Zetland Lodge 1927

debcoxon
Sat, 07/04/2020 - 22:43
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Zetland Lodge 1927

Wondering if anyone can put names to any of the very clear faces here - Zetland Lodge 1927, my grandfather Kenneth Kingsley Staple was Grand Master that year, standing 3rd from right, front row.  I think the man to his left is Mr A J Pilgrim who was his best man. In hopes Deb Coxon 

Date picture taken
6 Dec 1927
Tags
group photo
freemason
Author(s)
Deb Coxon
Gallery
1920s-30s Staple family's photos
Shows person / people
Kenneth Kingsley STAPLE [1889-1931]
Shows place(s)
Zetland Hall (2nd generation) - Masonic Hall [1865-1944]
Shows organisation(s)
Zetland Lodge [1846- ]

Comments

Your recent photograph showed members of Zetland Lodge no. 525. 

I understand that this Lodge is still active and members meet at the Zetland Hall, No. 1 Kennedy Road. If they are unable to assist, from their archives then maybe the Museum at The Grand Lodge in London may have details.

The 'Directory and Chronicle for China, etc.' listed the senior members of each lodge. There's a list of copies viewable online at https://www.chinafamilies.net/directories/. Unfortunately it doesn't show any 1927 copy available online, but page 1054 of the 1922 edition has a list that probably shows some of the men in the 1927 photo:

Zetland Lodge, No. 525, E.C.

  • W. M. - J. Colin Owen
  • I. P. M. - W. A. Eustace
  • S. W. - A. J. J. Martin
  • J. W. - G. E. Wetton
  • Chap. - F. Baylis
  • Treas. - G. W. C. Burnett  ((we have a G C Burnett that may be the same person))
  • Secy. - C. W. Jeffries
  • D. of. C. - E. W. H. James
  • S. D. - L. J. Blackburn
  • J. D. - A. W. G. Hoy
  • Org. - W. J. Hawker 
  • Stewards - K. K. Staple, C. Mycock
  • I. G. - W. L. Handyside
  • Tyler - A. Gillard

As the current Secretary of Zetland Lodge No.525 I can confirm from our limited records (most of which were lost in the 1940s occupation) that Kenneth Kingsley Staple was installed as Worshipful (not Grand) Master of Zetland Lodge on Tuesday 6th December 1927 - and was Master for12 months until December 1928.  The traditional photograph marks that occasion and was taken on the entrance steps of the then Zetland Hall at the top of Zetland Street, Central, Hong Kong.

From our records, I can confirm the following names (front row, reading from right to left):

2nd: A E Clarke (Junior Warden);

3rd: K K Staple (Worshipful Master);

4th: A J Pilgrim (Senior Warden); and

5th: F Baylis (Immediate Past Master).

thank you so much for your reply - every small piece of additional information helps, really appreciate this. Especially as so much was lost in the Occupation.  Thanks also for correcting the details. I still have my grandfather's Masonic firing glass, my mother (Sheila Staple in the Staple family gallery) went to the Royal Masonic School in UK after his death in 1931. All helps piece together my family story and perhaps some faces for descendants of others in the photograph.  

Have added some pics of my grandfather's firing glass under What's New as still unsure where to post these things!  a slightly difficult thing to photograph but hope they give an idea.  They're also in the Staple family gallery.

100_2778 (2).JPG
100_2778 (2).JPG, by Martha Staple family album - now owned by Deb Coxon

Thank you for the pictures of the Zetland Lodge firing glass which show the number 768.

When the Zetland Lodge was founded in Hong Kong in 1846 it was numbered 768.  In 1863 the United Grand Lodge of England renumbered each of its Lodges, to close up gaps in its register, and Zetland Lodge was renumbered 525 - which number it has retained until today.

This strongly indicates that the firing glass pre-dates 1863.

 

awesome! noticed on Freemasonry registers (Ancestry) that Zetland was 525 and hadn't picked up on the discrepancy on the glass before - now I wonder who gave it to my grandfather - guessing it might have been father-in-law from first marriage to May Jack Miln but it is only a wild guess - thank you for bringing this to light, I love every scrap of new information. 

To Deb Coxon

Did the material you have from your grandfather's membership include any jubilee booklets (25th, 50th or 75th anniversaries) of Zetland Lodge?  I am researching a man called William Stuckey, a Shipwright, who was initiated in Zetand Lodge, Hong Kong, in 1855. I know all the records kept in the Zetland Masonic Hall were destroyed as a result of bombing towards the end of WW2, but some documents/books may have survived in the hands of individual members of the lodge.

Dr John Wade

Editor, AQC

 

I have just checked the menu I have from installation of my grandfather Kenneth Kingley Staple 1927 - officers for 1928 ... A.J.J. Martin not there. 

List: Worhsipful Master K. Kingsley Staple. Immediate past master: Wor.Bro. Frank Baylis. Senior Warden Bro.A.J. Pilgrim.  Junior Warden: Bro.A.E. Clarke. Chaplain Bro. F.P. Reynette James. Treasurer: Bro. R. Leslie Bridger.  Secretary: Wor. Bro. J. Colin Owen. Assistant Secretary Wor. Bro. L.J. Blackburn. Director of ceremonies: Wor. Bro. C.W. Jeffries.  Organist: Bro H.J. Fountain.  Senior Deacon: Bro.F. Farrant Duckworth.  Junior Deacon: Bro. R.W. Smith.  Stewards: Bro. V.C. Labrum, Bro. T. Victor Harman, Bro.E.W. Blackmore, Bro. A.J. Baker.  Almoner: Wor.Bro. O.A.Smith.  Inner Guard: Bro.C.W. Somers.  Tyley: Bro. F.H. Haynes,

don't kno if this of interest to anyone but may be a help if someone tracking a name x 

Hi Derek,
 

Alfred John James Martin 

Initiated 1st March 1916 Zetland Lodge, Hong Kong (Lodge Number 525). 23 years old at initiation.

Worked as an assistant accountant at the time

Source: Library and Museum of Freemasonary, London, England "Freemasonary Membership Registers; Membership Registers: Colonial and Foreign 67-413 to Colonial and Foreign 415-389; Reel Number: 60; Folio Number: 140"

More prosaically, the document is visible in Ancestry.com 

He was born in 9th October 1893 in Lambeth, London. His father was Thomas Henry Martin. Mother Eliza Ann was born in Quebec, Canada.

Died 8th April 1940 and buried in the Hong Kong Colonial Cemetery

His father is also buried in the same cemetery. 1916 was quite a year for the young man.

Mother also buried there too.

Thank you.  I know Alfred's background and just wanted to confirm it was him.  There's an 'A Martin', or possibly 'A Mertic' or 'A Mertin' or even 'U Martin' depending on how you interpret the handwriting, who attended the consecration of Lodge Eastern Scotia back in 1902 and I wanted to find out who he was!  I have now ruled out A.J.J. Martin of Zetland Lodge, which is a help!  There's another A.J. Martin buried in HK Cemetery, but he was in the UK in 1902, so this attendee remains a mystery!

 

Thanks,

Derek