AT THE SIGN OF THE GEORGE

As has been stated a short time after the Moderns had started a lodge in Hull the Ancients opened one in Church Lane at the sign of the George [No78] on the Ancient Grand Lodge roll [Peck]. This was on the 3rd.Sept.1759. Which George the inn was named after is not known but it was an aptly named venue, for George the Third ascended the throne soon after in 1760. The Masons met there for only 2 years but their Warrant existed for many more, though dormant. The first Worshipful Master[WM] was Nathaniel Chapman ,who together with Thomas Robson, a mariner and Sutcliffe Shipley are the only names passed down. Each took the chair for 6 months, changing on St. John the Baptist’s day, 24 th June and on the 27th of December, which was the day of St. John, the Evangelist. These days coincide with the summer and winter solstices. The stonemasons, working on cathedrals and churches, would know about their saints and would see these two saints as straight and upright men, given to brotherly love, relief [charity] and truth, as Freemasons are exhorted to be and do. Benjamin Twigg, a tallow chandler, was a member. Thomas Robson appears in the 1774 poll books but otherwise these brethren disappear into history without trace. The ritual has not been preserved but it is assumed that it would be that of the Ancients, with minor lodge variations. The method of electing officers was a somewhat cumbersome one, each officer being proposed by the WM and then balloted for in turn, or if not chosen by him, by his wardens, those officers who assisted him. This form of selection was also in use by Minerva, a later local lodge, but not an Ancients one. The Worshipful Master took the Chair each year and was assisted by two wardens, two deacons and an inner and outer guard. A lodge treasurer and a secretary were essential, together with stewards, who kept the lodge functioning. The rituals were predominantly the business of the Master, the wardens the deacons, and the guards.

The George, in Church lane, is not mentioned in any of the contemporary sources and is lost in the mists of time. It was probably a minor tavern in a busy little street, surrounded by shops and small houses, adjacent to the High Street, where the prosperous merchants lived and worked. On the corner was a silversmiths, but in Church Lane the shops were of a more basic nature. They included four cordwainers [shoemakers but not boots], four hucksters [itinerant traders, usually women who sold small miscellaneous goods and in some cases themselves.] two hairdressers, two bakers, and a ginger bread maker, and of course several pubs. By the time that this lodge was founded [1759] the cobbled streets of Church Lane had been replaced by paving for many years [since about 1718 [Carleton Monkton], and a central gutter replaced with side gutters in 1772[Markham] A Mason emerging from the tavern slightly the worse for drink, in the dimly lit lane would be quite likely to step into the gutter. The street lighting was by means of householders hanging lanterns outside their property, when they bothered, and then only if the moon was not shining fully. A lighting rate was introduced in 1762 to improve street lighting and later the parish organised the lighting using whale oil lamps until 1820. [Gillett] Beer was 3d a pot [1 quart] and Hull water made good pale ale. In 1795 when the press gangs were active, an inn, the Ship Glory, in Church Lane, was one of the places that they stayed at. In 1803 this pub was partially destroyed by the mob to show their disapproval of the press gang’s actions. It was obviously an old building because it had an over hanging upper storey. Several adjacent buildings were damaged, perhaps even the George. In 1788, a Crown and Anchor was listed at no 3. [Licensee, John Haywood.] This became the Ship Glory later. There seemed to have been four named pubs in Church Lane in the late 18 th.century, according to the street directories none of them the George, though conceivably one of them might have been at one time.

Pubs came and went as the economic picture varied. The profit margin was small on the lesser places and beer once brewed did not keep long, which did not help sustain profitability. The minimum production from simple apparatus was six barrels and the quality was variable. A brewing victualler could not produce a range of beers, ales, and porter [a heavy dark beer] because of his limited capacity and eventually was replaced by the larger, separate breweries and tied houses. In time the successful breweries were able to export beers. There is mention of early inns in Richardson’s “Streets of Hull”, when there was a meeting [for a new pavement in West St.] at Mr. Sonley’s, at the sign of the Portsmouth in Church Lane in 1788. This was probably owned by Thomas Ward and run by Mr. Sonley as a tenant landlord. Thomas Ward is listed as the inn holder of the Portsmouth as early as 1776. In 1796 Thomas Ward died and left to his family an inn called the George and Dragon in Church Lane. Could this have been the original George? Thomas is noted as an innkeeper in this area from 1766 and over the years bought up property there, so much so that there was a site called Mary’s Place, in or off Church Lane in memory of one of his daughters, who inherited property there. This was on the north side of Church Lane towards the centre. The Portsmouth eventually became the Beehive in 1848, a Masonic symbol for industry. All this area on the north side later belonged to Lofthouse and Saltmer, wholesale manufacturing chemists, and so the Portsmouth and the Juno pub disappeared and quite possibly the George andDragon as well by the early 1900’s. Instead of beer, Reinhardt’s castor oil pills were made and sold on the site. Now the whole lane has gone and is replaced by King William House, built in 1976.

Thomas Ward is of interest as being the father of a John Ward who ran the brewery in Dagger Lane which was inherited by John in 1796.Thomas Ward was a member of the Rodney Lodge [founded 1781], and the father in law of Robert Gleadow, whose family were also involved in the Rodney Lodge. The Gleadows founded the Hull Brewery. In those days every village would have its own little brewery and the Cock and Crown, and the Bull and Sun, certainly brewed their own beer. Other taverns might buy their beer from an adjacent brewing victualler who had spare supplies, over and above the needs of his own pub. An example might be the Masons Arms in Chapel Lane, which in 1796 was very near to a brewery run by William Downes. In Church Lane there was a brewery and perhaps the George bought its supply there. In Yorkshire 60% of the beer was produced by these small licensed victuallers who produced mainly for themselves. There were only a few full time brewers, and even these probably had a second occupation to stabilise their income. Bankruptcies were common. Many pubs were badly managed and disorderly, attracting the attentions of the authorities. Unlike modern pubs, they were cheap to set up and easily changed to another use.

The George Lodge was reported by J. Riley as being successful and hindering the progress of the other Moderns lodge .As it ceased to function within two years this seems unlikely. Hull being a port and the Ancients appearing to be more attractive to seafarers than the Moderns it is possible that economic factors in maritime trade affected the numbers of members and that the lodge became non viable.

As it has not proved possible to find any trace of the George and as the street no longer exists, unless serendipity plays a hand, we never will. Not all pubs appeared in the directories even in later years and landlords and pub names changed frequently. In these circumstances it is not surprising if only the better known, wealthier and more permanent ones are recorded. The George and Dragon bought by Charles Hart from the Ward family in 1797 certainly continued without any advertising, until sold on by Hart to R. Bartlett, a cork manufacturer, in 1812. Records from 1740-- 1800 do not mention a George and if it became the George andDragon the fact was not mentioned. Nothing is written down until the 1790’s, when Ward was recorded as buying the latter, along with two associates.

Near here stood the hall of the Coopers Guild which served as a meeting place for many other guilds and societies for some years. It was in Hales Entry [the small street that lay immediately to the North of Church Lane and leading from the Market Place] and brought in a stream of revenue for the Guild, a fact the Masons could have learnt from to their advantage in later years. It was 3 stories high and the 1st and 3 rd floor were let out at 20 shillings a room, per day, as was the hall on the middle floor, on any occasion that they were not using it themselves. Care was required to make sure that any guilds in conflict with each other were not booked close together. On one period the hall was hired out to a music class until the neighbours complained!

THE KINGS HEAD.

For reasons unknown on 27 th Oct. 1761 another Modern’s lodge was formed in the town and met at the Kings Head, which stood in Mytongate, opposite the Bull and Sun. It had access through to the Market Place. The lodge was known, as were the others before it, by the name of the inn where it held its meetings i.e. the Kings Head and was numbered 267. The inn was an important hostelry and the Keeper of the carriers worked there, whose job it was to organise the carrier trade to the outlying towns and villages. This hostelry stood for many years but the whole area was eventually demolished the 1970’s, so no traces remain. It was known as the French Horn in 1803, the Freemasons Tavern in 1806, and the Wheat sheaf in 1813. It must have been confusing for the customers. Again nothing much is known of this Lodge. Possibly the Masonic name was just an alternative because Freemasons drank there.

Every man who became a Mason had to go through three ceremonies called degrees, before he could be called a Master Mason. A further ceremony was later taken by some, which then entitled that person to become a member of a group which met separately under the title of a Royal Arch Chapter. The Kings Head Lodge had a Royal Arch Chapter attached to it from its inception, in which Thomas Fletcher was exalted [took the appropriate ceremony] [Thomas Fletcher, son of a painter John Fletcher became known as a marine artist.] This Chapter attachment to the Lodge is of interest because this was about 10 years before the Premier Grand Lodge in London permitted the Royal Arch to be recognised. The Kings Head Lodge almost certainly became a place for instruction of Chapter ritual for the travelling Masons of the theatre, who took the ceremonies back to their Punchbowl Lodge in York. The Kings Head Lodge too, probably had financial and recruitment difficulties and it may be that the candles from York went there rather than to the Cock and Crown Lodge. Its last year was spent meeting at the BlueBell in Market Place, a popular inn on market days, and for carriers from the outlying towns and villages. This is the only remaining hostelry still standing from those days once associated with Freemasons. Playbills still exist advertising entertainment in the commodious room at the Blue Bell and tickets used to be sold from there for the performances. Tickets were sold too, from a venue in Dixon’s or Dickson’s Entry which was in the old area in front of the Town Hall of earlier days. In 1841 the new landlord advertised the inn as having public lecture rooms, its own brewery and well aired beds!

The Blue Bell today, 2009.

Authors collection.

Thomas Fletcher continued his Masonry in later years when the Rodney Lodge was formed. [1781]

The Bull and Sun No.252 and the Kings Head No.267, lodges failed on the same day, for on the 26th. January 1768 they were as previously stated, deleted from the roll of Grand Lodge. There were 23 lodges deleted at the same time, the reason probably being failure to pay the required fees. A possibility is that a levy was asked for from each lodge to pay for the mooted new Freemasons Hall in London [designed and built by Thomas Sandby in 1775.] Yorkshire Masons were perhaps not over impressed with paying for an edifice so far away, at a time that they were strapped for money themselves and with which they had few ties.

Freemasonry thus came to an abrupt end after a period of nine years in Hull. It claims some credit for sowing the seeds of future development in the breasts of one or two now unattached brothers. The downside was that the quarrels and rivalry between the three lodges had not impressed the citizens of Hull. This was a pattern that continued for many more years before amity prevailed.

The St. George, East Yorks Militia Lodge was formed in 1782, in Beverley, meeting at the GoldenBall in Toll Gavel and later the Black Bull in Lairgate.

Introduction: Freemasonry and Acknowledgements
Hull Masons: The Pioneers
At the sign of the George and The Kings Head
The Rodney Lodge
The Minerva Lodge
The Humber Lodge
The Phœnix Lodge
William Crow RN
Conclusion
Bibliography

Designed by Richard Hayton 2009
email hayton@hayton.karoo.co.uk