Documented history
Warranted 1899. Still working in London.
Earls Court Lodge No. 2765 was warranted on 5 June 1899 and consecrated on 7 July at the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington.
In brief
More than 125 years in London
Earls Court Lodge was warranted in 1899 and consecrated at the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington, on 7 July that year. The lodge grew rapidly: by March 1900 the brethren were already initiating candidates, voting charity for the Boer War, and running a Lodge of Instruction. Among the early members was Imre Kiralfy, the exhibition impresario whose shows gave Earls Court its name on the world stage. Col. Sir William Watts, an early Junior Warden, served in South Africa during the war and later became Worshipful Master. The lodge placed its Hall Stone in 1921 and has met at six London venues, settling at the West London Masonic Centre in Ealing in 1988.
Foundation
1899
The lodge was warranted on 5 June 1899 and consecrated on 7 July at the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington. Charles G. Hatt was a founder and later became Master. He also founded Earl’s Court Chapter No. 2765 and served as its first First Principal (Z).
The petition was supported under the sponsorship of Kensington Lodge No. 1767. From that first meeting the lodge adopted a pattern of regular meetings through the year, a tradition that continues today.
Lineage
The lodge family
Earls Court traces its masonic descent through Kensington Lodge No. 1767 back to Saint Lukes Lodge No. 144.
Saint Lukes Lodge
William Preston
Royal Alfred
Ranelagh
Kensington
Named as our sponsoring lodge
Earls Court
Daughters of Kensington No. 1767
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Rapid early growth
1899–1900
By March 1900, five meetings in, the lodge had already initiated candidates. The Freemason’s Chronicle records that 10 guineas was voted for the Transvaal War Fund.
Officers at the March 1900 meeting
| Name | Office |
|---|---|
| Lt-Col. G. E. E. Blunt | Worshipful Master |
| J. Worth | Senior Warden |
| Lt-Col. William Watts | Junior Warden (in South Africa) |
| Imre Kiralfy | Acting Junior Warden |
| F. Langford | Immediate Past Master |
| J. Cox | Treasurer |
| J. W. Facey | Secretary |
| Charles G. Hatt | Junior Deacon |
| W. S. Lyon | Director of Ceremonies |
| F. Packer | Organist |
People
Kiralfy and the war
Imre Kiralfy, the exhibition impresario whose spectacles made Earls Court famous, was a prominent early member of the lodge. At the March 1900 meeting he acted as Junior Warden. Independent sources do not, by themselves, prove that he founded the lodge, though lodge tradition associates him closely with its origins.
Lt-Col. (later Col. Sir) William Watts was the Junior Warden on the books at the same meeting but was absent, serving in South Africa during the Boer War. The lodge voted 10 guineas for the Transvaal War Fund at that meeting.
1901: Lodge of Instruction
The Freemason’s Chronicle of June 1901 records a Lodge of Instruction meeting at the Greyhound Hotel. Regular practice continues to this day, now at the West London Masonic Centre.
Homes
Six venues in London
- 1899Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington
- 1906Trocadero Restaurant, Shaftesbury Avenue
- 1922Criterion, Piccadilly
- 1930Rembrandt Hotel, Thurloe Place
- 1974Hurlingham Club, Fulham
- 1988West London Masonic Centre, Ealing — still our home.
Hall Stone
1921–1933
Earls Court Lodge placed its Hall Stone in 1921 as part of the UGLE Hall Stone scheme, which contributed to the building of Freemasons’ Hall in Great Queen Street.
After 1945
The modern lodge
After the Second World War the lodge continued to meet regularly. Dr Frederick “Fred” Day was initiated into his father’s lodge on 13 March 1947 and became Master in 1959. He later founded Featherstone Lodge No. 7851 in 1962. The lodge moved to the Hurlingham Club in 1974 and finally to the West London Masonic Centre in Ealing in 1988, where it remains today.
Notable members
People of the lodge
Charles G. Hatt
Founder in 1899; later Master; founder and first First Principal (Z) of Earl’s Court Chapter No. 2765. Assistant Grand Pursuivant, 1904.
Lt-Col. G. E. E. Blunt
Worshipful Master at the March 1900 meeting.
Col. Sir William Watts
Early Junior Warden; served in South Africa during the Boer War; Worshipful Master in 1903.
Imre Kiralfy
Exhibition impresario; prominent early member who acted as Junior Warden in March 1900. Independent sources do not, by themselves, prove that he founded the lodge.
J. W. Facey
Early Secretary. (Lodge tradition also names him among those who sponsored the petition.)
J. Cox
Early Treasurer.
R. J. Maitland Coffin
Surgeon; member of the lodge and a founder of its Royal Arch Chapter. Associated with the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Dr Frederick “Fred” Day
Initiated into his father’s lodge on 13 March 1947; Master in 1959; later founder and first secretary of Featherstone Lodge No. 7851 (1962).
Lodge tradition
The consecration banquet
Lodge tradition preserves the menu from the consecration banquet on 7 July 1899. The evening was held at the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington.
Consecration banquet menu — 7 July 1899
- Queue de Boeuf
- Petit Marmite
- Saumon Sauce Hollandaise
- Blanchaille Frite
- Pâté de Pigeon à l’Anglaise
- Caisse de Ris de Veau à la Régence
- Baron d’Agneau Rôti Sauce Menthe
- Caneton Rôti aux Petits Pois
- Tartes aux Fraises
- Bombe Nesselrode
Sources
References
- Lane’s Masonic Records
Warrant, consecration, meeting places, Hall Stone date.
- The Freemason’s Chronicle, 31 March 1900
Fifth meeting; officers; initiations; Boer War charity.
- The Masonic Illustrated, July 1902 and May 1904
Coffin and Hatt profiles.
- The Freemason’s Chronicle, June 1901
Lodge of Instruction at the Greyhound Hotel.
- Lodge family tree
Saint Lukes Lodge No. 144 line, with Earls Court on the Kensington No. 1767 branch.