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Now the oldest organisation in the town, the light of
Masonry first shone in Barrhead in 1824. About this time,
Barrhead was a mere collection of four different hamlets,
Ralston, Dovecothall, Grahamston and West Arthurlie, names
which are still known and recognised to this present day.
A number of brethren in the town, recognising the need for
Freemasonry, and probably judging that it would be
invaluable for the moral and social advancement of the
community, presented a petition to the Grand Lodge of
Scotland, asking that a Charter be granted for the purpose
of holding a lodge in the town. As we know, this was granted
on the 2nd February 1824 and Lodge Union & Crown
No. 378 came into being and it is noteworthy that this
original charter, signed by the Grand Master Mason, his
Grace the Duke of Argyll, is still in use at all meetings of
the Lodge.
Recession struck upon the town during the 1830’s and the
Lodge slipped into darkness for a number of years, only to
be resuscitated in 1868 when the authority to work under the
original charter was given by Grand Lodge. During the
dormancy of the Lodge, all the Lodges within the Scottish
Craft were renumbered with the result that Union & Crown,
Barrhead was given the new and now familiar number 307. At
that time the Lodge met in an upper room of the Queen’s Arms
Hotel and at the first meeting in 1868, 11 Candidates were
Entered, passed & Raised on the same evening, probably by
Lodge Pollokshaws R.A., No. 153 with an initiation fee
£1-12s-6d (£1.63).
The Lodge moved to the Lesser Public hall in 1872 and
continued to meet on alternate Mondays during the winter
months, although for a short spell they met on a Wednesday.
The Benevolent fund was established in 1877 with the sum of
2/-6d (13p) payable annually by each member. Over the
next couple of decades the Lodge went from strength to
strength taking part in the laying of memorial stones
throughout the district, usually accompanied by the local
brass band.
In 1905 the regular meeting night was moved to a Tuesday
and a few years later in 1910 a fine new temple was erected
on the present site at a cost of £1446. The memorial stone
was laid with full Masonic honours in September of that year
by the Provincial Grand Master, Bro Zachariah Henry Heys.
The Lodge celebrated its centenary in 1924 with a series of
festivities, the highlight of which was a dinner for almost
350 people in the Higher Grade School. It has continued to
prosper throughout the 20th century, with a long
list of credits to its name. During the 1970’s attendances
climbed steadily culminating in a series of record
attendances in the mid 1980’s and whilst these have now
levelled out and stabilised, we are still one of the most
successful and well supported Lodges in the Scottish Craft.
A handsome extension was erected in 1994, enhancing the
already impressive listed building. The Lodge Celebrated its
175th anniversary with a fabulous week of
celebrations in February 1999, culminating in a
re-dedication and consecration meeting within the temple,
conducted by Provincial Grand Lodge. Thereafter a dinner
attended by over 300 brethren was held within the main hall
of the old Barrhead Higher Grade School in Main Street (the
site of the centenary dinner in 1924).
Later that year 25 brethren of the Lodge travelled to
Frituna Lodge, No. 2949 in Essex to confer an
exemplification of our popular Dramatised master Mason
degree, a trip, which was repeated 2 years later.
Early in 2001, over 30 brethren travelled across the
Atlantic to Houston in Texas where we had been invited to
confer an EA and Dramatised MM degree within Spring Lodge
#1174 (a reciprocal visit was hosted by Union & Crown in
November 2002 when a group of our Texan brethren and their
wives came to Barrhead as our guests).
In April 2001 the Lodge was further honoured when we were
invited to confer the Dramatised Fellowcraft degree within
Provincial Grand Lodge as part of their 175th
anniversary celebrations, the very first occasion a Daughter
Lodge has been invited to confer a degree within Provincial
Grand Lodge.
Extracted
from
“A Short
History of the Daughter Lodges”
A
Provincial Grand Lodge of Renfrewshire East publication
By
Bro.
James W Renfrew PM, No.307
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