Col. Robert Townley
Caldwell (1843 - 1914)
Provincial
Grand Master 1891 - 1914
Robert Townley Caldwell was our second Provincial
GM to have been born overseas. His father was Lt. Colonel of the renowned 92nd
(Gordon) Highlanders. In 1843 the Regiment was in St. Ann's Barracks, Barbados,
where Robert Townley was born. He remained a 'true son of the Regiment' in that
he rose to command the 3rd Battalion of the cordons himself from 1891 to 95 and
retained a strong connection with Aberdeen-shire, spending much time there at
his house, Inneshewan. It was there in 1914 that, as he turned out from the
avenue of Inneshewan House onto the highway, another car collided with his and
he was flung from the car to the road. He suffered serious head injury and died
the following day. He was 71 and much loved.
When he was installed as our Provincial Grand
Master at the Guildhall in 1891, he took over a Province consisting of six
Lodges with an overall membership of three hundred and eighty-six. There would
doubtless be some small overlap of dual membership and many of INUL's 169
members would be 'out-county', but this was an agricultural area of sparse
population and so the numbers do mark steady if unspectacular progress over the
first century. Mind you, the misguided notion of Scientific, who voted in this
year to restrict their membership numbers to the Lodge number, 88, would not
have helped recruiting. Caldwell told them it would never work and indeed they
abandoned the idea very soon. E.Comp. Caldwell was already Grand Superintendent
over the four Chapters of Pythagoras, Euclid, Fidelity and Etheldreda.
Provincial Grand Chapter had been an irregular event for a long time but was by
this time settled to meeting every two years. It was Caldwell who introduced
the system, in 1907, of holding it on the same day as Provincial Grand Lodge
and the idea proved most successful, remaining in use ever since. The new
Provincial Grand Master was a familiar and welcome figure to all his flock and
when, in April 1901, the Cambridge Graphic published a photograph and a brief
biographical sketch it concluded that 'Colonel Caldwell is persona grata
every-where'! The establishment of St. Audrey, Caldwell and Cantabrigia Lodges,
with the two Chapters, Caldwell and St. Wendreda, is tribute to the care with
which he nurtured his Province and the steady growth of Freemasonry under his
leadership. The contrast with his predecessor could not be sharper, for he
never missed a recorded meeting of his Provincial Grand Lodge and was a most
welcome and regular visitor in every Lodge of his Province, sharing their
celebrations and their ordinary meetings alike.
Matriculating at Corpus Christi in 1861, Caldwell
graduated as 10th Wrangler in 1865 and became a Fellow. He served as Bursar and
Tutor and was finally appointed Master in 1906. He was Initiated in Isaac
Newton University Lodge on May 31st 1869 and became its WM only four years
later. He was called to the Bar in 1874 and was a distinguished Lawyer as well
as an academic, a soldier and a Mason. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and a Justice
of the Peace in both Cambridgeshire and Aberdeenshire, where the University
awarded him an Honorary LL.D. in 1895. Cambridge University delayed their own
recognition until 1911, when he received an Hon LL.D. from his home patch. He
was also an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Manitoba.
In 1892, before he had even settled comfortably to
his new Masonic status, Caldwell had two important special meetings of
Provincial Grand Lodge in February and May. At the first the Lodge met to mourn
for and to agree a message of condolence on the sad death of the Duke of
Clarence. The May meeting was a much happier occasion when, after Opening at
1.OOpm, the Provincial Grand Lodge marched in procession from the Guildhall to
the INUL site in Corn Exchange Street where the Pro Grand Master, the Earl of
Lathom, laid the Foundation Stone of the Isaac Newton Masonic Hall in the North
East corner of the building, after which the brethren marched back to the
Guildhall to close the Provincial Grand Lodge. The stone, of pink granite, now
stands at the entrance of Freemasons' Hall in Bateman Street as a reminder of
that auspicious day.
The Cambridge News is sometimes accused of getting
things wrong in its coverage of local events. Its predecessor the Cambridge
Chronicle was no different. The brief report in the Chronicle of May 6th 1892
describes the Provincial Grand Master as 'Col. Colville'; says that it was the
first time the Guildhall had been used for Provincial Grand Lodge since the
Duke of St. Albans had been admitted and goes on to quote the Procession order
as follows:
'. ..
three Grand Officers bearing the Cornucopia and ewers of wine and oil, the
Grand Secretary bearing a plate with the inscription for the Foundation Stone,
the President of the Board of General Purposes with mallet, the Grand Registrar
bearing the Great Seal, the Senior Grand Warden with the Level, the Junior
Grand Warden with the Plumb Rule, the Deputy Grand Master with the Square, the
Grand Sword Bearer, the Most Worshipful the Pro Grand Master, the Grand
Wardens.'
The procession actually closed with the Grand
Deacons behind the Pro Grand Master, the Wardens having already passed bearing
their 'instruments of Architecture'. The items were all specially made for use
in laying and trying the stone and were handed over formally to the Architect,
Bro. Fawcett, during the ceremony when he was enjoined by the Earl of Lathom to
complete the work according to the plan. The brief newspaper item promised a
fuller commentary the following week and indeed, the Chronicle of May 13th has
not only a very full - and more accurate - report, but also a Leader article on
the Craft and the occasion. The Editor says:
'The
Craft, we know, includes men of all ranks, but none recognise more clearly than
the Masons that we must look to our great Universities to supply us with our
leaders ... The figures quoted by the Worshipful Master of the Isaac Newton
Lodge when requesting the Pro Grand Master of England to lay the Foundation
Stone were, to men unacquainted with life in University towns, startling and
the Apollo Lodge in Oxford could, we believe, tell a similar tale.'
The figures referred to are the number of Initiates
brought into Freemasonry (983) and of joining members (100 plus) since the
forming of the Lodge thirty years before. The Leader also makes much of the
happy relationship between Cambridge and Oxford, pointing out that the Grand
Master, the Prince of Wales, was at Cambridge and the Pro Grand Master, the
Earl of Lathom, at Oxford. Inside on page 8 there is a description of the
planned building with dimensions, a detailed account of the ceremony and
speeches and of the luncheon afterwards when 116 brethren sat down in the Corn
Exchange.
From the reported speeches we discover that A.H.
Moyes was so ill that his medical advisers had forbidden him to leave his
house. Sadly, the account of the exciting day ends on a very sour note. The
Rattee & Kett workmen, on resuming their labours the following morning,
found that the top stone had been moved. The phial of coins and the plans which
had been ceremoniously interred beneath the stone had been stolen. Remember,
the average weekly rate for a farm labourer in our neighbourhood in 1900 was
around 11-12 shillings! There was ' . . . no clue as to the perpetrators of the
outrage' said the newspaper. The coins were replaced and reinterred; that
second batch being recovered during the demolition and set in a small glazed
frame, in which they are occasionally put out on the table at the Festive Board
in INUL.
The following June was a very memorable occasion
too - the University, having scored 290 in four hours, enforced the follow-on
next day against the Australian Tourists! However, though more than one of the
University's stars, including Ranjitsinhji, were INUL men, it is the
Consecration of the Temple, rather than the cricketing triumph, to which we
must attend. Again the Cambridge Chronicle of 16th June 1893 gives far more
detail than do the Provincial or Lodge Minutes, including an attendance list.
On this occasion it was a domestic event, with the Provincial Grand Master and
his Provincial team conducting affairs and with the luncheon (at the Lion)
being prior to the meeting and the Consecration. Again there was a public
procession. At the Consecration many of the Provincial Masons saw the new
building for the first time and the effect was stunning. Although at Bateman
Street we have those lovely photographs of the University Masonic Hall, they
were taken in 1961 not long before its demolition, when its glory was sadly
reduced. They cannot really convey the grandeur and particularly the colour and
richness of that building at its opening. The great 'thrones' for the WM and
his wardens and the six foot ebonised pillars, bearing candle holders, were not
then in place. They were presented to the Lodge in 1894 by the officers at the
next Installation and are now in use by all who use the main Temple at Bateman
Street. As the plaudits and mutual congratulations proceeded, Bro. Fawcett
formally delivered up the Working Tools which had been entrusted to him at the
laying of the foundation stone and the work was declared completed.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to trace the Square, level, plumb rule,
trowel and maul that were used at the Laying. The Lodge has not managed to
preserve them through the move and the demolition. They join the long list of
items of Masonic interest, many of which were not just historically but also
intrinsically valuable, which have gone astray over the years.
At the regular November meeting of Provincial Grand
Lodge that year the expected Resignation of Moyes, who was desperately ill, was
formally received and the Provincial Grand Master appointed the Revd J.H. Gray,
of Queens' and INUL, as his new Deputy. Caldwell and Gray, who worked together
over twenty years until Caldwell's death, made a powerful team and set
themselves to build and develop Freemasonry in the Province. At that same
meeting Col. Caldwell had pointed out 'eligible districts in Cambridge where
new Lodges might be established'. He repeated his urgings at successive
Provincial Meetings and the Deputy took it up. At the festive board in 1896
J.H. Gray was very direct, pointing out that the weak areas were Ely, March and
Chatteris. He said he hoped that Bro. Bellars (who was then Mayor of Wisbech)
and others 'would lay the foundations of future Lodges'. Caldwell had already
said that he could not believe a Lodge at March would be any detriment to
Freemasonry at Wisbech.
Ely was the first to feel the benefit. On 12th
August 1898 the brethren of 88 held an emergency meeting and all present signed
a petition for the establishing of a new Lodge at Ely. It was the culmination
of several years of urgings from the top, but was in the end a local initiative
by four brethren of Ely writing to some twenty-eight known Masons of the area.
To advise, Oliver Papworth attended the meeting called as a result of that
letter. He was a power in the land, having been Secretary of the Masonic Charity
Association since its inception and serving the Province as Provincial Grand
Secretary from 1892 until W. Spalding took over in 1904. His work on the
benevolent side was legendary. At the Provincial Lodge of 1895 he was reported
as having 'topped the poll' in the elections to the Board of Management of the
RM Institution for Boys. At the meeting the following year a special resolution
was passed unanimously and entered in the Minutes saying that the Province
expresses warm thanks for the
...
arduous services he has rendered to the Masonic Charity Association of the
Province since its establishment in 1883 and especially congratulates him upon
his remarkable success in procuring the election of each and every candidate
for the several Masonic Charities who have from time to time been approved and
supported by our Masonic Charity Association'
W.Bro. Papworth pledged the support of Scientific
Lodge which, as the August petition shows, was duly delivered.
Col. Caldwell drew out the full Provincial team for
the Consecration in November at the 'Masonic Rooms' at Ely. The Masonic Rooms
appear to have been a large room and a small 'waiting room' at Ely Dispensary,
St. Mary's Street, where the Lodge hire the space at 5gns per year. Following
the meeting and an excellent feast which receive high praise, Madam Ada Kempton
'electrified the brethren' (only by singing, it seems: and Bro. Potts provided
'much amusement with his phonograph'. Whatever did they get up to? At the
Provincial meeting of November 1898 (held in mourning for the death of the Earl
of Lathom) St. Audrey, though it was but six days old, was formally
represented, apart from the fact that the Prov.G.Sec. was himself the DC of the
new Lodge. The Provincial Minutes make no mention of welcome or congratulation,
but the new Lodge Secretary, Brother A. Burton, was appointed Prov.G.
Pursuivant. At dinner, of course, there was considerable reference to the
newcomer both by the Provincial Grand Master and his Deputy. Revd Gray made
much of the 'Now we are Seven' aspect but once again pointed out the needs of
March and Chatteris. He also quoted the text, in reference to the absence of
the Provincial Chaplain, Revd Finch, :hat 'he had married a wife and therefore
could not come' so beating Canon Barker to :he line by nearly a hundred years!
At only its sixth regular meeting St. Audrey Initiated one of the great figures
of Victorian Freemasonry in W.W. Covey-Crump, who was cooly and expertly
delivering the lecture on the First Tracing Board before he had been -N%-o years
a Mason and eventually became the historian of much of the Province. The Lodge
re-enacted his Initiation, in period dress, in February of 1989 and gave the
Province a glimpse of what Masonry had been like for our predecessors.
Those few years around the turn of the century saw
historic occasions both gay and tragic. The special Royal Diamond Jubilee
meeting at the Albert Hall was attended by five brethren from each Lodge for an
occasion not one of them ever forgot. One need not suppose that the breach with
the Grand Lodge of Peru (because it saw fit to replace the VSL with the
Peruvian Book of Constitutions in its Lodges) affected many of our members in
1898, though most minutes record the letter from Grand Lodge on the subject. Equally
over our Cambridgeshire heads would be the re-approval of the same Grand Lodge
of Peru when it reversed its decision the following year. However, the
collections for or donations to the South African War Fund, made in most Lodges
in 1899-90, remind us that many of our brethren were involved in that tragic
episode. Then in February 1901 there came the death of the Queen. Grand Lodge
held a special meeting to express condolences but individual Lodges were
expressly asked not to do so, though the minutes of more than one of our Lodges
describe the brethren standing silently in their sorrow. At the Provincial
Grand Lodge of 1901 Caldwell pointedly remarked that, for the very first time
that any one present could remember, the Toast would be 'The King and the
Craft'. It was drunk with a mixture of gratitude that our Grand Master had
assumed the throne so peacefully and remained our Patron and deep sadness and
regret for the passing of the old Queen and the old days.
Provincial Meetings continued to be held around the
Province; Wisbech in 1899, Corn Exchange Street Masonic Hall in 1900 and 1901,
Ely in 1902, back to the Masonic Hall in 1903. INUL that year had held what was
practically an additional 'Provincial' Lodge by issuing a general invitation to
brethren to attend the visit of the Duke of Connaught, when he graciously
accepted Honorary membership of the Lodge and presented a portrait of himself.
It was very well attended and the Year Book says many brethren were grateful
for the opportunity to be present to salute their Grand Master. 'Provincial'
was at Newmarket in 1904, when the junior Warden designate sent his apologies
for non-attendance. Caldwell announced that he was ready to accept the
apologies, knowing that the sender was attending the funeral of a brother in
Sheffield and he was pleased to invest another member of St. Audrey with the
JW's collar as 'proxy' on his behalf.
That does not seem to have become common practice.
Although not mentioned in the Minutes for that Provincial Meeting, much was
made at the Festive board of the great event of 1904, the 150th Anniversary of
Scientific Lodge.
The Cambridge Daily News of April 16th carried a
long and detailed account of the '88' celebrations. The article is headed by a
brief history of Freemasonry, contributed by Arthur R. Hill, which is filled
with those grand old myths which modern scholarship has been forced to abandon.
For example, the article says that:
'Experts
agree that the Order probably originated in the Greek, Hebrew and Egyptian
Mysteries which, no doubt, were derived from similar institutions in still
older and forgotten nations. These 'mysteries' were introduced into the Roman
building guilds and so passed into this country . ..The first Grand Lodge is
reported to have been formed at York under Prince Edwin in 287. ..'
and so on! The article goes on to give a brief
history of Scientific and a sketch of the Cambridgeshire Province, enumerating
its Lodges and giving brief details of their formations and meeting places. He
concludes that
'It is
not possible in an article appearing in a general newspaper to refer to the
true inwardness of Freemasonry. An old Masonic Song declares that "The
World is in pain, Our secrets to gain". Whether the world is so curious as
this eighteenth century song affirms is open to reasonable doubt, but in any
case the world is not likely to gain the secrets of Masonry, whatever knowledge
it may obtain, without the true Masonic spirit the extension of which will make
for the betterment of mankind and the realisation of the underlying principles
of universal religion.'
The News goes on to describe the Lodge meeting
(with full attendance list) and the exhibition of treasures and Masonic
curiosities. Interestingly the records 'open for inspection' included the
minutes of the Initiation of the Duke of Devonshire, as Lord Cavendish, in 1853
and Sir John Gorst in 1855. The Westminster Gazette carried a short article
under 'Notes of the Day' picking this up and pointing out that His Grace was
currently the Chancellor of the University and Sir John one of the University
Members of Parliament. The Gazette says
'and old
time politicians will not be the less interested in this celebration because
"Honest Jack Althorp" of Reform bill fame, like the Duke of
Devonshire, his special successor in public esteem for the same virtue today,
was an initiate of "88".'
The News also carries a long account of the service
held in Great St. Mary's - where even the officiating clergy wore their regalia
over their surplices - printing the Revd W. Covey-Crump's sermon apparently
verbatim. The banquet held at the Lion is given equally detailed coverage, the
menu being extensive though perhaps less extravagant than that of the Centenary
dinner! 10/6d for members, 1gn. for visitors. Unfortunately, Col. Caldwell was
unable to be present, having been forced to take his son to the Mediterranean
for health reasons. The enormous length and candour of the coverage in the
local newspaper of 1904 must make us think yet again about 'the spirit of
openness' requested by our present Grand Master. The Grand Lodge Circular of
April 22nd 1903 [ been read in Lodge the previous October, heavily criticising
some recent reporting Masonic functions and forbidding any such publicity
without permission, so Hill must have cleared his contributions with the
authorities.
The career of the Provincial Grand Master reached a
pinnacle in 1906 when he became Master of Corpus Christi College. His Province
delighted in his advancement and made a handsome presentation to him in the form
of an album, bound in antique parchment, the frontispiece of which the 'arms'
and title of Provincial Grand Lodge were emblazoned, supported by the arms of
the University and the City. Inside, on two leaves of vellum, was an
illuminated address signed by the current Provincial Officers and by - WM,
Wardens, Treasurer and Secretary of all the Lodges of the Province. The whole
was reputed to form a very fine example of the illuminator's art but I have en
unable to locate it either at Grand Lodge or at the college and it is probably
a family treasure. The presentation was made at Brookside, Col. Caldwell's
home, by : Deputy, John Gray, with the Provincial Treasurer and Secretary and
the Mayor of Cambridge, W.Bro. W. Durnford, PProvSGD, whose names and titles were
fully corded in the press coverage of the event.
Delighted as he was by that expression of regard
from his Province, Col. Caldwell was at Autumn to be even better rewarded by
the filling of one of those 'eligible gaps' in s Province that he and his Deputy
had long been pointing out. In July a meeting of brethren in March decided to
approach Lodge 809 for support in forming a Lodge. It seems that the actual
driving force was a brother Edward Wells, son of the Rector of St. John's in
March who, to avoid his father's determination that he should be a priest of
the Church of England and being equally determined that he would not, had fled
to Australia. Returning as a Mason around 1905 he was the instigator of that
crucial meeting. They wrote to 809 and a special meeting of PMs of that Lodge
was held in August, tended by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master and the
Provincial Secretary. The direct result was the motion passed at the 270th
regular meeting (October) of United Good Fellowship in support of the petition
for a new Lodge at March to be known as The Caldwell Lodge. Can there be, for a
Provincial Grand Master, any greater honour id pleasure than to consecrate a
Lodge in his Province, in a place where he has long wished for a Lodge to be
established and which is to carry his name? Col. Caldwell id this on 31st
January 1907. Caldwell No. 3201 was the first of the five Lodges of
Cambridgeshire Province to commemorate the name of a Provincial Grand Master,
though the Royal Arch Chapter attached to St. Audrey in Ely had been
Consecrated y and as 'Caldwell' in October, only three months earlier. A sure
source of confusion future generations of Provincial Masons! The variation in
working that Caldwell Lodge prizes is said to have been introduced by the
original Bro. Wells, who considered the Australian working with which he was
familiar to be clearer and more readily appreciate by candidates. A rather
unkind story was told to me concerning this brother. As Master Elect he
announced that he wished to introduce the new working, to which the DC refused
to agree. 'Never, while I'm DC!' he is reputed to have said. 'Very well then.
You won't be.' was the response. And, come Installation, he wasn't. At the
Provincial meeting at the end of the year, where Caldwell Lodge first appeared
in the Roll of Lodges, the Provincial Grand Master was presented with an album
containing what are described as 'permanent' photographs of the Charters or
Warrants of all his eight Lodges. Frederick Margetson Rushmore, then WM of
Isaac Newton, made the presentation on behalf of the Province. Caldwell seemed
delighted with the gift.
The year 1907 was the year Quatuor Coronati Lodge
visited Ely as part of their annual summer outing. Several Lodges had the habit
of taking a summer outing in those days. It seems it was the preferred
alternative to the modern Ladies' Night. 441 in particular had a regular and
often complex outing, sometimes booking special trains. In 1907 however QC
Lodge, eighty odd strong, visited Bury St. Edmunds for the Pageant and on their
second day had a trip to Ely, where they toured the cathedral and were
entertained by the brethren of St. Audrey. The minutes of 2727 record the cost
of the entertainment! Two years later Cambridge itself was the venue. The
members were met at Cambridge Station by a distinguished committee including
the Deputy Provincial Grand Master and ProvGSecretary and spent a wonderful
four days. From Cambridge, on July 1st, they went by railway to Wisbech where
they were received by the WM of 809, Bro. Tidnam, who provided conveyances to
tour the town. At the parish church, after the vicar had shown them round, they
were presented with an illuminated address of welcome from the Wisbech brethren
followed by a fine lunch at the Rose and Crown. The afternoon was spent in
visiting the three great churches built along the Roman flood protection wall,
at Walsoken, West Walton and Walpole St. Peter (where Canon Barker was to serve
so happily in the late 1970s and early eighties). They toured Cambridge the
next day (tea at Queens' College with the Deputy) and attended the Masonic Hall
in the evening where, according to the report in the Transactions:
'the
Isaac Newton University Lodge No. 859 had, at much personal inconvenience to
Officers and members (it being then the vacation) summoned an Emergency
Meeting, the business being to ballot for the Duke of Devonshire, Provincial
Grand Master of Derbyshire and formerly of the Lodge, as an Honorary Member and
to work the Third degree with two candidates. As is customary, members wore
knee breeches and stockings, the Officers adding a garter of light blue and the
ritual was given with a near approach to perfection which is perhaps only
possible under the exceptional conditions of a University Lodge'
The writer expressed his amusement that 'time
immemorial' working should be associated with a Lodge that was consecrated only
so recently as 1861! They were dined splendidly in Downing College. On the
evening of July 4th, after a last tour as individuals with the friends they had
acquired during the visit, the visitors left Cambridge having enjoyed a most
successful holiday.
The month after the Consecration of Caldwell Lodge,
our Provincial Grand Master had another special experience when his son, Keith
Farquahar Townley Caldwell, was Initiated in INUL. The Provincial Grand Master
took the chair of his own Lodge to Initiate his son and the principal guest was
the Deputy Grand Master. Six months afterwards the Masonic Hall was the venue
for an informal meeting of Freemasons attending the International Esperanto
Conference which was being held in the town. Much speechifying, it appears, in
both English and Esperanto. Conferences their, as now, were not unusual in this
city and our brethren would often extend hospitality to visiting members of the
fraternity. In 1899 at the end of the Century, the National Union of Teachers
held its annual Easter Conference here. I happen to have a copy of that
Conference souvenir booklet because my own grandmother was, I believe, a
delegate from Lancashire. Although as ardently feminist as a Victorian Lady
might decently be she did not, of course, attend the meeting of 441 when the
brethren of that Lodge offered a general invitation to delegate Freemasons to
attend their regular meeting on April 3rd. A 'Masonic Banquet' appears under
that date openly as an item in the Conference Calendar. The formality of the
minutes cannot quite conceal the faint surprise of the Brethren of 441 at the
success of the invitation! Sixty-two delegates took up the offer to attend the
Lodge and 105 brethren sat down to dine together. At the Jubilee Church
Congress in 1910, Freemasonry went one better and Caldwell held a special
meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge at Trinity Hall on September 28th. A Masonic
Service was planned at King's and a grand procession was organised between
Trinity Hall and King's Chapel. The Lodges processed in order behind their
respective banners, headed by 2727 and the rear brought up by 88, with the
Provincial Officers following and Caldwell with his Deacons at the tail of the
long procession. A number of distinguished clergy took part, the first lesson
being read by the Bishop of Thetford and the sermon given by the Dean of
Hereford, Provincial Grand Master of Herefordshire. At dinner that evening Col.
Caldwell was formally thanked by the visitors for arranging a Masonic service
for the benefit of the Church Congress.
Wisbech was, in 1910, busy with its own Golden
Jubilee. Again a Church service, a Ball and a Reception formed the basis of the
celebrations. The Provincial hierarchy attended, while Frederick Foakes
Jackson, Grand Chaplain and Grand Scribe N in 1908, preached the sermon and the
'brilliant Reception at the Town Hall after the meeting' was provided largely
at the expense of the generous WM, Bro. Tidnam and his lady. Their daughters
provided a 'Concert Party' entertainment. The Isaac Newton jubilee celebrations
naturally followed close on their heels, with the Pro Grand Master, Lord
Ampthill and the Deputy Grand Master visiting. A new Lodge was in the air
however and was debated for some considerable time before it was once again
Scientific that submitted the Petition. The Lodge was to be in Cambridge town
and to be called Cantabrigia. The Minutes of Scientific Lodge make no mention
of any formal resolution to this effect but on April 10th 1911, Oliver Papworth
did report that the 'proposed new Lodge in Cambridge' had asked permission to
borrow the Lodge furnishings owned by 88. The resolution was formally recorded
and voted on at the next meeting when the members agreed to lend their
furnishings for a period of one year. Cantabrigia Lodge, with 36 Founders,
became the ninth Lodge of the Province and at the Festive Board Canon Gray made
a strong appeal for Lodges to be developed in order to reduce the time taken
from Initiation to useful office within the Lodge and for the active
involvement of more brethren. His concern about interest being killed off by
waiting is a theme often repeated in the Province over the succeeding years.
Both Caldwell and Gray were left to continue harping on the Masonic wilderness
at Chatteris. Caldwell did not see that particular 'eligible gap' filled.
On 8th September 1914, by command of the Provincial
Grand Master, William Spalding prepared a letter of sober appeal to the WMs in
the Province, headed 'THE WAR'. In it he quotes the Resolution passed by Grand
Lodge on September 2nd and goes on to say:
'The
R.W.P.G.M., knowing full well the generous and charitable disposition of the
Fraternity in our little Province, makes no suggestion as to the amount of the
contribution which should be made by each Lodge (an amount which will
necessarily vary according to circumstances) but he does suggest that whatever
is given should be paid in the name of the Lodge making the donation to the
local Branch of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales' National Relief Fund.'
Accompanying that message was a last minute
addition. One can almost feel the cold shock represented by the simple black
edged note, dated that same 8th September, which Bro Spalding was forced to
prepare and to include with each copy of the appeal sent out. It read:
'Dear
W.M.,
I was
just sending out the accompanying letter, by command of the R.W.P.G.M., when I
received a telegram stating that Col. Caldwell died this morning as a result of
injuries received in a motor accident yesterday.'
Not only was the whole Province cast into genuine
sorrow, but Royal Arch Chapters throughout England were ordered into mourning
by Supreme Grand Chapter for, as well as finding time to be a most
conscientious and responsible Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent,
Robert Townley Caldwell had been appointed 3rd Grand Principal in 1909. Truly
there were giants in the land.