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Somerset Lodges
Tynte Lodge No. 7994
warranted 1964
Regular meetings: the third Thursday at 18.30hrs Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov, Dec.
Installation meeting: the third Thursday at 16.30hrs Feb.
Contact the Lodge Secretary:
P J Simpson
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Meeting at
The Masonic Hall
King Square
Bridgwater
TA6 3DH
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Tynte Lodge was founded and consecrated in 1964. It is a daughter lodge of the
Admiral Blake Lodge No.4692 and the granddaughter lodge of the Lodge of
Perpetual Friendship No.135. All three lodges meet in Bridgwater.
Tynte is a well known and respected Somerset name. The main family had its roots
in Wraxall near Nailsea. The Parish history of Wraxall mentions a John Tynte in
1410. By the late 18th Century the Tynte family had intermarried with the
wealthy Halswell and Kemeys families, thus securing valuable estates in Somerset
and South Wales. The first Tynte to be associated with Somerset Masonry was Sir
Charles Kemeys Tynte who was initiated into Freemasonry in 1767 at a lodge
meeting in the Bear Inn, Bath, now the Royal Cumberland Lodge No.41. His
descendent, Charles Kemeys Kemeys-Tynte, was initiated into the Lodge of
Perpetual Friendship in 1817. A few months later he assisted the Provincial
Grand Master RW Bro. Arthur Chichester to initiate his son Charles John Kemeys
into the same lodge. In 1839 a grandson was also initiated. All three had
distinguished Masonic careers.
In 1820 Charles Kemeys Kemeys-Tynte became Provincial Grand Master of Somerset
after only three years in Masonry and served in that office until 1860. Colonel
Tynte, as he was known from his command of the West Somerset Yeomanry, was also,
apart from a few years, a continuous Liberal M.P for Bridgwater from 1820 to
1860. Almost totally blind for the last 10 years of his life he was a greatly
loved and respected figure throughout Somerset and Bridgwater in particular.
In 1915 the family of Kemeys-Tynte was able to revert to the Barony of Wharton
and it was the 9th Baron who readily gave his permission to use the family name
for Tynte Lodge and to the reproduction of their Arms for the stationery and the
banner. In like manner the Tynte coat of arms is shown on the splendid Past
Master's jewel.
The Lodge banner was presented and dedicated in 1978. It bears the Arms of the
Tynte family, which date back to the 16th century and shows, amongst other
things, six crosses and a lion couchant.
The founders of the Tynte Lodge chose very wisely when they petitioned for a new
lodge as the devotion to duty. The years of service to the community at large by
the Tynte family, and its descendants, is obvious to all, and is a fitting name
for all Somerset Masons to revere and admire.
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