No. 3480
In the Province of Warwickshire

     
Lodge History
 

The Lodge is Formed
Murdoch Lodge is over 90 years old, it’s “mother lodge” being Shakespeare Lodge no. 284, which sponsored the petition for it’s formation.
On October 7th 1910, a letter was sent to a number of masons, suggesting “that a Masonic Lodge should be founded in Birmingham for members of the Gas Industry in the Midlands”, and inviting a reply if they were interested. There obviously was a good deal of interest, as a preliminary meeting was arranged for November 3rd of that year at the Grand Hotel. Sixteen people attended the meeting, with Charles Meiklejohn as chairman, and the new lodge was proposed and approved. At the same meeting, it was proposed that the soon-to-be-formed lodge should be named after William Murdoch “the father of gas lighting, who was so closely connected with the Midlands”. To find out more about William Murdoch, click here. At that time, the annual subscription was set at 3 guineas (£3.15) – which included the cost of the Installation Banquet! It was originally a requirement that anyone joining Murdoch had to be “connected with the gas industry”, though this no longer applies.

 
 
The First Meeting.
The first meeting of Murdoch Lodge took place on 23rd February 1911, at the Grand Hotel in Birmingham. The then Provincial Grand Master, the 6th Marquis of Hertford, presided over the consecration of the Lodge, at which Charles Meiklejohn was installed as the first Worshipful Master. 		 
Over a hundred masons from all over the country attended the meeting, and afterwards they went to the Imperial Hotel for a celebration banquet and concert (see picture). To see a larger version, click on the picture.

The Early Years.
Not long after the formation of the Lodge, the First World War began (we like to think that there was no direct connection!) Four members of Murdoch Lodge are recorded as having been on Active Service in France. One of them, Captain Sidney Thornton, was installed as Worshipful Master in March 1916, but was posted to France immediately afterwards. The Lodge records show that he remained in contact with the Lodge through his year as Master, but that he sadly died on the 5th December 1916 “of wounds received in combat”.

  
Murdoch on the Move.
After the first meeting at the Grand Hotel, Murdoch Lodge met four times a year at the Imperial Hotel in Birmingham. In 1942, the Lodge decided to move to the Edgbaston Assembly Rooms, and remained there for almost 30 years, until the new Masonic Temple was built on Stirling Road. In 1971 Murdoch moved to the new building, and still meet there today.

 
The Murdoch Family.
As was mentioned before, Murdoch’s “mother” Lodge is Shakespeare (No. 284). We also have a sister Lodge called Evening Star (No. 1719) which meets in London, and a daughter Lodge called Chevron (No. 6021) which meets in Knowle. Until recently we had a second sister Lodge (Northern Star) meeting in Manchester, but due to falling membership, that Lodge unfortunately closed last year.