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The following has been adapted by W Bro W Simpson from "A Short History of the Hundred of Burnham Lodge No. 5568" by Bros G Williams & P Gillard. The original version was published as part of the celebrations of our 50th anniversary in 1985.
TO live in the present and look to the future is the slogan of our day. But there are things important enough to cause us to ask questions of the past. Which is when we began to enquire: what was, what is, The Hundred of Burnham? Where did our name come from, and how did our lodge begin? To write the story of 50 years of freemasonry in The Hundred of Burnham Lodge in a few pages is no easy task, though with patience and kind help of many, we have endeavoured to take a fresh look at our records and relics, and tried to paint a fair picture of our history.
The authors of this booklet invite you unashamedly to dwell for a few moments in the past, in the hope that you will become as fascinated with the story as we have become.
IntroductionTHE Lodge of Harmony from which we descended is now three hundred years old. We, The Hundred of Burnham, are celebrating our fifty years of existence, young by some standards but firm and proud. In common with other shires the development of Buckinghamshire as a unit began about eleven hundred years ago, when Edward the Elder was warring with the Danes, and fortified a number of places against their attacks. Buckinghamshire was one of these, and allotted to it were eighteen Hundreds1 of Buckingham, whose duty it was to supply men to garrison the fort. These Hundreds were subsequently grouped and the names used in the Domesday Book, records are in many cases easily recognizable in the names used today. of all of them, the Chiltern Hundreds are the most frequently referred to. The original business of the courts governing the Hundreds was to levy taxes, to look after roads and bridges and to try criminals, and to fine them. The Steward of a Hundred collected the taxes and fines and either paid them over to the King or to the Earl of the shire, keeping a commission for himself. These duties have considerably changed over the years, but the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds is still technically one of profit and so cannot be held by a member of the House of Commons. Application for the Stewardship is thus a way (and one of the few) by which an MP can vacate his seat, as there is no legal method for an MP to resign.
The Lodge was sponsored by the Grenfell Lodge Number 3077. The consecration meeting of The Hundred of Burnham Lodge, number 5568, took place on Wednesday, September 18th. 1935, at Freemasons Hall, Great Queens Street, London WC2 at 4.50 p.m. The Eastern Temple being used, there was a total of eighty five brethren present. The consecrating team consisted of:
And:
The second meeting of The Hundred of Burnham was to be held on November 20th, 1935, at Hitcham School Burnham. Due however to unforeseen circumstances, the meeting was held at the Burnham Beeches Swimming Pool, after dispensation from the R.W. Provincial Grand Master of Buckinghamshire. Subsequent meetings were held between Hitcham School and Burnham Beeches Swimming Pool, until the last meeting at Burnham Beeches Swimming Pool held on October 16th, 1940.
The lodge moved on by special dispensation to Skindles Hotel, Taplow, on November 20th, 1940. Then due to the national emergency of 1942, the lodge was again granted dispensation to hold all meetings for the duration of the war at The Reindeer Hotel, High Street, Slough.
The meetings carried on at The Reindeer Hotel, up to an emergency meeting called at Burnham Beeches Swimming Pool on April 18th, 1945. Subsequent meetings were held there until March 18th, 1959, when the lodge moved to The Slough Community Centre, Farnham Road. Meetings were held there from October 21st, 1959, until March 18th, 1964. The next regular meeting was held at the Dolphin Hotel, Uxbridge Road, Slough on October 7th, 1964, last meeting at this venue taking place on March 6th, 1968. The lodge finally came to its present location at the Masonic Hall, Slough, on October 2nd, 1968.
Extract taken from the first summons of The Hundred of Burnham, September 18th, 1935. In consequence of the most lamented death of the Right Honourable Lord Ampthill, G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., Most Worshipful Pro. Grand Master, Masonic mourning will be worn as follows:
ORATIONThe oration was delivered by The Very Worshipful Bro., The Revd. C.E. Roberts, M.A.,P.G.C.,P.D.P.G.M. Bucks., at our consecration, and it is very interesting to note that he served as an executive officer in the Grand Lodge of this province for nearly forty years, and under four of the five Provincial Grand Masters. "RIGHT Worshipful Provincial Grand Master. I should like my first words to be words of gratitude to yourself for the honour you have done me in asking me to take a humble part in the launching of this latest addition to our noble craft. As a very old Freemason, who has served as an executive officer in the Grand Lodge of this Province for nearly 40 years, and under four out of five Provincial Grand Masters, I have memories which carry me back a very long way, both in the history of the Craft in general and that of our Province of Buckinghamshire in particular. So, perhaps, you will forgive me if I start by being reminiscent. The growth of Freemasonry during those forty years has been phenomenal. When I was made a mason in 1895 there were only 2,520 Lodges on the Register of the Grand Lodge of England. Today, we are going to bring into existence the 5,568th Lodge! And the growth of Freemasonry in this Province of Bucks has been even more remarkable. In that same year, 1895, when I became the youngest member of the youngest Lodge in the Province 'Concordia, No 2492' there were only 18 Lodges; and, today, this new youngest Lodge, The Hundred of Burnham, brings the number of Buckinghamshire Lodges up to 41. And now I wish to offer my congratulations to the Founders of this new Lodge - and with those congratulations, I also tender sincere thanks, not only from myself, but, I am bold enough to say, from the world at large. By the success of your efforts in thus adding still further to the spread of Freemasonry at this particular time and at this precise moment, you Founders have done more good than you dreamed of, or perhaps, even intended. On the events of the next few weeks - perhaps of the next few days, or even hours - there are hanging issues upon which the whole future of civilisation depends. Other things besides Freemasonry have, since the Great War, been growing apace in this world. And it has become a question as to whether that which, to us, seems to be deterioration is going to exceed in growth what we know to be the best, and eventually to overwhelm it. For my own part, I believe that, in the long, run, such a catastrophe is impossible. History shows us that, eventually, it is always the best which comes out on top and survives. And there can be no doubt that, towards the attainment of that end - the survival of the best - Freemasonry, with the principles and purposes inculcated thereby, constitutes the most powerful force actively existing in the world today. In the spread of the Masonic spirit I see the cure for all the troubles and the solution of all the problems which are now facing humanity. It is for that reason, therefore, that I do most sincerely congratulate and thank you Founders for having, at this great crisis, done something towards the spreading of the spirit of Freemasonry by adding one more to its roll of Lodges. There is yet another reason which impels us to extend a cordial welcome to this new young Lodge. Standing here before you as I do - a pitiful example of senile decrepitude - it is hardly necessary to remind you that, individually, as we grow older, we mortals become more and more hopelessly handicapped by ever-increasing losses - loss of strength - loss of activity - and, alas, most conspicuous of all - loss of beauty. But Freemasonry, though its age is almost primaeval, has lost none of those things. Like another old lady - our dear old Mother Earth, who, as an eminent geologist said the other day at the meeting of the British Association, is "a lady of a certain age" - like her, Freemasonry has contrived to preserve her youthfulness and energy, and, instead of getting ugly as she grows old, she adds to her beauty as the years go by. How do these old Ladies do it? It is done by having a constant supply of new blood. In the case of Freemasonry this supply comes from the accretion of fresh and strong young Lodges, such as this Hundred of Burnham, with its members full of the energy, the vigour and the beauty of Masonic youthfulness. If our Institution had to depend for its growth on the past - on the old fossils - its outlook would be hopeless indeed. It is to the new blood of the young Lodges - it is to you in the Hundred of Burnham Lodge that we look for whatever success and whatever increase in usefulness the future may have in store for us. But please make no mistake - you are taking upon yourselves a tremendous responsibility. So, while I congratulate you, I also warn you. Upon your management of this new Lodge and your ruling of its affairs depends a momentous issue. I do not exaggerate when I say that it depends upon you whether or not the growth of the Craft and its influence in the world is to continue. It depends on you whether or not that influence will be checked in the attainment of the noble objects which, as an Institution, it has in view, viz.: the betterment of mankind, the final triumph of good over evil and the unbroken peace and lasting happiness of the civilised world. The singularly auspicious circumstances under which this Lodge is being consecrated and the names which appear on the list of its Founders are, in themselves, a guarantee of the splendid contribution which I am confident that this Hundred of Burnham Lodge is going to make towards the welfare of humanity. In no other Province than this, for instance, and at no other period of the history of Freemasonry could a new Lodge have been set going by such a magnetic personality as that of our beloved and adored Provincial Grand Master. His very presence breathes a blessing, and the influence of his leadership in this ceremony of Consecration cannot but act as an undying inspiration in the future lives and work of its Founders and of its Initiates and joining members of generations to come. And in addition to the saintly pre-eminence of your chief consecrating officer, you have, besides, the great privilege of entering the Craft as one of the forty-one Lodges of the Province of Buckinghamshire. Thanks to the devoted and heroic labour of the Immediate Past Grand Master, Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Inglefield, the Province holds a unique position among Provincial Grand Lodges. It has won for itself the unrivalled honour of being the only Hall Stone Province, and, in consequence, a room in the great Masonic Memorial building in London will be called the Buckinghamshire Room, while all the other rooms, except the Grand Temple, will be designated only by numbers. In addition to these happy, though fortuitous, circumstances attending your Consecration, I can see yet another augury of the future prosperity of the Lodge - the list of its Founders. The names on that list are, all of them, those of good men and true - some of them men of notable distinction in their different vocations, some, of ripe experience and exalted rank in Freemasonry, and every one of them a man whom anyone would be proud to claim as a friend and brother. It is, I wonder, only by a mere accident, or is it a carefully designed ascension to a climax, that the very last name on the list is that of one who has held the most honourable and most coveted of all the offices in Grand Lodge? His rank as Past Grand Treasurer of England is a sort of Masonic hallmark. It gives conclusive proof of the fact that he, Sir Henry Kimber, is the Master-Mason who was, and is, the most trusted and the most popular in the whole Fraternity; for he was elected to his office by the unanimous vote of the entire Craft. I have become painfully aware that, so far, I have been almost ignoring the two subjects prescribed for what is euphemistically called "The Oration" in the traditional ritual of the Consecration Ceremony. I humbly crave pardon for my transgression. I have, unfortunately, already occupied far too much of your time, and I must, therefore, defer to some future occasion a detailed discussion of those thrilling and exciting topics. In my consciousness of guilt I take comfort in the thought that the Burnham trees are beeches and not birches. For the present, bearing in mind those two subjects - "the Principles and Purposes of the Institution" - may I, in conclusion, express the hope that this Lodge will always prove a fruitful channel of the beneficence which is the foremost Principle of the Institution, and the even more fervent hope that, in order to achieve the main Purpose of the Institution, you, the Founders of the Lodge, may live long to further the happiness of your brother men; and that, when the golden rays of your life's day shall at last fade slowly in the western sky, you may pass into that peaceful slumber whose morning awakening is the brightness of Eternal Dawn.” Footnote 1 The New Oxford English Dictionary (1998) provides the following information about "Hundreds": "Hundred - a subdivision of a county or shire having its own court [of law]. The origin of this send of the word is uncertain; it may originally have been equivalent to a hundred hides of land. A hide is a formal measure of land, typically equal to between 60 and 120 acres, being the area of land that would support a family and its dependents." A Hundred therefore would indicate the area of land that would sustain 100 families and their dependents. A map of the Hundred of Burnham as it was in 1847 can be found here. More information on the Hundreds of Buckinghamshire can be found at GENUKI, the UK and Ireland Genealogy site.
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• Last updated: 14 November 2009
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