The Royal Cumberland
Lodge No.41 Close Window
founded 1733
Regular meetings: the first Thursday at 18.15hrs Nov, Dec, Feb, Mar,
May, (Apr second Thursday)
Installation meeting: the first Thursday at 16.45hrs Oct.
Contact the Lodge Secretary:
Alan
Morsley
The Beginnings and Mode of
Working
The earliest Lodge minute dated 28th December 1732
records an established Lodge at the Bear Inn, Bath. It affiliated
with the Moderns’ Grand Lodge the following May when it received a
Deputation, signed by Lord Montague, the Grand Master. The Bear
Lodge almost certainly derived its membership from an earlier Lodge
that met at the Queen’s Head in Bath, which had been formed by Dr.
Desaguliers, Past Grand Master, in 1724. No other Lodge existed at
the time in or near Bath, and like a dissolving picture the Queen’s
Head Lodge fades and the Bear Lodge appears.
In 1770
Thomas Dunckerley was commissioned by the Moderns’ Grand
Lodge to compile a ritual for all three degrees and it is
recorded that he completed the work to the satisfaction of
all Brethren. In 1784, as Provincial Grand Master, he
constituted a new Lodge in Bath. It was named after the Duke
of Cumberland who had been elected Grand Master in 1782.
Dunckerley provided this new Lodge with a ritual and
bye-laws. This was the ritual he had written for Grand Lodge
and which he also gave to the Bristol Lodges a little later.
In 1785 the old ‘Bear Inn Lodge’ amalgamated with the
new Royal Cumberland Lodge. The combined Lodge adopted the
name Royal Cumberland but continued work under the old
Deputation. Today the Lodge has the rare honour of being a
Deputised rather than a Warranted Lodge and as such is one
of seven so named. It is also the first Lodge to have paid
for its Warrant. The Masonic Historian, W. Bro. W. J. Hughan,
observed in 1880 that the Lodge at the Queen’s Head was the
first Warranted Lodge for any part of the Country, and
because regular Freemasonry has been in existence in the
City ever since, Bath may justly be regarded as the Premier
Masonic Provincial City of England.
It is interesting to note that the working compiled by
Thomas Dunckerley was taken to Australia by W. Bro. Percy
Wells (PM 1854), circa 1858. At that time the working was
known as the ‘Somerset Ritual’. It must have provided a good
base for Freemasonry as it was adopted and used by the
English Lodges in South Australia, though sadly this is not
the case today.
Thanks mainly to the work of W. Bro. C. Curd, PAGDC PM who at the Grand Lodge inquiry in 1929, successfully defended the right of Private Lodges to retain their old rituals, this distinguished working is used by three Bath Lodges: Royal Cumberland Lodge No 41, daughter Lodge, Royal Albert Edward Lodge No 906 and granddaughter Lodge, St. Alphege Lodge No. 4095. W. Bro. Curd in ending his case is reported as saying, “… those Lodges that did not work this ceremony were looked upon as ‘slackers’ who wished to shirk a little work and get more quickly to the banquet afterwards …”.
Bi-Centenary Jewel
Lodge Members are entitled to wear
the Bi-Centenary Jewel. It seems that the Lodge purchased
the Centenary Jewel in 1833 and then the Bi-Centenary Bar in
1933. They are purchased by Members as and when available
and the funds go to the Lodge Charity accounts. Note. The
Jewel is engraved with the Lodge Number 48. This number was
held by the Lodge from 1832 - 1863 when it was re-numbered
to its present number No. 41.
Past Masters’ Jewel
The Past Master’s Jewel is
awarded to each Past Master who meets the conditions set out
by the late W. Bro. Edmund White who contributed to a fund
for the purchase of the Jewels. Note its unusual design
Click here for a link to the Royal Cumberland Royal Arch Chapter No.41