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Saturday, 18th January
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TBA...
In the beginning...
Southend in 1890 was a rapidly growing town and there was only one Masonic Lodge in the borough, Priory Lodge 1000.
It was felt that another Lodge needed to be formed and 20 brethren from various Lodges signed a Petition which was submitted to the Earl of Warwick, Provincial Grand Master for Essex, to form a new Lodge to be called the Albert Lucking Lodge.
The Petition was drafted by the officers of the St. Clement’s Lodge No 2442 who met at the Bell Hotel, Leigh-on-Sea. The submission was made on 21st May 1898 and granted on 1st June.
The consecration meeting was held at the Westcliff Hotel with the Provincial Grand Master, the Earl of Warwick, in the chair and consecrating officer.
He appointed W. Bro Thomas Hood (PM Priory Lodge 1000) to be the first Master,
Bro. Walter Scott Miller the Senior Warden and W. Bro Frederick England the Junior Warden.
On the warrant it states that the meetings were to take place at the Westcliff Hotel on the third Saturday’s in September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April and May. However, for some reason (not known) a Notice of Motion dated 28th October 1907 was approved cancelling the May and September meetings. The April and December meetings were also cancelled but we have no record of when this occurred.
Another Notice of Motion in 1900 changed the venue to the Masonic Hall, Whitegate Road, where meetings were held until March 1909.
Southend High Street circa 1890
W. Bro Albert Lucking
From 1909 until 1924 the Lodge met at the Victoria Hotel in Southend High Street (the top end now next to Victoria Circus). In 1924 the Lodge moved to Garon's Restaurant (further down Southend High Street) where it remained until we moved to the Woodgrange Drive temple in 1957 and finally moving to our present magnificent temple in Saxon Hall during 2006.
It is interesting to see that from 1898 until 1936 it was the custom for each reigning Master to sign his name on the Warrant. Why this stopped is not known, but perhaps it was suddenly realised that when the warrant is delivered into the hand of the newly installed Master his predecessor tells him that he will transmit it, pure and unsullied, as he now receives it!
At the second meeting of the Lodge on 21st January 1899, W. Bro Albert Lucking took the chair and initiated his brother Edward and five other gentlemen! At the February meeting they were Passed to the Degree of a Fellowcraft; and at the May meeting they were all raised! - The Deacons certainly had their work cut out for them in those days.
Updated but originally written and included in the Lodge centenary book ‘Our First One Hundred Years’ 1898—1998
A great deal of thanks must be extended to W. Bro Innell (the compiler) who has made extensive research through the lodge records and produced our above centenary book—many sections of which have been reproduced on this site.