200th Anniversary
The Bi-Centenary rededication ceremony and celebration dinner was held on Saturday 5th May 2018.
There was a 200th Anniversary Jewel for sale to commemorate this special day at a cost of £10.
As you may or may not be aware, Lodge St John No. 272 was granted a Charter by the Grand Lodge of Scotland on Monday, 4th May 1818, and with this in mind a Special Meeting of the Lodge to start our bi-centenary celebrations took place on Tuesday 30th January 2018 at 7:00pm Tyle. All the Brethren of St John 272 were looking very much forward to this even and to welcoming all its visitors.
The Special Meeting was a Second or Fellow Craft Degree by the current and past Commissioned Office-bearers of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Linlithgowshire.
200 Anniversary Celebrations – A Few Historical Facts
1. Freemasonry is found to have started in Mid Calder between the years 1700 and 1710 under the Patronage of Lord Torphicen.
2. Between 1765 and 1800 no meetings were held in Mid Calder. It was decided to apply for a new charter. There is still a jewel (SD mallet) from the original Lodge in use to the present day in St John Mid Calder 272.
3. On 18th February 1818 at a meeting in Kippens Inn (Torphicen Arms Hotel) it was unanimously agreed to petition Grand Lodge of Scotland to grant a new charter. An answer was received from the Secretary on the 5th of May authoring the Brethren to proceed with their Masonic labours. The first RWM of the Lodge was Bro. Thomas Fraser. On the 21st May it was agreed by the Office Bearers clothing be of Crimson velvet.
4. 1830 – The Brethren attended a procession on the 18th May to the laying of a Foundation Stone at the Right Honourable Lord Torphichen’s Gate.
5. 1849 – The first Masonic Ball was held in the Lemon Tree Inn, Mid Calder on the 12th January.
6. 1857 – Thursday 24th June and 30 members with a ticket from the Lodge proceeded to the laying of the Foundation Stone of the Free Masons Hall in Edinburgh.
7. 1863 – On the 13th June Provincial Grand Lodge was held in the Schoolroom at Mid Calder, when Bro. Sir Alexander Charles Gibson Maitland, Baronet, Provincial Grand Master of Stirlingshire took the Chair. On this day a procession marched to the Parish Church of Mid Calder when the Foundation Stone of the large addition to it was to be laid in Masonic Order.
8. 1868 –on the 18th February it was agreed that the Jubilee meeting would take place on the 5th of May. It was also proposed and seconded that Right Hon. Lord Torphicen was unanimously elected Patron of the Lodge.
9. 1890 – The termination of the Meetings in the Torphicen Arms Hotel on 17th December was marked by a torch lit procession to Mid and East Calder. The Brethren then assembled in the Literary Institute Hall which, according to the Minute was now the ‘aboad’ of the Lodge.
10. 1914 – In this year a donation of £5 was given to the War relief Fund.
11. 1918 – The Centenary Anniversary of the Lodge was held on the 4th of May in the Institute Hall, Mid Calder. According to the minute book June was a busy month for the Lodge, 1st June – 1st Degree, 12 candidates, 15th June Mark Degree 18 candidates, 22nd June 1st Degree 7 candidates, 29th June, 10 candidates.
12. 1923 – The 7th of May was considered a red letter day in the history of the Lodge as the decision to proceed with the building of our new Temple was given. The laying of the Foundation Stone was carried out by the Provincial Grand Master Bro. Henry Robinson on the 29th of December.
13. 1924 – The new Temple was Consecrated at a Special Meeting on the 4th of October by the Provincial Grand Master Bro. Henry Robinson.
14. 1938 – Tuesday 18th October, a unique occasion in the Lodge when 4 members of one family were initiated on the same night. Four sons of Bro. Archibald Wilson were initiated (another son was previously initiated on 5th April).
15. 1944 – On Saturday 25th March at the Installation of Office Bearers of Provincial Grand Lodge by the Most Worshipful Grand master Mason Bro. Captain John Christie Stewart of Murdostoun, D.L, J.P. and 294 Brethren signed the attendance book.
16. 1967 – On January 17th a presentation of a Silver Trowel was made to Bro. W. Kirk RWM by P.M Bro. Browning of Lodge Kirknewton and Ratho No.85. This was the trowel used by Bro. Henry Robinson R.W.P.G.M , when he laid the foundation stone of our temple on the 29th December 1923.
17. 1968 –The rededication ceremony for the 150th Anniversary of the Lodge was held on Saturday 4th May with The Most Worshipful Grand Master Mason Bro. Major Sir Ronald Orr Ewing , Bt., Dl., J.P ., in attendance. The ceremony was followed by a march by over 200 Brethren to the War Memorial at the head of the village where a wreath was laid in memory of all the fallen.
18. 1973 – On the 9th of November the M.W. Grand Master Mason, David Liddell Grainger of Ayton, headed a Deputation to the Lodge on a Special Visitation to meet with RWM Bro. Gordon Hay, Office-bearers and Brethren along with their wives and partners. This was part of a whirlwind visitation to the Lodges in the Province of Linlithgowshire.
19. 1976 – 3rd December – Bro. George Preston succeeded Morris Cowan as RWM and on this occasion at our Installation Meeting, for the first time in the History of the Lodge a father, John Preston, Past Master, treasurer, installed his son into the Chair.
20. 1993 – On the 8th of May Bro. Andrew Bennett RWM welcomed Lodge St John Mid Calder No.272 Brethren, guests and visiting brethren to the 175th Re-dedication meeting.
21. 2002 – On the 25th of May, a meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Linlithgowshire was held within the Masonic Hall, Mid Calder for the purpose of Installation of Bro. George Preston as Provincial Grand Master and the Commissioned Office Bearers.
22. 2018 – On the 5th of May………………
