South Africa's first Masonic temple

This from News 24 in South Africa..




Cape Town - On the grounds of Parliament, close to Tuynhuys in the heart of Cape Town, is an old, white, plastered building.
The Lodge De Goede Hoop is hidden behind a parking lot filled with shiny ministerial cars.
Only the Freemason symbol on the window and the Star of David above the large wooden doors show that this is not just another parliamentary building.
The building was inaugurated as the first masonic temple in South Africa in 1803 and is still used daily by its members.
This week, City Press took a tour of the temple with the newly appointed Grand Master of the SA Freemasons, Geoff Edwards.
On a table in the foyer are a square and a pair of compasses – well-known masonic symbols. On the wall is an engraved list of the names of former masters and the wall beside the front door is adorned with a framed photograph of Watty Watson, former DA chief whip and retiring Grand Master.
“People say we’re on parliamentary grounds, but that’s not true. Actually, Parliament is on our grounds,” he says.
Edwards is right because this mysterious organisation has been in South Africa and Cape Town for much longer than Parliament.
The first Freemason lodge was formed in Cape Town in 1772 and the temple was built about 30 years later.
The Cape government of the time and the Freemasons were so intertwined that the Cape Parliament used the masonic banquet hall as a venue from 1854 to 1884 until the old House of Assembly was completed.
The organisation, regarded as among the most mysterious in the world, is all about money, power and secret handshakes, its detractors whisper. There are many conspiracy theories, alleged links with murders, and those who believe the Freemasons “planted the seeds” of apartheid.
Others say that from the organisation’s inception in the 14th century, it has been the secret hand that is quietly ruling the world.
Not true, according to Edwards, taking us into the meditation chamber with its sinister statue of a dead man with a dagger, a book and an hourglass, and the words “know thyself”.
Two artificial human skulls add a chilling edge to the room. “People say the Freemasons have ruled the world over the centuries, but the truth is that many rulers were simply masons,” he says.
But where do secret handshakes and rituals fit in 2014? “I’m reluctant to use the word ‘secret’,” says Edwards, a businessman who runs his own recruitment agency.
“We don’t make the way we operate known publicly because that will spoil things for the candidates, but we aren’t trying to hide ourselves from the world.
“Like many other organisations, we have been attacked aggressively in the past. During World War 2, Hitler tried to wipe out the Freemasons.
“Even in South Africa, there was a time when we were targeted. That made our members cautious. Nowadays, we encourage members to speak about it. The world has changed,” Edwards says.
The most fascinating room in the Lodge De Goede Hoop is undoubtedly the middle chamber. With only two small windows letting in a sliver of light, the room is dark even in the middle of the day. Here, ceremonies are held at night in the pitch dark to remind members just how fleeting their lives are.
The organisation is open to all races, but does not accept women as members. There are female lodges in some parts of the world, but they are not recognised by the Freemasons’ constitution. No atheists are permitted to join. Members believe in the “life hereafter”, so atheists aren’t welcome.
“To become a member, the person is required to believe in a ‘higher power’, but we do not say who that must be. Freemasonry is not a religion. We offer no path to heaven.”
Edwards says the Freemasons believe in tolerance, and promoting peace and harmony.
“In our lodge we have members of Parliament from three different political parties and they all get on tremendously well together,” he boasts.
Then, with an almost disappointingly ordinary handshake, he says goodbye.

Centenary snuff box

This cigarette and snuff box is being sold by Fellows in Birmingham with an estimate of £300-£400.

The catalogue descritption reads: A modern silver mounted Masonic presentational cigarette box and snuff box for Leigh Lodge No 887, each realistically modelled as a book and with further presentational inscriptions, in original fitted cases, together with a Masonic Grand Lodge 250th Anniversary Jewel. The boxes hallmarked Adie Brothers Ltd, Birmingham 1961. Height measuring 8 1/2 inches (21.5 cm) and 3 1/4 inches (8 cm). Gross weight inclusive of wooden lining to the cigarette box 44 ozt (1391 grams). (3).
Both in good overall condition. The lot displays general surface scratches, marks, wear and tarnishing commensurate with the age and use. Cases displays significant wear and would require attention, in particular the hinge to the snuff box case. The hallmarks are clear and legible. The cigarette box is engraved `The Leigh Lodge No 887, Presented by Brethren of the Lodge to Mark its Centenary 24th January 1962` and to the spine `The Leigh Lodge No 887, 24th January 1862 to 24th January 1962`. The snuff box is engraved `The Leigh Lodge No 887 1862-1962`, and to the inside `Presented by Old Dixonian Lodge No 6037. Both the cases also display the lodge name.

Scrapbook for sale

This scrapbook from the 20th century is going under the hammer at Barnes Auctions in London. It has an estimate of £60-£90 and includes items relating to a visit to China in 1931, including visits to some Masonic lodges.

The book also covers the early 20th century and the Great War

War hero's regalia for sale

This Great War MBE group of medals awarded to Private R G Smith of the Army Service Corps is being sold in London by Dreweatts along with his Masonic regalia.

The estimate is £150-200 and the catalogue description reads:  A Great War M.B.E. Group of Six to Private R. G. Smith Army Service Corps The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE Breast Badge GRI (Military) in its leather case, British War & Victory Medals (3-290764 Pte. R. G. Smith. A.S.C.) Coronation Medal 1937, Defence Medal & War Medal, Army Long Service Good Conduct Medal Regular Army Clasp (7733086 W. O. Cl.1 R. G. Smith R.A.P.C.) mounted for wearing, together related dress miniatures, an oil on canvas of the recipient, uniforms and related insignia and masonic regalia, including a Royal Society of Arts silver medal (Reginald Gladstone Smith-Advanced Examinations 1915 Book-Keeping) cased, (lot).

Light!

This masonic lamp is being sold by Lockdales in Suffolk with an estimate of £200-300.

It is described thus: Rare late 19th/early 20th Century Masonic lamp, with blue cut glass panel with Masonic symbols and one other panel, approx. 54cm high

Legal goings-on in the Bahamas

From Tribune 242

 

Freemason Wins Court Fight Over Expulsion From Lodge

Eugene Nairn with the Supreme Court judgement.

By LAMECH JOHNSON 

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A FREEMASON has mixed-feelings about his successful landmark civil action in the Supreme Court seeking redress for his suspension and eventual expulsion from the Prince Hall Grand Lodge.

Eugene Nairn told The Tribune yesterday that his “reaction is mixed, call it more-or-less bitter-sweet” concerning last Wednesday’s ruling handed down by Justice Milton Evans who ruled that masonic jurisprudence does not and “cannot” overreach the laws of the Bahamas.

“It isn’t the fact that I won. It’s more of the fact about what masonry has lost in doing what it did,” he said. “Masonry is a beautiful thing, but it only takes a few bad apples at the top who think they are a power unto themselves, that they can go about doing things without any recourse and that was the principle of the matter.”

“My constitutional rights, based on the constitution of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge PHGL), was violated and I saw fit to seek redress in the courts. They (PHGL) were of the view that whenever a grandmaster makes a decision, nobody could question it or even have any recourse to have any type of redress from it.”

“That was the bottom line and I said ‘no, it’s not right. I will fight it and I will go to the courts because the letter that they sent me, the Grand Master at the time Carl Culmer, he took it upon himself to be the judge, jury and the executioner. So where was I going to go? I couldn’t go to him so the next best thing was for me to go to the courts of the land,” Mr Nairn said.

The Craft of Masonry was passed on through English traditions to the colonists, including those in the Bahamas. An act of parliament in 1975 established the PGHL.

Mr Nairn, a past Master of Columbus Lodge under the PHGL, started this action against PHGL in July 2010, asking the court to determine whether the purported suspension date in a letter in August 2009 and purported expulsion in September 2010 were in accordance with the procedure under Article 25 of the lodge’s constitution which states that “no brother shall be suspended nor expelled, neither before nor without a fair and impartial trial after previous service of a formal charge.”

Mr Nairn asked the court to nullify both if it was of the view that the previous question was answered in the negative.

The PGHL, in court, cited a number of cases to support its argument that the court should not involve itself in the affairs of a private organisation, including the decision of Maugham J in Maclean v The Workers Union 1929 where the headnote states “the court has no jurisdiction to vary or to set aside the decision of a domestic tribunal if in giving its decision the tribunal has acted honestly and in accordance with its own rules and in good faith.”

Justice Evans ruled that masonic jurisprudence does not and “cannot” overreach the laws of The Bahamas.

“Every citizen of the Bahamas whether he be a mason or non-mason, has the right to apply to the Supreme Court of the Bahamas for redress and that right, in no manner whatsoever, be abrogated. The right to fairness and natural justice is one of the fundamental rights of every citizen and the courts have been zealous in preserving and giving effect to this right,” the judge said, adding that principle was clearly inherent in masonry based on Article 25 of its own constitution.

The judge ruled that the court did have the jurisdiction to make a determination on the question raised by the plaintiff and noted that the purported letter of suspension “is inconsistent with all elements of fairness.” Mr Nairn was accused of holding private meetings and attempting to undermine the authority of the Grand Master.

“The letter makes allegations without providing the source and then proceeds to make findings and establish penalties, all without setting a date for a hearing or affording the plaintiff an opportunity to respond. The purported letter of expulsion was infected with the same malady,” the court added.

Justice Evans nullified the suspension and expulsion and restored Mr Nairn as a mason of the PGHL until the Grand Lodge holds a trial in accordance with their constitution to determine if the allegations of “un-mason conduct” justifies suspension and/or expulsion.

The judge also ordered that PGHL, the defendants in the civil action, pay the legal fees of Mr Nairn “to be taxed if not agreed.”

The Tribune understands that the ruling is being taken to the Court of Appeal.

When asked about his future in masonry, Mr Nairn said: “I have to pray about that.”

“Because I look at it like this: if you invite me to your house and I disrespect you and talk bad about you, your family, etc, would you come back to my house? It depends right? There’s got to be some reconciliation so that’s where I’m at right now. So I got to pray about that.”

He also said he’s not looking for any compensation for the amount of dues he paid during his tenure. “I’m not even looking for it, but over the past three and a half years or so since this action started I have not paid anything.”

When asked if he was concerned for his safety having gone to such lengths for redress, Mr Nairn dispelled what he called a “misconception” that things “happen” to lodge members for going against the craft.

“That’s a misconception and no, I’m not concerned about my safety,” he smiled.

He said the only harm that could be and was done to him was that they tried to “tarnish my integrity and my character.”

“You see when people mess with your name, that’s all I got.  But I didn’t really do this for me ya know? This action was basically taken for future generations of masonry and for future grand masters that they would conduct themselves in a way that’s appropriate and that they would follow their own constitution, and not think that they are powers unto themselves,” he said.

“They’re men just like me and you, ok?” he said.

Eavesdropper

This painting of a lodge meeting being interrupted by an eavesdropper is going under the hammer at Rowley Fine Art auctioneers in Newmarket, Suffolk.

It is inscribed 'Relief Lodge' No 42 and has an estimate of up to £1,500.

The catalogue description reads: "ENGLISH SCHOOL (19th century) Masonic Club House Interior With Figures, one falling through the ceiling Oil on canvas laid down 94 cms wide overall, in mahogany temple frame with panelled doors inlaid with Masonic motifs and inscribed Relief Lodge No. 4."