Hull FM

The 1820s
has been described as the darkest time in the history of freemasonry in Hul=
l,
but it is precisely such stormy periods which interest the historian. The
central figure in Hull freemasonry at that time is a name that is I am sure
familiar to you, that of William Crow, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, who
joined Minerva lodge No. 250 in<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </s=
pan>1819
and became Senior Deacon the following year. Crow quickly demonstrated his
abilities when the Treasurer of the lodge left Hull taking the lodge accoun=
ts
with him. Crow ensured that they were returned, and sorted out the mess lef=
t
behind by the Treasurer.<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He =
became
the Master of Minerva lodge in 1823. <o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-US" style=3D"mso-ansi-language:EN-US">The=
 Humber
Lodge No. 57 had been suffering financial difficulties for some years. When=
 the
lodge was invited to the lodge of reconciliation at the time of the union, =
it
replied that the officers could not afford to travel to London. By 1821, th=
e
lodge had virtually ceased functioning. The former master, Thomas Stoddard,=
 had
been<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>expelled from freemason=
ry, but
retained all correspondence of the lodge, so that membership fees disappear=
ed.
The warrant, jewels and clothing of the lodge had been kept by the Treasure=
r who
refused to give them up. According to the reminiscences recorded by Coltman
Smith, when summoned to a meeting at the Black Swan in Dock Street to discu=
ss
these matters, the Treasurer left the warrant downstairs with the landlady,=
 with
strict instructions not to give it to anyone without his permission.
Nevertheless, the Master of the Lodge tricked the landlady into giving him =
the
warrant which he hid in an empty house. The Treasurer protested to the
Provincial Grand Master, who suspended the warrant.<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-US" style=3D"mso-ansi-language:EN-US">Cro=
w had
acquired a reputation as a trouble shooter, and was one of the arbitrators
appointed to sort out the problems of Humber lodge. By 1824, matters had be=
en
resolved, but the Humber was still very sickly. The Master, Joseph<span sty=
le=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Ridsdale wrote to Great Queen Street apologising that '</span><span =
lang=3D"EN-GB">the
fewness of our members, the lowness of our finances, and the absence of tho=
se
who have not yet returned, may all have contributed to the appearance of er=
rors
in our accounts'. However, by the end of 1825, the membership of Humber had
doubled, with twelve members joining from Minerva, led by Crow, the first t=
o
join in October 1824. In 1825, Crow became Master of the Humber lodge. What=
 were
the reasons for this secession? According to Coltman Smith, the split was
connected with the heavy debts of the Minerva lodge and there seems no reas=
on to
doubt this. The reasons for these financial problems are not clear: Coltman
Smith suggests that the funds were depleted by an excess of hospitality, bu=
t, in
the very poor economic climate at that time, the lodge probably also had ma=
ny
demands to relieve impoverished brethren. The cost of maintaining the Miner=
va's
own premises at Dagger Lane may also have been a factor. In 1826-7 a furthe=
r
nineteen members of Minerva joined Humber lodge.</span></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">The new members of Humber lodge had g=
reat
ambitions. In 1826, the Humber petitioned for the establishment of a Royal =
Arch
chapter attached to the lodge, but the petition ran into difficulties becau=
se
there was no record that the proposed First Principal, Thomas Feetam, a cab=
inet
maker who was another of those who had joined Humber from Minerva, had ever=
 been
exalted to the Royal Arch. The bye-laws were revised and an attempt was mad=
e to
establish a formal fund of benevolence. In March 1827, a proposal was made =
to
build a masonic hall for use by both the Humber and Minerva lodges, but thi=
s
fell through. Nevertheless, Humber pushed ahead with building a hall.</span=
></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">What happened next is described in a =
letter
from the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, Richard Beverley, to the Grand
Secretary, which I will quote. 'The Humber Lodge of Hull, has lately come t=
o the
determination to build a new lodge on a grand scale - which they have begun=
, and
have already advanced considerably. The landlord of the inn where they late=
ly
held their meetings (the Turks Head) of course feels that he will be a lose=
r by
the lodge leaving his house: to prevent therefore their meeting in a new lo=
dge
or going on with the building, he, at the last time they met at his house,
posted constables at the door to take the Masters and Wardens into custody =
and
to arrest from them by violence the warrant.' Coltman Smith recorded a trad=
ition
that the Master, who was Thomas Feetam, had the warrant specially strengthe=
ned
with canvas, and wore it instead of an apron so that it could not be seized=
.</span></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">Beverley continued as follows:<span s=
tyle=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>The Master was accordingly arrested [by the constables posted outsid=
e the
inn], and the lodge broke up in a great riot, though the Master was shortly
released from custody and got off safely with the warrant.... The Humber lo=
dge
now meets at some other public house till their new Lodge is finished; but =
the
Landlord of the old inn vexed at what has happened, has persuaded three oth=
er
members (the most prominent of whom is one Brother Roach) uniformly to blac=
kball
all persons that may be proposed either for initiation or admission from ot=
her
lodges, so as to prevent the Humber lodge ever having any new members, and =
so of
course finally to make it dissolve. One of these four brothers openly profe=
ssed
his determination to blackball every person that should be proposed, and th=
ey
began their conspiracy by excluding some most unexceptionable persons of th=
e
best character, who would have been a valuable addition to any lodge.'</spa=
n></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">All this was bad enough, but it was n=
ot the
main reason for Beverley writing to Great Queen Street. The Humber lodge ha=
d
excluded the four blackballers and Beverley had approved the lodge's<span s=
tyle=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>actions. However, Roach, a mariner who had been one of those who had
joined Humber from Minerva lodge with Crow, had decided to take revenge.
Beverley described how Roach 'takes about with him Carlisle=E2=80=99s publi=
cations on
masonry, lends them to people, not masons, to read, and assures them all th=
e
secrets of masonry are there fully and completely exposed - &amp; that any =
body
purchasing Carlisle's book may know the whole secret for 2s 9d'. Beverley w=
as
outraged at what he considered complete perjury, and asked the Grand Secret=
ary
for guidance about how Roach could be punished.</span></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">Who was Carlisle, and what were these
publications which Roach was showing to non-masons? Richard Carlile was a
radical atheist writer and publisher who was one of the pioneers of freedom=
 of
speech in Britain. A tin-plate worker from Devon, he drifted into radical
activity in London after 1815. He became a journalist and pamphleteer, and =
was
captivated by the works of Thomas Paine. He began printing cheap editions o=
f
Paine's work. When he produced a cheap edition of Paine's critique of
christianity, The Age of Reason, Carlile was sent to Dorchester gaol. From =
his
prison room, Carlile organised an extraordinary campaign against the ban on
Paine's book, enlisting dozens of volunteers who risked trial and imprisonm=
ent
by selling Carlile's publications. Carlile wore out the judicial system, an=
d
eventually the government gave up trying to suppress Paine's book.</span></=
p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">While in Dorchester, Carlile also pub=
lished
a periodical called The Republican, which became the most widely read worki=
ng
class journal. Carlile championed many other progressive causes, such as bi=
rth
control and vegetarianism, and is increasingly seen by scholars as a pivota=
l
figure in the history of English social thought. In 1825, Carlile devoted
virtually a whole volume of The Republican to publishing a great deal of ma=
sonic
ritual. He saw this as an important part of his campaign against secrecy.
Carlile was the first to print the post-union ritual, and his book provides=
 the
earliest evidence for the ritual of many additional degrees. It was this bo=
ok
which Roach was passing around Hull. Carlile's interest in freemasonry is
important in understanding the later development of his thought. Influenced=
 by
Paine and others, he came to the conclusion that freemasonry embodied
metaphorical truths about religion, predating the distortions which he thou=
ght
that christianity had introduced. He reprinted his volume as a Manual of
Freemasonry, which became one of his most widely circulated works.</span></=
p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">In considering a figure like Carlile,
evidence of the extent to which his publications were read and circulated i=
s
very important, and the letter describing Roach's behaviour in Hull provide=
s
important evidence that, just two years after its publication, Carlile's
exposure was widely known and circulated. We know very little about the rea=
ction
of Grand Lodge to Carlile's work. For this reason, the reply by Edward Harp=
er as
Grand Secretary to Beverley's letter is very significant. Harper expressed =
his
abhorrence of Roach's 'base and scandalous' conduct, but his main concern w=
as to
ensure that Carlile did not hear of the incident.. For this reason, he felt=
 no
official action was possible. Formal action by Grand Lodge would, declared
Harper, be gratifying to Carlile, since 'it would be the means of giving
publicity to the thing he has published and thereby be the cause of its bei=
ng
more generally known and consequently circulated and read'. He urged a poli=
cy of
'silent contempt'. In order to keep the affair quiet, Harper had not even d=
ared
to raise it with 'the public authorities of Grand Lodge' but had quietly
discussed it with other Grand Officers, who concurred with his advice.</spa=
n></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">This
incident at Humber Lodge thus reveals some interesting and unexpected
information about a significant figure in England history. There is a great=
 deal
more I could add about the historical themes raised by this dispute at Hull=
. The
disputes continued after 1827, and the blackballing activities were taken u=
p by
other members of the lodge. Protests by the Phoenix lodge against the exclu=
sions
of blackballers drew Beverley back into the dispute, and led to a row betwe=
en
him and Phoenix lodge. One of the factors in these disputes appears to have=
 been
about the building of masonic halls. At this time masonic halls were still =
a
rarity; but Hull had three. This seems to me to say a great deal about the
aspirations of Hull as a city, and is a fact historians of the city should
investigate further. I think this provides more than enough illustration of=
 how
a single incident in a masonic lodges in a town such as Hull has a great de=
al to
interest the historian. </span><span lang=3D"EN-US" style=3D"mso-ansi-langu=
age:EN-US"><o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">Let me conclude by introducing you to=
 a
Victorian mason much revered in Hull but now perhaps completely forgotten,
George Markham Tweddell. Tweddell was born at Stokesley in Cleveland in 182=
1 and
became an apprentice to a local printer William Braithwaite. At the age of =
19,
Tweddell became editor of a new local newspaper published by Braithwaite, b=
ut
his articles in support of the working man were so controversial that
Braithwaite sacked him. Tweddell was able to continue publishing the paper =
on
his own account, and became an all-purpose writer and publisher. He married
Florence Shaw, who, as Florence Cleveland was one of the best known Yorkshi=
re
dialect poets. During the 1850s, Tweddell and his wife were Master and Matr=
on of
the Bury Industrial and Ragged Schools in Lancashire. Tweddell's literary o=
utput
was enormous. He was most celebrated for his book on Shakespeare and His
Contemporaries. He was a regular contributor to both The Freemasons' Magazi=
ne
and The Freemason. He was also an enthusiastic oddfellow, publishing an
oddfellow's reciter. By 1877, Tweddell had run into financial difficulties,=
 and
William Andrews, a popular historian and freemason who lived in Hull, arran=
ged a
subscription to present Tweddell with a 'purse of gold'. Tweddell was very
interested in chartist politics, and he was one of a number of masons in
northern England involved in the campaign to secure the vote for working pe=
ople.</span></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">Tweddell was also a rather bad poet, =
but
nevertheless he was included by Andrews in a collection of modern Yorkshire
poets. Twedell's first published collection of poetry was 'A Hundred Masoni=
c
Sonnets Illustrative of the Principles of the Craft for Freemasons and
Non-Masons'. In the introduction, Tweddell described how he had lost the si=
ght
of one eye. When he was forced to rest his eye, he often spent the time
composing a sonnet. Tweddell's sonnets cover such unlikely subjects as the
masonic press, politics and freemasonry, masonic jewellery, and promotion b=
y
merit - all matters still close to heart of freemasons. Since I spend much =
of my
time in the library at Great Queen Street, and everything I've talked about
tonight is drawn from the remarkable collections there, I can't resist givi=
ng
you Tweddell's first sonnet on lodge libraries. (There are three altogether=
, you
may be alarmed to hear, but I'll spare you all three).</span></p>
<p style=3D"margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">I would that every Masons' Lodge shou=
ld have<br>
A library of good Masonic lore.<br>
The Arts and Sciences we should explore,<br>
And all that's calculated Man to save<br>
From ignorance and vice. Mere sign and word<br>
Were never masonry: they help to guard<br>
The Craft from cowans; but the great reward<br>
Is his who fights with Masonry's keen sword<br>
To slaughter error. Men have labour'd hard<br>
Age after age, to chronicle each thought<br>
They felt was worthy; and all Masons ought<br>
To cherish and to spread them, and to guard<br>
Them from destruction. Thus a choice Library,<br>
By all good Masons, ever must well-treasured be.</span></p>