Lodge History

This section is intended as a brief history of the Lodge of Truth. For those who are interested a fuller account is given in the book "History of 100 Years of the Lodge of Truth", written by H.L. Simpson in 1945.

The Lodge of Truth has been an integral part of the Huddersfield community since 1845. Huddersfield is a small town in Yorkshire, situated below the Pennines between Leeds and Manchester, and is part of the Kirklees Metropolitan Council. It is the birthplace of Rugby League (at the George Hotel) as well as the home town for James Mason, Harold Wilson, Lord Hanson, Roy Castle and Gordon Kaye.

During its time the Lodge has drawn in membership from the town and surrounding districts, and even further afield. Our most prominent member was the Marquess of Ripon who was M.P. for Huddersfield between 1853 and 1857. He went on to become the Grand Master between 1870 and 1874. This is a unique part of our heritage; the Lodge of Truth is the only Yorkshire Lodge to have a Brother who went on to become a Grand Master.

Other members who have made outstanding contributions to the community have included four Mayors: John Varley, J.P. (1884-5), William Jessop (1897-1917), John Holroyd (1908-9) and James Woolven (1919-20). The most significant of these is probably William Jessop who was also a founder of our daughter Lodge, Connaught, and whose portrait (below) hangs in the main room of Fitzwilliam Street.

Other past members have included Frank Shaw, member of the famous "Ben Shaw" family of pop manufacturers and (though this requires further verification), Thomas Broadbent who founded his eponomous engineering company. Both these businesses still exist in Huddersfield to this day. Although we have had a number of illustrious members of the local community, Freemasonry is an ethical system based on egailitarian principles. The Lodge of Truth has therefore been priviledged to count amongst its ranks a greater number of lesser known men, who were no less thought of.

The Lodge of Truth held its first meeting in on Friday 5th December, 1845 at the White Hart Inn on Cloth Hall Street in Huddersfield. It was formed jointly from members of the Lodge of Harmony No. 275 and the Huddersfield Lodge No. 290 as the table below shows:

1	William Kilner	275	First W.M. 5th December, 1845
2	William Shaw	290	W.M. of No. 365 in 1843
3	Thomas Robert Tatham	275	Became W.M. 4th December, 1846, and again in December 1849.
4	Joseph Brook	275
5	Thomas Kenworthy Rowbotham	275
6	Titus Thewlis	275	W.M. of No. 275 in 1845
7	J. Booth	275
8	T. Firth	275
9	Samuel Shaw	290	W.M. of No. 275 in 1841
10	B.D. Eldridge	275
11	Abraham Turner	290
12	R. Jacques	290	W.M. of No. 275 in 1846
13	C. Smith	290	W.M. of No. 275 in 1849.
14	Moses Sharp	290

In the following year of 1846 the Brethren of the Lodge of Truth took part in a significant civil event when they joined the Brethren of the other Lodges in the town to take part in the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of Huddersfield Station. Although extremely rare these days, processions of Freemasons were common during this period as they took on a ceremonial role similar to their operative duties in laying of the foundation stones of important buildings.

The original Lodge banner, presented on 7th May, 1852 by Bro. Julius Schlesinger.

After an initial influx of joining members, membership fell from thirty-three at the end of 1846 to twelve at the end of 1850. In fact, on two occasions in 1847-48 the Lodge was not opened because of "the paucity of members present". However help was at hand in the form of Bro. John Sykes, of Huddersfield Lodge, who had joined in April of the inaugural year, and shortly afterwards took over the duties of Secretary. He was installed as Master in December 1851, and was the Worshipful Master for the remarkable year of 1852. During this year there were 33 initiation, 29 passings and 23 raisings, and 3 joining members!


William Kilner, First Worshipful Master of the Lodge of Truth	James Kirk, Builder & Architect of Fitzwilliam Street

On 17th May, 1853 George Frederick Samuel Robinson, latterly known as the Marquess of Ripon and recently elected Member of Parliament, joined the burgeoning ranks of the Lodge at the age of 25 years. After an intial plunge in numbers the brethren seemed to have arrested the decline and members grew from an all-time low of twelve in 1850, to eighty-six in 1860.

In 1845 the inaugural meeting of the Lodge took place in The Rose & Crown Inn, Kirkgate on the site of what is now the Mecca Bingo Hall. Exactly one year later the Lodge moved to the White Hart Inn and then from 1850 to the George Hotel. From 1851 to 1855 the Lodge returned to the Rose & Crown Inn in a specially built room.

In 1855 the Lodge of Truth moved to its present location on Fitzwilliam Street where it has remained ever since. The Masonic Hall on Fitzwilliam Street is a part of the architectural heritage of Huddersfield. As well as being a Grade II listed building, it is also the oldest surviving masonic building in the region, being considered significant enough to be included in the Reverend Cryer's book Masonic Halls of the North of England.

The rooms are shared with our daughter Lodge, The Connaught Lodge No. 3800 which was consecrated in 1917 and our sister Lodge, The Concord Lodge No. 4126 which was consecrated in 1920. In addition there are two Royal Arch Chapters which meet there (Perserverance & Truth), along with Truth Mark, Truth Mariners, Prince of Wales Chapter (Rose Croix) and Hope Preceptory (Knight's Templar).

In 1902 the main room was added on to the back of the building, whilst the room upstairs was converted into the Supper Room. In October of that year Joseph Spratt painted the distinctive muriels on the wall of the main room, followed by painting the panels in the ante-room on the left-hand room of th entrance. More up to date, in 2001 the main room was redecorated, along with the railings and door at the front of the building.

On Friday 29th march, 2001 the Lodge celebrated 150 years of continuous history with W Bro John Daniel in the Chair, with W Bro John Burnham, Assistant Provincial Grand Master as the honoured guest. This was followed later in the year by a social evening of entertainment with friends and family of the Lodge.


The main room, looking towards the East.	The main room, looking towards the West.


A Programme for the Centenary of the Building


Lodge Centenary Jewel	Past Master's Jewel