No. 9

Date of Warrant 18th June 1857                                                                           Centenary Warrant 30th March 2000

The Fortescue Lodge of Mark Master Masons No. 9 rightfully, and indeed very proudly, claim to be the oldest warranted Lodge in the oldest Province having obtained their warrant on 18th. June 1857, just one year after the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons as we now know it was formed.

 The founder members were Bro's Thomas J. Bremridge, John Tanner Davy and Frederick Courtnay Trower. John Tanner Davy became Provincial Grand Master in 1873, an office he held until he died in 1888.

Fortescue Lodge have always held their meetings at the Masonic Hall, South Molton. In the early days meetings were held in various months of the year but for the past 100 years or some meetings have been held on the third Fridays of January, March, May (Installation), July, September and November. Records show however no meetings took place between 1884 and 1899 (known as the “gap years” but resumed again in 1900. There is no clear reason shown for this gap but possible explanations include removal of the last daily train on the Barnstaple-Taunton line which precluded certain members from Barnstaple attending and secondly an economic downturn at that period which resulted in financial depression.

In consequence of the ”gap” the Lodge could not obtain their centenary Warrant until the year 2000 when they had then completed 100 years of continuous activity. The Lodge celebrated 150 years of the granting of the original warrant in June 2007 when a new banner (the old one dating from 1910 being very decrepit with age) was formally dedicated at a service in theChurch at Rose Ash, Near South Molton (Rose Ash being the home of John Tanner Davy).The ceremony was performed by R.W.Bro. Benjamin Addy, the Assistant Grand Master andwas followed by a celebration banquet.

The history of the Lodge is recorded in two interesting documents, the first compiled by W.Bro.Bruce Oliver in 1957 entitled “The Early Days of Fortescue Mark Lodge No. 9. 1857 - 1957” and the other by R.W.Bro. Henry Holladay, Past Provincial Grand Master for Devonshire in 1999 , entitled “The beginning of Mark Masonry in Devon and the start of Fortescue Mark Lodge No. 9”

The Lodge has a current membership of 72, the largest in the Province of Devonshire

R. John Organ PGSD

Secretary

7th April 2010

E-Mail :-  john@rookwood.plus.com

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