A Brief History of Oriental Lodge

Presentation by W Bro. John Chan PSGD, AProvGM
on 20th Anniversary on Monday 15th November 2010

Worshipful Master, W Bro. Vic & Brethren All,
Indeed it’s my privilege and pleasure to give you a brief history of this, the Oriental Lodge No. 9371 in the past 20 years. Of course, the booklet that you will have, will provide you with further information.

• The idea for the formation of a new Lodge mainly to attract members of the local Chinese and Asian communities into Freemasonry was first discussed by W. Bro. Peter Chen and a few others in 1988.
• The Organising Secretary issued a letter to several brethren inviting them to attend a formal Founders meeting to discuss the formation of a new Lodge. The meeting was held on 12th June 1989 at the Happiness Inn Restaurant, Haymarket with 18 brethren attended.
• Peter Chen was elected as first Master, Tommy Foo as first Senior Warden and John Chan as first Junior Warden. The proposed name of the Lodge was to be ‘Lodge Oriental’.
• St Gabriel Lodge No. 2995 was the sponsored Lodge.
• At a founders’ meeting held on 27th November 1989, the first officers were appointed and the design for the Lodge crest agreed and submitted to Grand Lodge for approval together with the motto consisting of 4 Chinese characters which mean ‘A Bridge of Friendship’. Grand Lodge subsequently approved the crest and motto with a comment saying they had checked with a Chinese-speaking brother that the 4 Chinese characters didn’t mean anything rude! I’m pleased to say up to now, no one has come forward with a complaint.
• On the 29th January 1990, we were informed that Grand Lodge had objected to the proposed name of ‘Lodge Oriental’ and 2 alternatives were suggested – 'Lodge of the Orient' and 'Oriental Lodge'. Obviously the founders decided on 'Oriental Lodge'.
• On 24th February 1990, the Provincial Grand Secretary informed us that the MW Grand Master had approved our petition and gave us the number of 9371.
• On Tuesday 29th May 1990, Oriental Lodge was consecrated in the Douglas Temple at the Newcastle East Masonic Temple. The consecrating team was lead by the late R W Bro. John Stephenson, the Provincial Grand Master.
• 192 brethren attended the ceremony and afterwards they were transported to the Palace Garden Restaurant in Stowell Street where a magnificent banquet was held.
• After our first few meetings in the small temple at Neville Hall, it became obvious that a larger temple was needed and on the 20th May 1991 the Lodge moved to Maple Terrace Masonic Hall and as a result the meeting nights had to be changed to the 3rd Monday in February, May, September and November.
• Even at Maple Terrace on a number of occasions, we had to put out extra chairs and so on 14th April 2000 Corbridge Road Masonic Hall became our new venue with an extra meeting added in March in order to meet the demand for the influx of new members. Our Chinese New Year meeting in February has always been our most popular meeting of the year with attendance ranged from 150 to 220.
• At our annual meeting on 17th May 1993, W. Bro George Usher, then the Assistant Provincial Grand Master dedicated our newly donated banner.
• Unfortunately, the death in July 1999 of our First Master, Peter Chen cast a shadow over the Lodge but Peter did live to see his one great ambition for Oriental Lodge; the installation of our first initiate, W Bro. Sam Watt.
• In the first 15 years of the Lodge, the ‘Bridge of Friendship’ has been extended to many Masonic areas such as Durham, Essex, Lancashire, Lincolnshire and most notably to the Scottish Province of the Argyll & the Isles. In the year 2000, it has been extended to Hong Kong when W Bro. Sam Watt, led a number of brethren from the Lodge together with a number of visiting brethren and their family members to visit Lodges in Hong Kong. Finally in the past 2 years, we have exchanged visits with 2 lodges in London namely, Horestic and Zetland & HK. Both of these lodges have oriental connections.
• On 15th November 2004, the Lodge passed a Ballot to support the formation of a Royal Arch Chapter called Oriental Chapter and on 19th December 2005, Oriental Chapter No. 9371 was consecrated by the late ME Grand Superintendent George Usher.
• On 17th May this year, W Bro. Kam Wah Mak became the Master of both Oriental Lodge and our Mother Lodge, St Gabriel Lodge No. 2995 in the same year.
• As of 14th November 2010, the Lodge has grown from an initial membership of 25 to currently 60 with 3 Honorary Members. Sadly, 9 of our members have gone to Grand Lodge above. During the past 20 years, in total we have initiated 44 candidates and accepted 22 joining members.

W Bro. Secretary, on behalf of Oriental Lodge, would you please record our thanks to yourself for your work in the compilation of our 20th Anniversary booklets? I would also like to thank the Organising Committee for their work in organising this evening’s celebration.

Last but not least, Worshipful Master I have a very pleasing duty to perform. On behalf of W Bro. Harry Aiken, the Worshipful Master, Officers and Brethren of Zetland and Hong Kong Lodge No. 7665, I would like to present you with this memorial plague, to commemorate this auspicious occasion.