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Somerset Lodges
Royal Cumberland Lodge No. 41
warranted 1733
Regular meetings: the first Thursday at 18.15hrs Nov, Dec, Feb, Mar, May,
also the second Thursday at 18.15hrs Apr.
Installation meeting: the first Thursday at 16.45hrs Oct.
Contact the Lodge Secretary:
Alan Morsley
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Meeting at
The Masonic Hall
Old Orchard Street
Bath
BA1 1JU
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Somerset's oldest Masonic Lodge
The earliest Lodge minute dated 28th December 1732 records an
established Lodge at the Bear Inn, Bath. It affiliated with the Moderns’
Grand Lodge the following May when it received a Deputation, signed by
Lord Montague, the Grand Master. The Bear Lodge almost certainly derived
its membership from an earlier Lodge that met at the Queen’s Head in
Bath, which had been formed by Dr. Desaguliers, Past Grand Master, in
1724. No other Lodge existed at the time in or near Bath, and like a
dissolving picture the Queen’s Head Lodge fades and the Bear Lodge
appears.
In 1770 Thomas Dunckerley was
commissioned by the Moderns’ Grand Lodge to compile a ritual for all
three degrees and it is recorded that he completed the work to the
satisfaction of all Brethren. In 1784, as Provincial Grand Master, he
constituted a new Lodge in Bath. It was named after the Duke of
Cumberland who had been elected Grand Master in 1782. Dunckerley
provided this new Lodge with a ritual and bye-laws. This was the ritual
he had written for Grand Lodge and which he also gave to the Bristol
Lodges a little later.
In 1785 the old ‘Bear Inn Lodge’ amalgamated with the new Royal
Cumberland Lodge. The combined Lodge adopted the name Royal Cumberland
but continued work under the old Deputation. Today the Lodge has the
rare honour of being a Deputised rather than a Warranted Lodge and as
such is one of seven so named. It is also the first Lodge to have paid
for its Warrant. The Masonic Historian, W. Bro. W. J. Hughan, observed
in 1880 that the Lodge at the Queen’s Head was the first Warranted Lodge
for any part of the Country, and because regular Freemasonry has been in
existence in the City ever since, Bath may justly be regarded as the
Premier Masonic Provincial City of England.
It is interesting to note that the working compiled by Thomas Dunckerley
was taken to Australia by W. Bro. Percy Wells (PM 1854), circa 1858. At
that time the working was known as the ‘Somerset Ritual’. It must have
provided a good base for Freemasonry as it was adopted and used by the
English Lodges in South Australia, though sadly this is not the case
today.
Thanks mainly to the work of W. Bro.
C. Curd, PAGDC PM who at the Grand Lodge inquiry in 1929, successfully
defended the right of Private Lodges to retain their old rituals, this
distinguished working is used by three Bath Lodges: Royal Cumberland
Lodge No 41, daughter Lodge, Royal Albert Edward Lodge No 906 and
granddaughter Lodge, St. Alphege Lodge No. 4095. W. Bro. Curd in ending
his case is reported as saying, “… those Lodges that did not work this
ceremony were looked upon as ‘slackers’ who wished to shirk a little
work and get more quickly to the banquet afterwards …”.
The Jewels
Lodge Members are entitled to wear the Bi-Centenary Jewel. It seems that
the Lodge purchased the Centenary Jewel in 1833 and then the
Bi-Centenary Bar in 1933. They are purchased by Members as and when
available and the funds go to the Lodge Charity accounts. Note. The
Jewel is engraved with the Lodge Number 48. This number was held by the
Lodge from 1832 - 1863 when it was re-numbered to its present number No.
41.
The Past Master’s Jewel is awarded to each Past Master who meets the
conditions set out by the late W. Bro. Edmund White who contributed to a
fund for the purchase of the Jewels. Note its unusual design
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