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![[Victoria Lodge]](victoria_lodge.jpg)
The
Organization of the
Grand Lodge of B.C.
On the 19th March,
1859, a warrant was granted by the Earl of Zetland, Grand Master
of England, authorizing the formation of a lodge at Victoria,
Vancouver’s Island. The warrant took some time to reach the
petitioners, for it was not until the
20th August, 1860, that the lodge was finally constituted as
Victoria Lodge, No. 1085 E.C. (later No. 783) at a meeting
held over Hibben & Coswell’s store, at the corner of Yates and
Langley Streets, J.J. Southgate being its first Worshipful
Master.
Some months later, Union Lodge No. 1201 E.C. (later No. 899),
New Westminster, in the Colony of British Columbia, was
organized, Henry Holbrook being nominated first Worshipful
Master. Owing to a dispute as to the Junior Warden-elect, a
warrant was not granted until the 16th December, 1861.
About the time Union Lodge was being organized, a number of
American residents in Victoria, being unfamiliar with the
English work, decided to petition the Grand Lodge of Washington
for permission to form a lodge under that grand jurisdiction.
Hearing of this, Victoria Lodge, at a meeting held on the 24th
January, 1861, passed the following resolution: "Whereas, we
have been informed that a party in this community have applied
to the Grand Lodge of Washington Territory for a Dispensation or
Warrant to organize a Lodge of F.& A.M. in this town, it is,
therefore, resolved that while we hail the Grand Lodge of
Washington Territory and all other Grand Lodges as Brethren and
Masons, we do not recognize their power to grant Dispensations
and Warrants emanating from any other source than from the Grand
Lodges of the mother country in this place we shall hold as
clandestine, and all Masons visiting such Lodges cannot be
recognized as Masons." The petition to the Grand Lodge of
Washington Territory was thereupon withdrawn.
Shortly afterwards, some unattached brethren asked Victoria
Lodge to recommend a petition they proposed to sent to the Grand
Lodge of Scotland making application for a warrant to form a
lodge under that grand jurisdiction. This request was granted at
a meeting held on the 15th May, 1862, at which the following
resolution was passed: "That the Victoria Lodge No. 1085
cordially responds to the petition of the Brethren desirous to
establish a Lodge under the Grand Lodge of Scotland; but in
doing so, they reserve the precedence of the Grand Lodge of
England in general Masonic affairs within the colony, and they
communicate this resolution to the Grand Lodge of England as a
matter of record."
The warrant from the Grand Lodge of Scotland came along in due
course, and, on the 20th October, 1862, Vancouver Lodge, No. 421
S.C. was duly constituted, William Jeffery being its first
Worshipful Master.
On the 15th May, 1867, Nanaimo Lodge, No. 1090 E.C., was
constituted by the officers and brethren of Victoria Lodge, who
proceeded to Nanaimo in regalia for that purpose, being
authorized to do so under a dispensation granted from the Grand
Master of the United Grand Lodge of England.
This year, 1867, a second English lodge was warranted in
Victoria under the name of British Columbia Lodge No. 1187. It
was this year, too, that a Grand Lodge of Scotland Commission
appointed Dr. Isræl Wood Powell, for whom Powell River, B.C. is
named, Provincial Grand Master of British Columbia. The
Provincial Grand Lodge was organized on the 24th December, 1867.
At this meeting, the newly appointed Provincial Grand Master
announced that he had granted dispensations for the formation of
two new lodges—Cariboo Lodge No. 466 at Barkerville, and
Caledonia Lodge No. 478 at Nanaimo.
On the 14th March, 1868, a District Grand Lodge was organized
under the Grand Lodge of England, with Robert Burnaby, for whom
Burnaby, B.C. is named, as District Grand Master. His patent was
dated September 10, 1867.
Mount Hermon Lodge, the fourth under the Grand Lodge of
Scotland, was organized at Burrard Inlet during January, 1869.
Quadra Lodge, Victoria, also under the Grand Lodge of Scotland,
was constituted two years later. There were then five Scottish
and four English lodges working in British Columbia in the
spring of 1871.
A movement to organize an independent Grand Lodge had been
started by Vancouver Lodge at its regular meeting held on the
16th December, 1868. The matter was brought up for further
consideration at a meeting held on the 2nd January, 1869, when
the idea was generally agreed to by the lodge, a series of
resolutions being passed which were communicated to the other
lodges. All but one of the Scottish lodges fell in line with
Vancouver Lodge, while the English lodges refused to entertain
the proposition.
Dr. Powell, too, refused to move in the matter without the
consent of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, which seems to have been
withheld. Undaunted, Vancouver Lodge went ahead with its scheme
after submitting it to several American and the other Canadian
Grand Lodges, by whom, seemingly, it was favourably received.
Anyway, a convention was called at Victoria on the 18th March,
1871, to act on the matter. The District Grand Master, Robert
Burnaby, refused to allow his English Lodges to attend, but the
Scottish Lodges held the convention and decided to form an
independent Grand Lodge. Dr. Powell, who was in England at the
time, was elected Grand Master.
The Hon. Ellwood Evans, Past Grand Master of Washington, was
asked to attend and install the officers of the new Grand Lodge,
which he agreed to do. However, the District Grand Secretary,
acting on the instructions of the English District Grand Master,
Robert Burnaby, attended the meeting and lodged an official
protest against the proceedings, which was effectual in putting
a stop to things for the time being.
As a result of this, bitter discord arose between the English
and Scottish Lodges where formerly had existed the utmost
friendliness and co-operation. This was the state of affairs
when Dr. Powell returned from his trip to England. Noticing it,
with regret, he and English District Grand Master, Robert
Burnaby, at once discussed the whole situation thoroughly,
finally deciding that it was obviously desirable to form an
independent Grand Lodge if a majority of the members of the two
jurisdictions wanted it. Having come to this decision, Powell
and Burnaby issued circular letters to their subordinate lodges,
instructing the members to vote on the question. The result of
the vote was one hundred and ninety-four in favor of an
independent Grand Lodge and twenty-eight against.
A convention was therefore called in Victoria on the 21st
October, 1871, at 7:30 p.m., "to determine details and to take
such action as may be deemed necessary for the formation of an
independent Grand Lodge of Free Masons in British Columbia."
The convention having assembled, James A. Grahame was
unanimously elected chairman and H.F. Heisterman secretary.
After certain necessary preliminary business had been
transacted, Robert Burnaby moved and Dr. Isræl Wood Powell
seconded, the following resolution: "That in order to establish
perfect fraternal harmony and concord, to promote the lasting
welfare of the Masonic fraternity in British Columbia, it is
expedient to form a Grand Lodge in and for the Province of
British Columbia." This resolution was carried unanimously and
with much enthusiasm.
It was then moved by S. D. Levi, and seconded by M.W. Waitt,
"That the representatives now in convention assembled on behalf
of their respective lodges represented by them, do hereby
declare themselves to be and that they now proceed to organize
The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted
Masons of British Columbia." This was carried unanimously, and
it was also agreed "that the constitution of the Grand Lodge of
England for the present be adopted."
Grand Lodge then proceeded to the election of officers, when the
following were declared unanimously chosen:
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Grand Master |
Dr. Isræl Wood Powell |
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Deputy Grand Master |
Hon. John Foster McCreight
the first Premier of British Columbia |
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Senior Grand
Warden |
Simeon Duck,
M.P.P. |
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Junior Grand Warden |
Henry Nathan,
Jr.
the first Jewish member of Parliament in Canada
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Grand Chaplain |
Rev. F.
Gribbell |
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Grand Secretary |
H.F. Heisterman
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Grand Treasurer |
M.W. Waitt
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Grand Tyler |
J. P. Hall
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| Robert Burnaby,
the late English District Grand Master who refused the Grand
Master’s office because of ill health, was made the first Past
Grand Master, and James A. Grahame, for his services as chairman
of the convention, was given the rank of Past Deputy Grand
Master.
The convention later adjourned until 2:00 p.m. on the 26th
December, 1871, when it reassembled at the Masonic Hall,
Government Street, Victoria, and proceeded to finally and
regularly organize the Grand Lodge of British Columbia. A ball
was subsequently held in honour of the inauguration of the Grand
Lodge, at which grand officers and members of subordinate lodges
were granted dispensations by the Grand Master Dr. I. W. Powell
to appear in public in full regalia.
Compiled
by RW Bro James Harrison from the records of Grand Lodge, with
additions by VW Bro. Trevor W. McKeown. Cf. An Account of the
Establishment and Subsequent Progress of Freemasonry in the
Colony of British Columbia from its origin in 1859, to 1871.
Thos. Shotbolt. Victoria B.C., 1871. Printed at the British
Colonist Office, 1871. Reference:
Library at Grand Lodge, Catalogue No. R17.9711G73p. |
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