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Founded 1860 Installation November Official Visit April |
Meeting on 4th Wednesday of the Month (except July, & August) at 7:30 PM at the Richardson Masonic Hall Click Here for Richardson Masonic Hall History 279 Second St @ Ninth Line, Stouffville |
| Officers for 2011/2012 | |
| Worshipful Master | W. Bro. Robert Reid |
| Immediate Past Master | W. Bro. Gregory J. Myers |
| Senior Warden | W. Bro. Ken Prentice |
| Junior Warden | V.W. Bro. Hugh Calquhoun |
| Chaplain | W. Bro. Kelly Holden |
| Treasurer | V.W. Bro. James T. Rennie |
| Secretary | V.W. Bro. Lionel Sandiland |
| Senior Deacon | W. Bro. Steve Pickard |
| Junior Deacon | W. Bro. Peter Burkholder |
| Director of Ceremonies | W. Bro. William Bower |
| Inner Guard | Bro. Andrew Baine |
| Senior Steward | Bro. James Meadway |
| Junior Steward | Bro. Gerry Mariani |
| Tyler | W. Bro. Steven Fronske |
| Assistant Secretary | R.W. Bro. J. Murray Wagg |
| Historian | R.W. Bro. William G. Sanders |
William Mercer Wilson Recipient:
Bro. Edward (Ted) Barry
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Richardson Lodge
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In the late 1850's interested Masons in Stouffville set out to form a lodge in the area. Accordingly an application was made to the Grand Lodge of Canada West. The Lodge was Instituted on the 15th of June 1860, Chartered in 1861, and was named after Right Worshipful Brother Francis Richardson, a Past Grand Senior Warden and Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Canada West.
Francis Richardson was born in 1814, in Plymouth, England. He was initiated, passed and raised in Lodge #424 in Plymouth, receiving his Master Mason degree in March 1842. Later that same year, he sailed to Canada (a voyage of 45 days), landing at Quebec, then journeyed to Toronto. He is listed as a chemist when, in late 1842, he affiliated with St. Andrew's Lodge, at that time numbered Lodge #1, and now known as St. Andrew's Lodge #16. He was elected Worshipful Master of St. Andrew's in 1845 and again in 1846.
In 1845, while Richardson was The Master of St. Andrew's, the Provincial Grand Lodge of Canada West was formed and the convention elected Francis Richardson as Provincial Grand Senior Warden, a position he served with great distinction, because the following year he was elected as Provincial Grand Secretary (of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Canada West), and again every year for the next eleven years. It was in this position that he most distinguished himself. He vigilantly guarded the interests of the Craft in a most professional manner.
Relations with the Grand Lodge of England were tenuous and strained by non-responsiveness and the demand for funds. There were many heated "debates" about whether Canada should form its own independent Grand Lodge. It was V. Wor. Bro. Richardson's intelligent, articulate, and balanced written communications which summarized these conflicting deliberations. He pleaded our case persuasively and controlled local outrage at being ignored or rebuffed. This was likely his greatest contribution to the Craft.
In July 1858, Richardson was elected Grand Registrar of the (now united) Grand Lodge of Canada and that same year the new Grand Lodge created several new districts including Toronto District which housed 22 lodges. The District stretched from Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay. In 1859, he received and forwarded a petition from W. Bro. James Bowman of Sharon Lodge to form a new Lodge at Cashel (above a livery stable at an inn at the corner of Kennedy road and 18th Avenue). This new lodge was to be named the Richardson Lodge after himself. It is to be wondered what he thought when he received that petition. The petition was granted, and the Lodge first met on July 15, 1860. Richardson Lodge early minutes were burned in a fire in 1876 so it is not known for certain if he attended the Consecration Ceremony in 1861. However, he was elected D.D.G.M. of Toronto District again in 1860, so it would be very unusual if he wasn't there.
It is an interesting footnote to add that he was also active in the appended bodies of Masonry. He was a prominent member of St. Andrew's and Ionic Chapters. In April 1853, he was conducted through the ceremony of being knighted in Hugh de Payens Encampment of Knights Templar at Kingston, by the (Rt.Hon. Sir) John A. MacDonald, then a practicing lawyer.
This extract is from material prepared by
R.W.Bro. Murray Wagg and
R.W.Bro. Bill Sanders
