THE HAMILTON EAST LODGEROOMS 1876 – 1877

 

VWBro I.J.Nathan G Lec. J.W.

When Lodge Beta Waikato No. 450 I.C. was formed in 1865 Hamilton was little more than a military garrison with crude huts for the small number of wives and families. The 4th Regiment, commanded by Col. W. Moule, was based in the area and its soldiers after completing their three years’ service were granted an acre of land each in Hamilton together with a large block of rural land. The size and location of the rural block was dependant on the soldier’s military rank.  On being allocated his land the soldier’s pay stopped and twelve months later his issue of rations ceased.   The founders of the lodge were primarily military men and the lodge met at the Royal Hotel on the corner of what is now Grey Street and Cook Street.   The lodge room measured eighteen feet by sixteen feet and there was also two small ante rooms.

In 1874 Hamilton was still at the edge of a primitive civilisation. It actually consisted of two separate villages: Hamilton East with a population of 169 males and 131 females and Hamilton West with 200 males and 166 females. Hamilton East had 53 houses, 39 of which had four rooms or less while Hamilton West had 70 houses of which 49 had fewer than five rooms.  Houses were not necessarily occupied by single families and one four roomed house was reported as being home to three families.

Although accommodation was in short supply and of a poor standard, Hamilton was flourishing with plenty of work available. Among its industries in 1875 were breweries, brickyards, biscuit manufacturers, agricultural implement manufacturers, vehicle and furniture factories, watchmakers, tailors, sawmills and flourmills.

Quick’s coaches operated a regular service from Auckland but it was at least an eleven hour trip and the six horse teams were changed nine times along the way. Often the male passengers were temporarily off loaded to lessen the burden for the horses on the hills.

Living conditions were bad, hygiene poor and sickness and disease endemic. There were many deaths from typhoid.   On 22 April 1875 the lodge resolved that it was desirable to build its own Masonic hall and a building committee was appointed to carry this out. The committee was chaired by William Cumming, the Master, and at a meeting held on Tuesday 11 July he offered a site, valued at £150.  It was also announced that Bro. I.R. Vialou, later to become the first mayor of Hamilton, had offered to prepare the necessary plans free of charge and another brother agreed to carry out the legal business on the same terms.  Six members of the committee present donated a total of £50.  It was agreed that all Masonic brethren throughout the district be invited to make donations for the work.  It was reported that Bro. F.R. Claude had donated £100.  Claude was the owner of the 400 acre farm originally granted to Colonel W. Moule which, when sub divided, became known as Claudelands.

Tenders on a labour only basis were called for and the closing date was to be 19 September 1876. The successful tenders were a Mr Steadman for the brickwork and plastering at £60 and Mr M.J. Taylor for the carpentry at £45. The Waikato Times reported that the facade was handsome and imposing with a frontage of thirty feet which would be occupied by two ante rooms each twelve feet square and a central entrance hall six feet wide leading to the main lodge room itself twenty feet by thirty feet at the rear. The paper believed that the completed building would be an ornament to the township and it commented that it had no doubt that the foundation stone would be laid with all due form and ceremony in regular Masonic order. And so it was.

The date for this occasion was 9 November 1876, the birthday of the Prince of Wales, Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England, and public holiday in New Zealand. It was a great day for the Craft and it was reported that a large muster of brethren came from Ngaruawahia, Cambridge, TeAwamutu, Pirongia and even Piako.   But it wasn’t just for the men because the newspaper account spoke of many gaily dressed holiday makers and the carriages filled with the ladies.

Although rehearsals had been held to ensure a fine ceremony there was one major hitch. Captain J. Runciman and his troop of cavalry had been training in Cambridge.   It had been their intention to take part in the ceremonial but they had been delayed in their departure. Runciman sent a telegram to Hamilton East asking that the ceremony be held back for fifteen minutes so that his troop could be present.  The telegram was not delivered in time and the proceedings were disturbed by the arrival of the 30 to 40 horsemen of the cavalry who formed up in line at the rear of the gathering in front of the building site.

The lodge had been tyled at eleven o’clock and at ten minutes past twelve o’clock the procession of masons, bearing their various emblems, set off in double file from the lodge room. The Tyler was at the head of the procession and he was followed by visiting brethren then the members, the officers and the past masters of Beta Waikato with the Master bringing up the rear. On arriving at the site of the new hall the officers passed through the double file and took up their positions, together with the symbols and furniture of the lodge, on the platform erected behind the foundation stone. A harmonium and the Hamilton Church Choir were on a side platform on which a tent had been erected. The presiding minister was Bro. the Rev. W. Calder and his wife played the harmonium. The Rev. Calder who was only 5 feet 4 inches tall had arrived from England the previous year to be Vicar of St. Peters.  He was a man of great energy and a good horseman which was fortunate as he had a large parish.  He held services at Cambridge, Ngaruawahia, Whatawhata and Piako.

The lodge secretary, John K. McDonald who was a local coal and timber merchant, carrier and shipping agent, read the inscription of the new building while the treasurer placed it and some gold, silver and copper coins of the realm together with a copy of the Waikato Times in a bottle which was then placed in a cavity of the foundation stone. The flat stone itself, suspended above from a triangle, was then lowered amidst solemn music from the choir singing ‘When Earth’s Foundations First were Laid’.  The Wardens applied their jewels to the stone and the Master then struck it three times with his mallet and declared in the name of the Great Architect of the Universe the stone to be well formed, true and truly laid according to the ancient customs and usages of the craft.  The architect, Bro. I.R. Vialou, presented the plans to the Master who examined them and returned them for the proper guidance of the artificers in the work.

In the absence of Provincial Grand Lodge officers Bro Cumming addressed the gathering following which the Chaplain read 1 Kings Chapter 8.  The corn, wine and oil were poured on the stone by Brothers Past Masters Harris, Beere and Edgecumbe. The ceremony was concluded by a prayer and the singing of the National Anthem (masonic) led by the choir and heartily joined in by the whole body of brethren and spectators.

The brethren, their ladies and guests were then entertained at a dejeuner.  This was a cold collation prepared by Capt Dawson the host of the Royal Hotel and laid out in an attractively decorated Town Hall.  This hall was opposite the Royal Hotel and was demolished late in the 19th century.  `The table was well worthy of the caterer and the host’s well supplied, well cooked, elegantly set out repast such as would task the happiest efforts of the best provided hotels and the best cuisines in the colony to match’.  ‘The dinner passed off most agreeably as indeed it could not otherwise do when such excellent provision had been made and where the hosts were so obligingly attentive to their visitors.’ So the Times reported the occasion. Following a lengthy toast list the gathering dispersed.

1877 and the opening

Although Quick’s coaches provided the only through commercial transport to Auckland from Hamilton the railway was being constructed and was edging steadily south. Monday 13 August 1877 was the date the first official train arrived at Ngaruawahia.  It had left Auckland at 7.00am and reached Ngaruawahia six hours later.

The formal opening and consecration of Beta‑Waikato’s new lodge rooms was timed to begin at High Noon just ten days later on Thursday 23 August 1877. Capt James McPherson, then secretary of the lodge, placed an advertisement in the New Zealand Herald on the Tuesday advising that a steamer had been laid on for Hamilton from Ngaruawahia departing immediately after the arrival of the evening train from Auckland thereby enabling all who wished to attend to be present without losing an extra day from their businesses in Auckland.  McPherson was appointed clerk to the Waikato County Council when it was formed in 1876. He had been a regular officer in the British Army and had served in the Indian Mutiny and the Crimean War. In February 1871 he was elected the first Member of Parliament for the Waikato.   A bequest from his daughter Annie in the early 1930s enabled the bell tower and Chapter House to be added to the present St Peter’s Cathedral and a tenor bell weighing one tonne to be installed.

The lodge rooms had been built at a cost of £600.  Le Quesne in 1876 was making bricks more cheaply than those from Ngaruawahia where they were loaded on to barges for   £2/10/0 a thousand but freight charges from there were high. In Hamilton East Isaac Coates, a later mayor and benefactor of the lodge, was also selling bricks at £2/0/0 a thousand but it is not recorded where the bricks for the lodge rooms came from.

There was a very large influx of visitors for the occasion and, the paper reported, so general was the drain on its resources that had it not been for the indefatigable exertions of the Master and officers of Beta‑Waikato the visitors would have fared badly in the way of accommodation notwithstanding the excellent hotels in Hamilton.

The numerous visitors included all the Irish Provincial Grand lodge officers headed by Bro. G.P. Pierce Prov GM, RWM Malcolm Niccol then Master of Lodge Manakau and Sub Prov GM SC and later to be Grand Master and Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, Bro G.S. Graham DGM EC together with representatives from nearly every lodge in the North Island. With the presence of such large numbers the lodge, not surprisingly, tyled two hours late at 2.00pm. One item of business conducted was the presentation of a handsome gold past master’s jewel (manufactured by Mr Wells of Auckland) to the Master, Bro F. R. Claude.   Claude had been the first chairman of the Waikato County Council but after selling up his property in 1878 left the district.  At a farewell dinner for him he was described as ‘a good husband and father, a good farmer, a good sportsman and a good all round man.’ The presentation of the jewel to the Master was the signal for loud cheering in the lodge room.

After the business was concluded the newspaper reported that all the brethren formed into procession and marched across the river to St Peter’s church; a straight forward statement about a straight forward event.  There was, however, a logistics difficulty.  There was no bridge over the river and neither the Waikato Times nor the New Zealand Herald recorded how this feat was accomplished. The first bridge over the Waikato River at Hamilton was not opened until November 1879.   Previous to this punts were used to cross from one side to the other.

The order of the procession was: the Tyler, two Stewards with rods, the brethren of Lodge Beta, visiting brethren, officers of Lodge Beta, the Bible Bearer supported by two Stewards with rods, past masters, officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge, the Provincial Grand Master supported by two Deacons with rods, the Sword Bearer, and finally two Stewards with rods.

A considerable number of the public, especially ladies, were present and the church was full. A full choral service was concluded by a short, impressive and spirited sermon by Bro. Rev W. Calder who took as his text ‘Honour all men; love the Brotherhood; fear God; honour the King’.   A collection for Masonic benevolence amounted to £11/6/8.   St Peter’s church was below the present cathedral and was built close to the Victoria Street footpath. Because there had been difficulties in raising sufficient money to build it in a more durable timber it had been built in kahikatea and had been opened in April 1876.  It measured 56 feet by 38 feet and accommodated 300 people and was designed with a mixture of Gothic and Norman styles.  By the turn of the century it had been ravaged by borer.

After the ceremony in the church the procession reformed and returned to the lodge rooms where the Grand Lodge officers continued the ceremonies and with oblations of corn, wine and oil consecrated the new hall. The Chaplain then read verses from 1 Kings, 8 and 9. After the invocation by the Chaplain the brethren perambulated and saluted the Provincial Grand Master, Bro G.P. Pierce, who then addressed the meeting. Following this the lodge was closed with solemn prayer. The Master invited all the brethren to be the guests of Lodge Beta at a banquet to be held in the Town Hall.

The banquet itself was regarded as a credit not only to the lodge but also to Bro `Thomas Dawson of the Royal Hotel, the providore, who left nothing to be desired for’. Dawson who was Master of the lodge in 1879 was later to become mayor of Hamilton but resigned in 1880 along with councillors W. Cumming, J.K. McDonald and J. Knox because they believed that Hamilton East should have more say in the conduct of the affairs of Hamilton.

Following the Royal toast Bro Pierce proposed the toast to the success of Hamilton, the Waikato and to the lodge in particular. In his speech, amongst other things, Bro Pierce accused the government of neglect in failing to provide a bridge to link the two settlements and drew comparisons with the bridges that had been built at Ngaruawahia and Cambridge. He expressed his pleasure that he had been able to open such a beautiful edifice built for the purposes of masonry which he regarded as proof of the vitality of masonry in the Waikato. At the conclusion of a lengthy toast list the brethren dispersed.

The brethren assembled again in the large room in the Commercial Hotel where the inauguration ball was to be commenced at 9.00pm. The orchestra led by Mr Hoffman had come from Auckland and its instrumentation was piano, violin and cornet. There were twenty two dances including quadrilles, gallops, polkas, mazurkas, lancers, schottisches and waltzes. Accommodation, music, provisions, delicacies etc. were provided on the most liberal scale and the floor was in first rate order. The non dancers played whist and had mild ‘tip ups’ in the card rooms. All present enjoyed themselves and the ‘dancing was kept up till 5 o’clock in the morning and as by this time the visitors had to study their means of locomotion, especially those who wanted to reach Auckland, a dispersion took place.’

And so today we walk in the footsteps of those brethren not just a generation or two removed from us but of 110 years ago in a building which has continued to be used for masonry by masons.

REFERENCES

P J. Gibbons Astride the River

H.C.M. Norris Armed Settlers’

H.C.M. Norris ‘The Anglican Church at Hamilton’

 H.C.M. Norris ‘Settlers in Depression’

The New Zealand Herald

The Waikato Times

Sixty Years of Masonry: Lodge Beta‑Waikato 1865‑1924

Shortened version

THE HAMILTON EAST LODGEROOMS 1876 – 1877

 

Taken from a lecture by Bro I.J.Nathan G Lec. J.W.

The founders of the lodge were primarily military men and the lodge met at the Royal Hotel on the corner of what is now Grey Street and Cook Street.   The lodge room measured eighteen feet by sixteen feet and there were also two small ante rooms.

In 1874 Hamilton was still at the edge of a primitive civilisation. It actually consisted of two separate villages: Hamilton East with a population of 169 males and 131 females and Hamilton West with 200 males and 166 females. Hamilton East had 53 houses, 39 of which had four rooms or less while Hamilton West had 70 houses of which 49 had fewer than five rooms.

On 22 April 1875 the lodge resolved that it was desirable to build its own Masonic hall and a building committee was appointed to carry this out. The committee was chaired by William Cumming, the Master, and at a meeting held on Tuesday 11 July he offered a site, valued at £150.  It was also announced that Bro. I.R. Vialou, later to become the first mayor of Hamilton, had offered to prepare the necessary plans free of charge and another brother agreed to carry out the legal business on the same terms.  Six members of the committee present donated a total of £50.  It was agreed that all Masonic brethren throughout the district be invited to make donations for the work.  It was reported that Bro. F.R. Claude had donated £100.  Claude was the owner of the 400 acre farm originally granted to Colonel W. Moule which, when sub divided, became known as Claudelands.

The Waikato Times reported that the facade was handsome and imposing with a frontage of thirty feet which would be occupied by two ante rooms each twelve feet square and a central entrance hall six feet wide leading to the main lodge room itself twenty feet by thirty feet at the rear. The paper believed that the completed building would be an ornament to the township and it commented that it had no doubt that the foundation stone would be laid with all due form and ceremony in regular Masonic order. And so it was.

The date for this occasion was 9 November 1876, the birthday of the Prince of Wales, Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England and so today we walk in the footsteps of those brethren not just a generation or two removed from us but of well over a 100 years ago in a building which has continued to be used for Masonry by Masons.