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The Phœnix Lodge
In 1817 a group of Negro slaves rebelled and rioted in Maryland, USA. Not to be outdone, a group of Masons rebelled and formed the Phoenix Lodge in Hull. It was founded mainly by a group of disaffected Masons from the Rodney Lodge. In consequence of the financial difficulties of the Rodney and the disgrace that would be experienced if the bailiffs were called in, a lodge of emergency had been called. Various plans were discussed, but the solvent trustees and the shareholders in the property felt that the remaining Rodney members should not have a say in any solution proposed, but should support it unconditionally. This caused some members to resign on the spot, feeling that closure was inevitable. Others felt that their exclusion from decision making, because they were not trustees or shareholders, was non Masonic. Yet more felt that the lodge was in such a sorry state because of the bad management by the very members who were trying to prevent them having a vote on its future. On Feb.12 th1817 a meeting of this disaffected group was held at the Paragon Inn. [a pub in Chariot St [Landlord T. Dunn] which had been built in 1800-05 on the site of a much earlier tavern which served travellers on the Beverley Turnpike. It is now the site of the HullCheese on the corner of Chariot St. and Paragon St.] A number of Rodney Masons emerged from this meeting with the thought of forming a new lodge. They then went to persuade others and met on 20 th February at the AmericanTavern in Lowgate to consolidate their actions. From this further meeting, 14 Masons resigned en block from the Rodney lodge, and together with Brothers John Duncan Dawson and John Irven, late of the Humber Lodge, and Bro. Kelly, lately a member of the Union Lodge, York, they formed the Phoenix Lodge. Bro Richard Terry then tried to obtain the Warrant and furniture of the now defunct Apollo Lodge in York, once a proud and flourishing lodge. Bro. John Dawson spoke to his friend Bro. Harper, the Grand Secretary, to assist in the setting up of a new lodge by this means. Thus the 1773 Warrant and the 1779 Royal Arch Charter of the Apollo Lodge were purchased from a Miss Watson of York. Her late brother, John Watson, an eminent York Mason had died and left the Warrant of the Apollo in his estate. He had been a faithful member of the Union Lodge in York for many years, certainly up to 1814, which is probably when he died. These breakaway Masons petitioned Grand Lodge about forming the new lodge and already had the approval of the Provincial Grand Master [PGM]. By June 1817 the preliminaries were complete and the new lodge met. Its rooms were in 14 High Street, which was in Russia Court, just off the High Street. At the first regular meeting on 21 st July 1817 there were 9 members and 13 visitors. Jeremiah Stark was the lodge Secretary. His name crops up later in connection with the Humber Lodge. There was a short period after this when several existing members of the moribund Rodney Lodge were considering their position as to whether to join the breakaway lodge. The lodge members seem to have been a prickly quarrelsome lot and soon the Brothers Terry resigned for reasons unknown. On one occasion the Lodge met with the Minerva Lodge to discuss a joint public procession to church on the occasion of the interment of Princess Charlotte but considered it improper. They were invited to march on other occasions by the civic authorities but always considered it “improper.” They had trouble with WM Stothard of the Humber Lodge concerning some of his comments about them and when they complained got a very rude reply from him! He, of course, was excluded from his own lodge at about this time. On the first anniversary of the formation of the lodge, on 30 th June 1818, a dinner was held at Bro. Deans at the Dog and Duck Tavernin Scale Lane, price 10s /6d. There were 18 members present, and 10 visitors. The toasts at the dinner included one “To the Mother of all Masons” and another” May the fire of the Phoenix Lodge blaze till the whole Masonic world is dazzled with its splendour” . It wasn’t! As the meal commenced at 4.30 pm there was plenty of time for toasts, of which there were many. The lodge tried unsuccessfully to avoid paying the Poor Rate but did get excused the Window and Inhabited House duty. The lodge accounts were also audited quarterly, perhaps as a reaction to previous financial disasters in other lodges. In 1819, Bro. Howard indicated that he wished to resign. It is more than likely that he had had enough of financially weak lodges. He lived another ten years but did not enjoy good health at least some of that time. On the 30 th June 1819, a dinner took place where 40 brethren attended. Dinners were formidable affairs and ran from 3pm to 12 midnight. There were, on this occasion, 29 toasts and 22 songs. Mark Masonry commenced in this lodge in 1819 with instruction given by the WM of the Humber Lodge. Mark Masonry is another side degree in Freemasonry with its own ritual and meets separately from the main craft Masonry. A Mark Mason would have to be initially a craft Mason. Mark ritual was being practised in Hull by 1782[Collier] at the time the Minerva Lodge was being founded. It was not until 1862 that the Minerva Mark Lodge affiliated with other Mark lodges. In 1820 on the occasion of the proclamation of George IV, the lodge overcame its aversion to processions, and marched with the Mayor and the dignitaries and no doubt other lodges, and sat down later to refreshments which were enjoyed by all, particularly the toasts and singing of Masonic songs. Also in 1820 a resignation was received from a Brother William Jackson couched in extremely bad language. He then wrote a similar one in replying to the Lodge response. This was duly placed in the minute book and wrapped in black paper. One wonders what it said. In this lodge the most likely Jackson of the three in the street directory, would be William Jackson, wine merchant, of 49 High Street. The others listed were a hairdresser and a joiner. For some unknown reason in 1820 the Warrant was recalled by Grand Lodge and a Warrant of confirmation given instead. All in all 1820 proved an unusual year. On 15th Oct 1821 Bro. Crow, of the Minerva Lodge applied for membership to the Phoenix Lodge and was blackballed, 12 against and 7 for. By 1827 the premises in High Street were deemed dangerous so the meetings were transferred to the Freemasons Hall in Mytongate. At the very first meeting the lodge was adjourned as Bro. Blundell’s house was on fire. The members were summoned to help with the fire but not before the lodge was duly lowered and closed in due and ancient form! In those days there would be no formal fire brigade available and friends and neighbours would be called upon to try and extinguish the fire. There were only a few fire engines judiciously placed, including ones belonging to the fire insurance companies. The latter would only attend if the victim of the fire was a subscriber, or equally they might attend and stand by, unless the hapless victim would promise to insure with them in the future. In 1817 Mr. Henry Blundell’s brush and colour manufacturing works in Hodgson Street, had been burnt to the ground. The Blundells, the Gleadows, the Hassells, the Samuelsons and the Talls, all had fires. These merchant Freemasons certainly kept the fire insurance companies busy. John Tall owned a turpentine distillery which went on fire in 1845. In 1849 Blundell, Spence and Co. had another fire. The task of dealing with fires became one for the police in the 1840’s or thereabouts. They provided the hoses and were able to connect directly to the water mains so they did not use fire engines. Henry Blundell. From the C. Ketchell collection. Henry Blundell was a self-made man and became at one time a household name in paint manufacture in England. His factory on Beverley Rd. –Blundell’s Corner, was a well known landmark until recent times [now the Hull Daily Mail offices.]. He himself was a Liberal and a Unitarian and a sanitary reformer along with Bro. Sir Henry Cooper of the Minerva Lodge. John Tall was known as a representative of “the muck interest” who opposed the radical ideas of Cooper, Blundell and others in relation to sanitary reform of the town. There was no doubt that it was an expensive business to make Hull really clean, on account of its low lying position and dubious water supply. There were numerous refuse men who cleared the ‘night soil’ and the citizens themselves had some responsibility for keeping their own part tidy. In practice some of the overcrowded areas, with no proper toilets and little water, were not well served and the night soil was often, when cleared, tipped into the river or put in muck garths- great big middens near to housing. This increased the vermin and fly population especially in summer which was unwelcome. Such a refuse clearing scheme was cheap to run though, as opposed to the unproven and grandiose schemes of the sanitary lobby or so the ‘muck interest’ thought, and its views predominated in the earlier part of the 19 th century. By 1850, just after the time of the great cholera outbreak, 400 scavengers or street cleaners were somewhat belatedly employed by the Authorities. On 2nd April 1827 a Bro. Jarvis,[landlord of the Turks Head, Mytongate], attending the Phoenix Lodge as a visitor, reported that on attending the Humber lodge on the 1 st April he had objected because the Warrant was not on show, so the WM had produced it and tied it around his waist. At the end Jarvis insisted that the Warrant remain in the lodge i.e. the TurksHead and brought two peace officers to ensure that this happened. The Humber Brethren retaliated by carrying out all their movable furniture. This caused a scandal at which the stuffy Phoenix brethren were shocked and made much of it. Bro. Jarvis certainly lost no time in spreading his version of events. [See Humber section]
Illustration Turks Head 1960’s see Last Orders Please Hayton R. By 1828 attendances and interest were falling. The Minerva Lodge and the Phoenix Lodge appeared to enjoy good relations and met together on alternate months. In 1828 these two lodges were considering amalgamation under the name of the Kingston Lodge but reached no agreement as to where they should meet so the scheme fell through. In 1829 Robert Ward Gleadow [Hull Brewery] put in the bailiffs and locked the brethren out, in spite of his relative, Thomas Ward Gleadow being a member. Perhaps he needed the money. He certainly might have in 1831 when he was robbed by his own servant and her friends, and then in 1832, as a large bonded warehouse that he had built in 1812, went on fire and was destroyed. It had cost £8000 to build, and was full of grain for brewing. The fire was impressive; the loss £20,000. The warehouse, 5 stories high, was next to the Vittoria Hotel by the Pier. Bro. Henry Levitt paid the rent money owing to RW. Gleadow and the furniture was released. Some years later, in 1888, the Kingston and De La pole Lodges leased premises from a later Gleadow, in Kingston Square. Thereafter, the Phoenix lodge met at the Ship Inn, No. 80 Low gate [landlord William Cant 1803-42.]. WM John Ward, on behalf of the Humber Lodge, offered to let them use its new premises on two occasions, but was rebuffed. Perhaps the rent at £10 was more than they wished to pay. The Ship was only going to charge 8 guineas and throw in free gas light and heat. Membership was about 18 at this point and the lodge was rapidly drifting towards closure. Several meetings were aborted through insufficient attendance. On April 6 th 1831 WM Henry Hall was found dead in bed. He had been the Worshipful Master four times in this lodge’s short life, being originally initiated in the Rodney Lodge in 1813. The final meeting was on 30 th May 1831, eight brethren attended and the meetings were suspended indefinitely. In May 1834 Phoenix membership is recorded as twelve, but when an informal meeting had been held at No 7 High Street on 19 th Mar.1834 there were but five present. Henry Levitt wound up the lodge and settled any debts, probably from his own funds. The debts of the lodge were £69-5-2d of which £48 was owing to Brother Henry Levitt. Number 7 High Street, his office, later became the Blue Ball, later still the Full Measure, then the Blue Ball again, culminating in the Tigress which was burnt down in 1971. One Brother. T. Buckton was also owed money . He could have been from the Ship Inn or the local bank manager in Silver St. We will never know in all probability. At least he was paid. Henry Levitt, like his father, had been a first class Mason, loyal and true to this failing lodge and faithful to the end. A Bro. William Halley and friends wanted to buy the Warrant but the Phoenix members remaining were reluctant to part with it. It is probable that Halley represented the proposed new Gainsborough Lodge. The sale would have been unlikely to be approved of by Grand Lodge as Gainsborough had no brethren of any experience to lead it. The Phoenix Lodge had started with a fire when in Mytongate and its final meeting place closed with one in the 1970s, perhaps appropriately for a lodge with such a name. The lodge finally disappeared, its end coming in 1834 as Britain finally abolished slavery in the British Empire; a year after the death of William Wilberforce, whose birth had coincided with the start of Freemasonry in Hull. Phoenix- like it still raised its head on occasion, for its antique Sheraton ballot box, dated 1780, was presented to the Kingston Lodge in 1919 and was used each time a new member was balloted for. It remained in its possession until 1941 when it was probably destroyed in the Blitz. [Some records of this lodge are at present being rebound by the Humber Lodge and reside in their possession] Introduction: Freemasonry and Acknowledgements
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Designed by
Richard Hayton 2009 |
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