were worthy of the occasion and of the reputation of the Ancient Craft.
As the years go on the Grand Lodge of British Columbia prospers and increases. Many of the Lodges are, of course, in the larger centres of population, but many others, not less worthy of mention, are in settlements tucked away among far‑off mountain mining camps, or along shores of the great inlets that deeply pierce our long seafront. Others are in lumber towns and in the hamlets of agricultural districts. All are working out the great principles of Freemasonry with interest and profit to themselves and with benefit to the communities in which they carry on.
The benevolent and charitable work of the Fraternity is by no means neglected in the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia. From that September day in 1859 when the Masons of Victoria gathered together to inter the body of Bro. S. J. Hazeltine according to Masonic custom, up to the present, those duties have been carried on unceasingly. Charity has unstintedly been extended to those in need. Among the earliest records of Cariboo Lodge, No. 4, OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 17 far up in the Cariboo Mountains, is the casual mention of a Committee that was appointed to inquire into the case of Bro. Miserve, of Mount Moriah Lodge, Washington Territory.. While digging for gold along Mosquito Creek, he had fallen into bad health, so the report said. Yearly Records of the Lodges in this jurisdiction show large sums expended for relief. A benevolent fund, begun in 1872, has been built up by the Grand Lodge from the donations of individuals and constituent Lodges. In 1931 this fund amounted to $326,849.69. Income from it is used to supplement charities of the various Lodges where necessary. In both Vancouver and Victoria, a Masonic service bureau is maintained by the local Lodges. These bureaus look after and assist Masons and their dependents from other jurisdictions while they sojourn here. During the Great War a special relief fund was raised for the assistance of soldier Brethren and their families. This fund was of special value in those troublous times. All such work is carried on quietly, in true Masonic fashion. Few persons know either the extent of Masonic bounty or the names of those who are succoured.
Though British Columbia may not have among its members of the Craft those who are world‑famous, nevertheless many pioneers of the Province who took leading parts in laying the foundations of our Commonwealth were faith ful disciples of the Square and Compasses. Many leaders of bench, bar and church, distinguished business men, and members of the press have been among our members. In the early days, J. J. Southgate, a well‑known merchant, inserted in The Victoria Gazette the advertisement set out in the first paragraph of this article and so initiated the Masonic organisation that has become what it is to‑day. The splendid services to Freemasonry of M.‑.W.‑. Bro. Robert Burnaby, a merchant, and M.'. W.‑. Bro. Israel W. Powell, a medical practitioner, have been in part described earlier in this article. Another distinguished Mason of British Columbia, a man or probity and profound learning, was John Foster McCreight, Deputy Grand Master in 1871, afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court of the Province. Among the well‑known journalists were Amor de Cosmos and David W. Higgins, both at one time residents of Victoria and both men of outstanding ability. The former, regarded by many as a somewhat eccentric person, had his earlier name, W. A. Smith, changed to that given here by an Act of the California Legislature while a member of that body in 1854. De Cosmos was editor of The British Colonist, of Victoria; a member of the Provincial Legislature; and one of the leaders in the movement that resulted in bringing about the union of the two colonies and the subsequent admission of the Province into the Canadian Confederation. He was also a member of the Canadian House of Commons for some years. David W. Higgins was also an editor of The British Colonist. He published two volumes containing stories of early life in British Columbia. These books, The Mystic Spring and The Passing of a Race, are rather fact than fiction. Though long out of print and now scarce, they are still much sought after and eagerly read. Hon. Henry Holbrook, father of Union Lodge, No. 899, at New Westminster, was for many years one of the most influential men in the political life of the mainland colony.
18 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION Major William Downie was another early Mason of British Columbia who can not be forgotten. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, and brought up in Ayr, he was one of those men who have an itching foot, one of those who heard " The Whisper " sung by Kipling Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the RangesSomething lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go! Upon the discovery of gold in the North, he came to British Columbia in 1858. For several years he explored the coast for Governor Douglas, a fellow Scotsman. He visited the Queen Charlotte Islands, passed up the Skeena River to the Fraser, then back to the coast. From 1861 to 1873 he mined in various parts of the Cariboo Country. As late as 1886, at the request of Hon. John Robson, then finance minister in the government of British Columbia, he visited Granite Creek, in the Similkameen District, and later reported on the region. He was in Panama and Costa Rica in 1874 and 1875, and at one time he was on the Yukon River in Alaska. Bro. Downie was the first person Initiated into Vancouver Lodge, No. 2, of Victoria. He became a member of that Lodge in 1862. In his application he gave his occupation as " major and miner." The Records of the Lodge show that he visited it nearly every winter, but never in summer. Thirty years after becoming a Mason at Victoria, Bro. Downie affiliated with Ashlar Lodge, No. 3, at Nanaimo. He died there in 1894 at the age of seventy‑four years.
In later years many leading men of the Province have been zealous members of the Craft. There have been Representatives on the bench of the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of the Province, and the county courts. Many clergymen have taken part in our work, among them His Grace, Archbishop A. U. DePencier, of the Anglican Church in British Columbia. Rev. E. D. McLaren and Rev. C. Ensor Sharp have been Grand Masters. Among the men prominent in political life who also occupied the position of Grand Master were Hon. Simeon Duck, E. Crow Baker, M.P., Ex‑Premier W. J. Bowser, and J. H. Schofield, M.L.A. Among the journalists was F. J. Burd, of The Vancouver Province. Among the medical men were Dr. R. E. Walker and Dr. Douglas Corsan. Among the railroad men were Lacey B. Johnson and William Downie, founder of Cascade Lodge, No. 12, at Vancouver (not the Major William Downie mentioned above). Among members who were leaders in business life were A. R. Milne, Angus McKeown, R. B. McMicking, Alexander Charleston, Frank Bowser, H. H. Watson, E. E. Chipman, H. N. Rich, John M. Rudd, William Henderson, James Stark, W. C. Ditmars, John Shaw, and W. S. Terry. David Wilson, E. B. Paul, and S. J. Willis, superintendent of education for the Province in 1931, were among the educators that were Grand Masters.
It is a matter of great pride to the Masons of British Columbia that the OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 19 present Grand Secretary, Dr. W. A. DeWolf‑Smith, is numbered among our prominent Masons. During his thirty years of Office, first as Grand Historian and later as Grand Secretary, Dr. DeWolf‑Smith has been a tower of strength to the Officers and members of the Craft. In carrying out his duties as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Correspondence he has become well known in all jurisdictions as an erudite Masonic scholar and a brilliant and witty writer.
MANITOBA JAMES A. OVAS HE first Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons to organise in what is now the Province of Manitoba was authorised by M.‑. W.‑. A. T. C. Pierson, 'Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, under a Dispensation dated September 13, 1863. It reached Canada by way of Pembina, Dakota Territory, and Fort Garry, now Winnipeg, in what was then known as the Red River Settlement in the Canadian Northwest. In his address to the Grand Lodge of Minnesota at the eleventh Annual Communication held at St. Paul on October 2], 1863, M.. W.‑.Bro. Pierson, Grand Master of Minnesota, made the following statement: "About the middle of last month I received an Application signed by W.‑.Bro. C. W. Nash, Bro. J. L. Armington, Bro. A. T. Chamblin, Bro. Charles H. Mix, and eight others, who were en route for Pembina, Dakota Territory, for a Dispensation authorising them to open and Work a Lodge. Pembina is the most northern point in the territory of the United States, a great central point where concentrates a large amount of emigration and of travel between the two oceans. The want of a Lodge at that place has been long felt and often expressed; and as the Brethren named were active, well informed, and discreet Masons, the first two, former Masters, and the latter, Wardens of Lodges within this jurisdiction, and as they expected to remain in that hyperborean region for at least two years, I granted a Dispensation to establish a Lodge at Pembina." Prior to holding the first meeting, it was discovered, however, that no name had been given the Lodge in the Dispensation. " How it was settled," says M.‑.W.‑.Bro. William G. Scott, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, in his article " Early Masonry in Manitoba," " I will leave Bro. Nash to describe." The following description was then given " I wrote to the Grand Master calling his attention to the omission, and took occasion to suggest what I thought would be a proper and very appropriate name, and in case it met with his approval to so advise me and direct that I insert it in the Dispensation. The name that was suggested met with his cordial approval and was thus named. It came about in this way: It was at night that I was writing the Grand Master, and going out of my quarters I observed the grandest display above me that it was ever my pleasure to Zo FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION behold. I never witnessed such grandeur of this character before, and I never expect to again. It was an exhibition of Northern Lights. The celestial globe was grand and beautiful in the extreme, and for a long time my eyes feasted upon the sight with delight. It was witnessed by many in our cantonment. On returning to my quarters to complete my letter to the Grand Master, I narrated the circumstances; hence the name, Northern Light Lodge, was given." The Lodge held its first meeting about the middle of January 1864. During the few months that it remained active in Pembina, several residents of Fort Garry and the vicinity made applications for membership, were accepted, and received the Three Degrees of Freemasonry. Among those who became members at that time were Bro. A. G. B. Bannatyne, Bro. W. B. Hall, and Bro. William Inkster. Then, in the early part of that year, application was made to M.‑.W.‑.Bro. Pierson, Grand Master of Minnesota, for a continuance of the Dispensation and for authority to transfer it to Fort Garry. This request was granted. In his address to the Grand Lodge at the twelfth Annual Communication held in St. Paul on October 12, 1864, the M.'. W.‑. the Grand Master reported as follows: " I also renewed the Dispensation of Northern Light Lodge, removing it to the Red River Settlement." The first meeting of the Lodge in Fort Garry was held on November 8, 1864, in a room over the trading‑house of Bro. A. G. B. Bannatyne. In a letter to the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, written in 1895, W.‑.Bro. Schultz described that meeting in the following words And a novelty it was, indeed, in this country at that time! It was spoken of far and wide, and the descriptions, which did not decrease in detail or increase in accuracy, as to what was done therein were listened to with much curiosity, and in some cases, with awesome wonder, which was enhanced by the jocoseness of Bro. Bannatyne's clerks, who spoke knowingly of the whereabouts and propulsive propensities of the goat, and who pointed out from the room below (to wit, the trading‑house), exactly in what part of the upstairs room the W.‑. M.‑. hung his hat while the Lodge was at Work. The Lodge Room itself was made as tasteful as the circumstances of that day would admit, and it may interest the curious to know the exact cost of some of its furniture, as given in a memorandum which I happen to have near me, in the sterling money of the day, namely: tables, &/19/6; inner door, 15/; altar, 19/6; wall‑paper, 39/, 24 black beads, 1 /6; 24 white beads, i /; loo copies of the by‑laws, 40 /. And it may be inferred that the Craft were not always at Work, for I find the following on the same list: 15 tin plates, 15 iron tablespoons, 15 teaspoons, 12 cups and saucers, 1 tin pan, 4 cans of pickled oysters, 1 pound of butter, 1 pound of coffee, and 2 pounds of sugar. This would seem to show that there were intervals for refreshment. The jewels were borrowed ones from the Pembina Lodge; they were used until the following January, the Lodge having commenced Work in November 1864. They were then replaced by finer ones from Chicago, through the good offices of N. W. Kittson.
W.‑. Bro. John Schultz was the first Worshipful Master; Bro. A. G. B. Bannatyne was Senior Warden, and Bro. William Inkster was junior Warden.
OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 21 The three principal Officers mentioned above remained in their respective Offices until December 23, 1867, when Bro. A. G. B. Bannatyne was elected Master; Bro. Thomas Bunn, Senicr Warden and Bro. Juhn Bunn, Junior Warden. I am unable, however, to find any record of their Installation.
The Dispensation was continued year by year by the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, until the year 1867; then a Charter was granted and the Lodge was registered as No. 68. At that time the Committee on Lodges, U. D. reported as follows: " From Northern Light Lodge U. D., located at Fort Garry, no late Returns or Records have been received. In this the Committee deem it proper to present the following facts: Fort Garry is situated on the northern confines of the State, several hundred miles from St. Paul, and far outside the usual mail or transportation facilities, the mails being carried by dog trains through the intervening wilderness, at long intervals and often lost in transit. Transportation is mostly confined to the spring months. These facts may reasonably account for the non‑representation of the Lodge and the non‑receipt of the Records and Receipts of the Lodge. The Lodge was originally organised under letters of Dispensation granted in 1863 to our present M.‑.W.‑.Grand Master and others by Grand Master Bro. A. T. C. Pierson, and has been continued by Dispensation of successive Grand Masters to the present time. It would seem that now the time has arrived when the Lodge should be relieved from its anomalous position. The Committee have had the fullest assurance from responsible sources that the Brethren comprising Northern Light Lodge, U. D. are men of excellent character, of good Masonic attainments, and of undoubted ability to carry on the Work of the Order. After considering these facts they have arrived at the conclusion that it is wrong to make the remote position and consequently inability of these Brethren to communicate with the Grand Lodge at its Annual Communication a reason for depriving them, of the benefit of a Charter. They therefore recommend that a Charter be granted to them, to be issued as soon as they have made their Returns to, and settled their accounts with, the Grand Secretary, to the satisfaction of the Grand Master." The Lodge was never constituted under the Charter, however, for during the troublesome times of 1868‑1869, the members became so scattered that it eventually ceased to exist. In his address at the Annual Communication in 1869, M.'. W .'.Bro. C. W. Nash, Grand Master, made the following reference to this Lodge: " The Lodges which were Chartered at the last Grand Communication have all been properly constituted and the Officers installed, either in person or by proxy, except in the case of Northern Light Lodge, No. 68 located at Fort Garry, British America. The Charter of this Lodge remains in the possession of the Right Worshipful Grand Secretary. The great distance of Fort Garry from an organised Lodge has rendered it impracticable to constitute the Lodge and install its Officers." At the same Sessions, R.‑. W.‑. Bro. William S. Combs, Grand Secretary, also reported as follows: " The Charter issued by the Grand Lodge to Northern Light Lodge, No. 68, at its Session in 1867, has not 22 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION been called for by the proper Officers. I anticipate, however, that the same will be attended to very soon, as I have been in correspondence with the Brethren at Fort Garry." Thus the pioneer Lodge of the great Canadian Northwest, which during the four years of its activity had added to its membership the foremost men of the settlement, terminated its existence.
On November 21, 1870, a Dispensation was issued by M .'. W.‑. Bro. Alexander A. Stevenson, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada, to Bro. Robert S. Patterson, Worshipful Master; Bro. Norman J. Dingman, Senior Warden, Bro. William N. Kennedy, Junior Warden, and six others, to form and hold a Lodge which was designated as Winnipeg Lodge but which, by permission of the Grand Lodge, afterwards changed its name to Prince Rupert's Lodge. The Lodge was located in Winnipeg, Province of Manitoba. It was Instituted on December 1o, 1870, and its Charter was granted on July 13, of the next year. At that time the Lodge was regularly constituted and consecrated as Prince Rupert's Lodge, No. 240 G. R. C., and the Officers were Installed. As Senior Warden, Bro. William N. Kennedy succeeded Bro. Norman J. Dingman, who had removed from the jurisdiction, and Matthew Coyne succeeded Bro. William N. Keenedy as junior Warden.
On January 4, 1871, a Dispensation was issued by M:. W .'. Bro. Alexander A. Stevenson, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada, to Bro. John Frazer, Worshipful Master; George Black, Senior Warden; Thomas Bunn, Junior War den, and four others, to form and hold a Lodge to be designated as Manitoba Lodge, at Lower Fort Garry, in the Province of Manitoba. The name of this Lodge also was afterwards changed, by permission of the Grand Lodge, to Lisgar Lodge. The Lodge was Instituted on February Zo, 1871, a Charter was granted on the following July 13, and the Lodge was regularly constituted and consecrated as Lisgar Lodge, No. 244 G. R. C. Then the Officers were Installed. Bro. George Black succeeded Bro. John Frazer as Worshipful Master, Bro. Thomas Bunn succeeded Bro. George Black as Senior Warden, and William J. Piton succeeded Bro. Thomas Bunn as junior Warden. Permission for the removal of the Lodge from Lower Fort Garry to Selkirk, Manitoba, was subsequently granted.
On April 19, 1871, a Dispensation was also issued by M.'. W.'. Bro. Alexander A. Stevenson, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada, to Bro. Frederick Y. Bradley, Worshipful Master, Bro. W. N. Drew, Senior Warden, Bro. James G. Milen, Junior Warden, and six others, to form and hold a Lodge to be designated as International Lodge, at North Pembina in the Province of Manitoba. This Lodge was never Instituted, however, but when the Dispensation was issued to Emerson Lodge, No. 6, in 1876 Bro. Bradley was named Master.
On September 19, 1872, a Dispensation was issued by M .'. W.‑. Bro. William M. Wilson, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada, to Bro. James Henderson, Worshipful Master, Bro. Arthur H. Holland, Senior Warden, Bro. Walter F. Hyman, Junior Warden, and six others, to form and hold a Lodge OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND z3 to be designated as Ancient Landmark Lodge, at Winnipeg, in the Province of Manitoba. This Lodge was Instituted on December 16, 1872, a Charter was granted on July 9, 1873, the Lodge was regularly constituted and consecrated as Ancient Landmark Lodge, No. 288 G. R. C., and its Officers were Installed.
After that no other Lodges were Instituted until 1875, but during that year a far more important step was decided upon, for it was then that the formation of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba was planned. The preliminary steps toward that goal were taken on April 28, 1875, when the following circular was issued: To the Worshipful Masters, Past Masters, Wardens, Officers, and other Brethren of the several Lodges of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in the Province of Manitoba:‑Brethren, at an influential meeting of the Brethren hailing from the different constitutionally Chartered Lodges of the Province, held in the City of Winnipeg, on the twenty‑eighth day of April, A. D. 1875, it was, after mature deliberation, unanimously resolved that a circular be forwarded to all the Lodges in this Province, requesting them to be duly represented at a Convention to be held in the Masonic Hall, in the City of Winnipeg, on Wednesday, the twelfth day of May, 1875, at three o'clock P.M., for the purpose of taking into consideration the present state of Masonry in this Province, and to proceed, if decided, to the formation of a Grand Lodge for the Province of Manitoba.
No doubt this undertaking was entered into with much misgiving on the part of many Masons. For 3 Lodges, having a combined membership of only 21o, to sever their connection with such a strong organisation as the Grand Lodge of Canada in order to undertake the direction of the affairs of a Grand Lodge in a new country sparsely settled, must have seemed to many a stupendous undertaking. But their action in this matter serves to show the character of the men who carried the project out to a successful issue. There is no finer accomplishment known to mankind than to gain the honour and respect accorded to those who rise above adverse and obscure conditions, and win. From the Proceedings of the Convention held on May 12, 1875, I quote the following resolutions, all of which were carried unanimously: Resolved, That we, the Representatives of the three Warranted Lodges being all the Lodges in this Province, in Convention assembled, Resolve, That " The Most Worshipful the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons " be, and is hereby, formed upon the Ancient Charges and Constitution of Masonry.
Resolved, That in severing our connection from the Grand Lodge of Canada we desire to express our most profound gratitude to that venerable Body for the kind consideration and attention they have always displayed towards us, both as Lodges and individually, and we most ardently desire that the same parental feeling may always be entertained towards us by our mother Grand Lodge, our connection with which we will remember with the greatest pride and affection.
2‑4 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION Resolved, That the Lodges in the Province be numbered on the Grand Register according to their seniority, viz: Prince Rupert's Lodge to be No. i, Lisgar Lodge to be No. 2, Ancient Landmark Lodge to be No. 3.
Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed to assist the M.. W.. Grand Master in preparing the address to sister Grand Lodges, and that R... W... Bro. James Henderson, Grand Senior Warden, R.‑. W.‑. Bro. John Kennedy, Grand Treasurer, and R.‑. W.‑. Bro. the Reverend Canon O'Meara, Grand Chaplain, be that Committee.
Then in his address before the Grand Lodge at its first Annual Communication held on June 14, 1876, M.‑. W.‑. Bro. W. C. Clarke, Grand Master, made the following approving statement: " the usual address to the sister Lodges was sent to all the Grand Bodies on the American continent, that to the European Grand Bodies being deferred till after this Communication, and I am happy to inform this Grand Lodge that in no single case has any fault been found with the constitutionality of our proceedure, but that in some instances I have been congratulated on behalf of the framers of the Grand Lodge by high Masonic authorities on the entire correctness of the steps which have been taken and the result attained. It is my pleasing duty to congratulate you upon the marked success which has so far attended your efforts in the interest of the royal Craft." The mother Grand Lodge of Canada was first to extend Fraternal intercourse with the newly‑formed Grand Lodge of Manitoba, under date of July 14, 1875. As the region became settled, other Lodges were formed in the dif ferent towns throughout the Province and throughout the Northwest Territories, the Grand Lodge of Manitoba having extended its Jurisdiction over the Districts of Alberta, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon Territory. By October 12, i9o5, there were 104 Lodges on the Grand Register, and there was a total membership of 5725. On that date 18 Lodges of the Province of Alberta met at Calgary and formed the Grand Lodge of Alberta. M.‑. W.. Bro. William G. Scott, Grand Master, who was present to Install the Officers of the new Grand Lodge, was elected an Honorary Past Grand Master. At the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge, held in Winnipeg on June 13, 19o6, Fraternal recognition was extended, together with the most kindly greetings and the wish that success and prosperity would attend the new Grand Lodge, the first daughter Grand Lodge of the Grand Body of Manitoba. Then, on August 9, 19o6, 29 Lodges of the Province of Saskatchewan met at Regina and there formed the Grand Lodge of Saskatchewan, the second daughter Grand Lodge. At that meeting, M.''. W.‑. Bro. John McKechnie, Grand Master, and M.‑. W.‑. Bro. James A. Ovas, Past Grand Master and Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, who were present to Install the Officers of the new Grand Lodge of Saskatchewan, were elected Honorary Past Grand Masters. At the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, held in Winnipeg on June 12, 1907, Fraternal recognition was also extended to the new Grand OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 25 Lodge of Saskatchewan and the same good wishes were expressed for its future well‑being as had been extended to its sister Grand Lodge of Alberta. At this Communication, Yukon Lodge, No. 79, of Dawson City, and White Horse Lodge, No. 81, of White Horse, in the Yukon Territory, applied to the Grand Lodge of Manitoba for permission to surrender their Charters and to be allowed to apply to the Grand Lodge of British Columbia for affiliation. The principal reason advanced for wating to make the change was stated as follows: " The Province of British Columbia is adjacent and contiguous to the Yukon Territory and bound to it by Commercial and other relations which cause continual intercourse between the residents of both Districts." Upon its receipt, this Petition was duly considered by the Board of General Purposes, and upon their recommendation it was granted by the Grand Lodge of Manitoba.
No history of Masonry in western Canada would be complete without an account of the life of M.‑. W .'. Bro. James A. Ovas. This faithful and distin guished Mason was born near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on July Zo, 18 He was Initiated in Manito Lodge of Collingwood, Ontario, in 1877, and shortly afterwards he turned his steps to the Great West at that time little known. For some years his business activities were centered in Souris, Manitoba, and in Rapid City. In both places his name appears in the local Masonic histories as an active member, an Officer, and a Worshipful Master. On June 13, 1900) the Grand Lodge of Manitoba elected him to be Grand Secretary, and on June 11, 1934, he was re‑elected for the thirty‑fifth consecutive term.
Bro. Ovas's interest in Masonic lore and activities has taken him into practically every branch of Masonic organisation. He was elected Grand Master of Manitoba in 18go. He reached the Thirty‑third Degree of Scottish Rite Masonry in October, 191o. To enumerate all the other Offices and memberships which he has held would occupy more space than is permitted in this brief review.
Among the honours which have been showered upon Bro. Ovas, one is represented by a Certificate which hangs framed above his desk in the Masonic Temple. It proclaims M.‑. W.‑. Bro. James A. Ovas to be a Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of England. Combining as it does his wide Fraternal interests and friendships and his fervent loyalty to the land of his forefathers, of all his honours this one is most treasured.
When Bro. Ovas was Grand Master, and later when he was elected to be Grand Secretary, his jurisdiction was the largest in area in the world. It extended from Ontario westward to the Rocky Mountains, and from the United States boundary northward to the limits of life. To‑day three Grand Lodges cover this territory. Of them all, Manitoba is numerically smallest. Bro. Ovas remains an inspiring figure, linking the pioneer past with the present, and projecting into a future whose horizon is limited only by his eighty‑one years, an influence and broad‑minded brotherhood which can never know decay. Passed away March 9, 1935.
END PAGE 25 26 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINION MARITIME PROVINCES REGINALD V. HARRIS* HE territory commonly known as the Maritime Provinces of Canada, which comprises Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, is to‑day under the jurisdiction of three Grand Lodges. Never theless, until some sixty years ago, the Masonic histories of those three jurisdictions were more or less closely interwoven, and it seems advisable therefore, at least in the earlier pages of this article, to consider as a single unit the entire territory now covered by the three jurisdictions.
The reader is doubtless familiar with the chief facts of the early history of the Maritime Provinces‑the early voyages and explorations of DeMonts and Champlain, and of other adventurers and colonisers; the founding of the first settlement at Port Royal, now Annapolis Royal, in 1604, and the numerous sieges of that place; the period of the French regime, which ended in Nova Scotia in 1710, fifty years before its termination in 1759‑176o; the two sieges of the great French stronghold of Louisbourg, the one in 1745 and the other in 1758; the founding of Halifax in 1749; the expulsion of the Acadians in 1755; the establishment of representative government in 1758; the period of the American War for Independence and the coming to Canada of the Loyalists in the period between 1775 and 1785; the setting off of the Provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton; the struggle for responsible government; the Confederation of most of British North America into the Dominion of Canada in 1867; and the subsequent economic and political development of the country to its present status. The story is intensely interesting, as all readers of Parkman, Murdock, and other capable historians can testify. Interesting though the complete history be, this article must, nevertheless, be confined only to the story of Freemasonry in the Maritime Provinces, a story which covers approximately two hundred years. Although some writers claim to have discovered evidence of Masonic activity dating back still farther, their alleged evidence is only inferred from known facts, or is based only on tradition. In fact, fiction and false hypotheses account for much of it.
In any history of the Craft in the Maritime Provinces, reference must first be made to the so‑called Annapolis Royal " Masonic Stone of 16o6. In 1827 the eminent geologist, Dr. Charles T. Jackson, of Boston, discovered a flat slab of trap rock on the shores of Annapolis Basin, In Nova Scotia. This stone which bore the Masonic Square and Compasses together with the date 16o6, was given to the Honourable Justice T. C. Haliburton, distinguished author of Sam Slick the Clock Maker. Then, about 1887 it was turned over by justice Haliburton's son to the Canadian Institue, in Toronto, for the purpose of being * In the reparation of the following article on Freemasonry in the Maritime Provinces, the writer gratefully ackowledges the he p and co‑operation of M.'. W:. Bro. James Vroom, Past Grand Master of New Brunswick, since deceased, and M::W..Bro. George W. Wakeford, Prince Edward Island.
OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 27 inserted, with the inscription exposed, in the wall of the Institute's building. Unfortunately, however, s
