Page 3 - Needles Lodge 2838 History

calf, the second of which was only kept out of the `Lodge’ with

some difficulty.”

At the meeting of Albany Lodge No. 151 (Newport) on 12

October 1899, bylaws for “The Albany Lodge of Instruction

Freshwater Isle of Wight” were approved. At a further meeting on

9 July 1900, a proposition was carried to hold Lodge of

Instruction Meetings at “Illawarra” (later to become the first home

of Needles Lodge 2838 in Freshwater) instead of the usual room

in Newport.

The petition signed by 13 petitioners for a warrant for the

proposed new lodge sponsored by Albany Lodge No. 151 (their

‘fourth daughter’ lodge) was prepared. Albany also sponsored

Yarborough Lodge No. 551, Sandown Lodge No. 1869 and Chine

Lodge No. 1884 (an earlier Lodge No. 340 was erased in 1832).

A Brief History of Needles Lodge 2838

At the quarterly communication of the Grand Lodge of

Freemasons’, held at Freemasons’- Hall, London at the December

meeting 1900, authority was given for a new lodge of Freemasons

at Freshwater, Isle of Wight, to be known as the “Needles Lodge”

No. 2838. The date of the warrant is 8 December 1900 and was
issued and signed by the Most Worshipful Grand Master HRH.

The Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward V11.

The warrant is of particular interest, being the last one thought to

bear the signature of the late King Edward VII before his

elevation to the throne.