Gihon Sancta Maria Lodge No.49 There is not much known regarding the first 50 years of Gihon Lodge due to lack of records but the name itself was that of one of the streams which flowed out of the Garden of Eden and was afterwards applied to one of the springs which runs just outside Jerusalem where King Solomon was anointed King of Israel.
the Junior Warden Robert Robinson a taylor. On the 31st March 1818 there was a joining member, Thomas Satterly, who was Grand Standard Bearer in the Royal Arch. He was a member of the Lodge until his death in 1863. His portrait in oils (shown) is the property of
Gihon Lodge is one of considerable antiquity and we have the authority of our Charter that it was founded under the Atholl Constitution in the year 1756. Because of legal restrictions due to the Napoleonic Wars in 1799 a law was enacted forbidding the formation of secret societies including Freemasons Lodges but lodges formed before that date were allowed to continue provided they made a return of all their members to the local Clerk of the Peace. Our warrant has no name specified and the authority therefore devolves on the individuals who from time to time hold offices, a tradition which is jealously guarded. The name “Gihon” was adopted in 1819 which is the date of the earliest surviving Lodge record and by which time the two Grand Lodges had become one.
the Lodge and used to hang in the ante-room of the Guild Hall Tavern. It is loaned by us to the Grand Lodge Museum. Bro. Satterly was one of the members of the Lodge of Reconciliation formed after the union in 1813 to teach and demonstrate a unified ritual to the There are two seals on the warrant one in Antients and the Moderns. white of the Grand Lodge and one in red with a ducal coronet the personal arms of the A brother discovered that the principal collars in regular use were in fact made by the Duke of Atholl. famous Thomas Harper, the greatest of all The twenty original members were in the Masonic silversmiths and hall marked main concerned with the seafaring trades. 1810. They were presumably donated by the There are among them six mariners includ- holders of the respective offices but their ing the captain of the “Amazon” and a China- survival is a minor miracle. When their value man, a brewer, two victuallers, a cooper, a was assessed and their significance realised wharfinger, a landing waiter customs, a pilot, they were placed on long term loan in the an architect, an organ builder and a gentle- Museum at Freemasons’ Hall where they are man. The first meeting was at the house by on display. name or sign the George at George Stairs, In 2009, the lodge amalgamated with Sancta Southwark. Maria Lodge No. 2682 and today meets four The first Master was George Eyre a carpen- times a year in Mark Masons’ hall in London. ter, the Senior Warden John Templeman and
Cross Keys April 2021
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