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 Bo'ness & Freemasonry |
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First
Masonic Lodge. The "Pythogoric" Lodge, which
stood as No. 90 on the roll of the Grand Lodge had its first minuted
meeting dated 27th December 1768 and the last recorded minute
was dated 21st December 1789. It is probable that the Lodge was founded in 1759 as one surviving page form the minute book states "that from and after the 17th of July 1760 every Brother upon being made a Royal Arch mason in the Pythagoric Lodge shall pay dues thereto - five shillings." The "Ancient Brazen" Lodge of Linlithgow dates back to 2nd March 1654. By 1768 it owned its own Temple, however, by the 1780's attendance's had fallen from about 20 to 10 with the last initiation taking place on Christmas day 1787. The Lodge was declared dormant by the Grand Lodge in 1799 and erased from the roll in 1809. The Douglas Lodge (409) has copies of these early Masonic minutes. Charles Addison, Dr J Short, Dr John Roebuck and his brother Benjamin were all Brothers. A group of Bo'nessian Masons applied to resurrect the "Pythagoric" Lodge in Bo'ness in 1860, but were refused permission by the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Permission was however granted on 5th November 1860 to open a new Lodge, which gave birth to the Douglas Lodge, probably named after the Hamilton-Douglas family. Hence on Thursday 10th January 1861 the first meeting of the Douglas Lodge took place at 7.30 p.m. in the Freemasons Tavern for the purpose of Entering Apprentices. Thirteen new members were admitted, the first of 80 to be admitted in the first year, the RWM was William Spence of the Star Lodge Glasgow. It was not until 23rd May 1861 that the Douglas Lodge received its official Charter from the Grand Lodge and the first office-bearers were duly elected at a meeting on 28th May when Brother Spence was officially appointed as the RWM. As a busy harbour Bo'ness had more than its fair share of visiting Masons from abroad and because of this it received a communication from the Grand Lodge about being cautious when admitting visitors and especially French who did not adhere to one of the basic principals of Scottish freemasonry. In the first 50 years of its existence the Douglas Lodge had no less that ten different meeting places, therefore in 1908 a sub-committee was formed to find a more permanent building or site suitable to build a Temple could be found. The first choice was St Mary's Church, which was no longer being used by the Roman Catholics, and a price of £425 was agreed on for the purchase of the building. Although plans were drawn up to convert the former Chapel work never started as the church authorities had a last minute change of heart and decided not to sell the premises. The current building was built on land purchased from Brother Kilpatrick, and plans were quickly drawn up for the construction of the Temple for an estimated cost of £1,200. Designed by Matthew Steele for a fee of £60 17s 0d, the foundation stone for the 409 Douglas Lodge Temple sited in Stewart Avenue was laid on 14th August 1909 by Provincial Grand Master Brother Robert Kirk. On 9th February 1910 the new Douglas Lodge Temple was officially  opened
by Provincial Grand Master Brother Robert Kirk, the Douglas Lodge
RWM at the time was Brother John Oliver. The cost of the Temple,
excluding the purchase of the land, was £1,328 5s 2d. Captain Harcus Strachan had immigrated from Bo'ness to Canada by the time WWI was declared and thus enlisted by joining the Fort Garry, Canadian Cavalry. In the early years of the war he was awarded the Military Cross for "conspicuous valour". It was for bravery at the Battle of Cambria on the 20th November 1917 that Lt. Strachan received the Victoria Cross. Having taken command of the regiment when his Commanding Officer was killed Lt. Strachan killed seven of the enemy with his sword, destroyed an important gun emplacement, cut communications and returned to his lines with prisoners. Prior to winning the V.C. Harcus Strachan was initiated into freemasonry at the Douglas Lodge on 22nd January 1917.
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Calor
Scotland
Scottish Community of the Year 2002 WEBSITE COMMENDED |
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