July 1918, the stalemate on the Western Front had been broken and the end of the Great War was in sight. Thoughts turned to Peace and Hope for the future. It was at this time that it was proposed, mainly by brethren of St Georges Lodge that a new lodge be formed in Doncaster, to be called The Don Valley Lodge. It is interesting to note that more than a hundred lodges were consecrated in the year following the end of the war.
The Lodge was consecrated on Jan 15th, 1919 by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master W Bro Sir William Raynor, who then installed W Bro George Mitchell as the first Master of the Lodge. The Master then proceeded to install his Officers for the ensuing year. We have today at least three direct links to this initial ceremony, the Volume of the Sacred Law (The Holy Book) that was presented to the Lodge by WBro John Charles, the sword carried by the Tyler which was presented by Bro Captain JHR Kain the first inner guard and the Great Grandson of W Bro Samuel Morris one of our founders, V WBRO James Newman OBE.
After the consecration of the lodge, a banquet was held at the Mansion House Doncaster, but unfortunately we have not been able to find the menu, but I am sure that, at seven shillings per person, it was a good one.
The early years of the lodge reflect the end of the war, at the first regular meeting, one of the candidates proposed was Major M E Clark and two other joining members, Captains Mander and Daraux, familiar names to those who attended Doncaster Grammar School before its closure, the Mander Trophy awarded for swimming and the Daraux prize for French.
In the first years two distinguished brethren were initiated by their fathers in the Lodge, WBro Herbert Marshal initiated his son Bro Charles Marshall and WBro Canon Bracewell initiated his son Bro William Bracewell, both of whom went on to attain Grand Lodge rank. It is interesting to note that throughout the hundred years we have had many sons following their fathers into the Lodge, indeed we have three who are current members.
Throughout the hundred years of Don Valley Lodge’s existence, it has had many member who have attained high rank within Freemasonry. The most notable of these is RWBro ME Clark who had previously serviced in the 1st World War and became the Commander of the 19th Battalion (Doncaster) West Riding Volunteer Regiment, then later became the Chief Scout for Doncaster in 1920 and retired as retired as District Scout Commissioner for Doncaster, Maltby & Mexborough in 1949 and then Provincial Grand Master of Yorkshire West Riding from 1948 to 1954. More recently V WBro Stuart Grantham was a Justice of the Peace (JP) for Doncaster and later appointed Deputy Provincial Grand Master. At the time the lodge was probably unique in having as members two Deputy PGM s V WBro Grantham and Bro Anthony Warnock who was Deputy PGM of the Province of Glasgow. Grand Lodge officers in the Lodge were W Bros Canon Bracewell, WF Bracwell, CR Marshall and F Walters.
In addition, the lodge has been fortunate to have many distinguished brethren over the years who have served the Province in many different capacities. But it is not just the distinguished brethren who have made the Lodge what it is today, but those unsung brethren in the lodge. such as W Bro Eddie Johnson and W Br Bob Chapman whose services to the Lodge and freemasonry in general were rewarded by Field promotions to Past Provincial Grand Senior Warden (PPGSW), the second highest rank achievable in Freemasonry in Province of Yorkshire, West Riding. The lodge is well attended by its members and like all things, these brethren are the lifeblood of the Lodge.
Over the past century Don Valley Lodge has contributed to the Masonic Life of Doncaster and district and beyond. Don Valley Lodge look forward to next hundred years with the same Peace and Hope for the future that our founding fathers had when the Lodge was proposed.
Compiled from the History of Don Valley Lodge, written by W Bro Ian C Smith in 2018.
“There wasn’t much to miss after the First World War, but many servicemen did miss the sense of comradeship they’d had in the trenches. Field Marshall Haig, Lord Kitchener, the Earl of Ypres, and many other military higherups had been masons, so joining the Freemasons was an attractive choice to many men returning home. A boom in lodges followed the war with over 350 being built in 3 years, among these was a new lodge at Don Valley. Even though its creation was driven by returning soldiers, the high demand for entry meant it had a fairly exclusive membership. Most masons initiated in the first year of the lodge were in jobs that required training or education such as secretaries, engineers, school masters, even one ‘Master of Modern Languages’.
The Don Valley lodge was made official through a Warrant of Constitution, on the 14th of October 1918. Between then, and its consecration on the 15th of January 1919, three of the Doncaster’s most prominent men were initiated. Outgoing mayor Abner Carr, as well as future mayors Frederick William Cocking, and Samuel Morris. All 3 men had joined Doncaster’s oldest lodge, the St George’s Lodge, together in 1904 so they were just moving lodges. While most of Doncaster’s mayors were not masons, masonry was never as big in politics as the military, at the end of the war we had 3 mason mayors in 4 years! Abner Carr had been mayor in 1918, he nominated Frederick William Cocking for mayor for 1920. After 18 years on the council, Cocking was unanimously voted in. Samuel Morris followed in 1921.
After the Don Valley lodge was consecrated, Arthur Thomson senior partner in a local building firm, was initiated on the 21st of May 1919. Arthur Thomson would become a councillor 3 years later, and in 1932 served as mayor. Freemasonry teaches the value of charity, something that probably chimed with Arthur Thomson who was prone to charity. He had gone out of his way to support his worker’s wives while they were at war. On the 17th of September 1919, Doncaster’s police superintendent Oliver Norderwood Cromwell was also initiated. Samuel Morris made a brief return as mayor in 1937, but seems to have been our last Freemason mayor.”