Consecrated 7th February 1899
Meeting at: Johannesburg - Freemasons Hall, 8 Park Lane, Parktown
Meeting Dates: 2nd Mon (Feb, May,,Aug, Nov) Inst Feb
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Lodge History
In 1894 there was a move to rename the area known as New Braamfontein. The name chosen by the Ratepayers' Association was Clifton, but although it came into some popular use, it was never formally registered. But the new lodge chose it, and its first meeting place was the lower ground floor of the Clifton Wesleyan Methodist Church. The Charter Master, W Bro Charles Christian Pietersen had been full time secretary of the Diggers' Committee and, in a sense, the first municipal officer of Johannesburg, in which capacity he was chosen to interview President Kruger with a view to obtaining a grant of ground for sporting facilities. The result was Kruger Park, later known as The Wanderers.
Within a few months of the Consecration the South African war broke out and the Lodge was placed in recess. It resumed activity in 1902 but moved to the Plein Street masonic hall and subsequently to Claim Street, Kerk Street and Park Lane.
A prominent early member was J W O'Hara, OBE, who was the mayor of Johannesburg from 1915 to 1917. In 1936 the Lodge saw the most unusual initiation of a grandfather, Joseph Fussell, by his grandson, also Joseph.
W Bro J H Lauder, who was in the Chair in 1966/7, organised a method of fund raising - namely a refreshment stall called the Hub Cap and a bar called The Sump at Kyalami which helped substantially towards the Lodge's response to District appeals. W Bro Travers Penrose (WM in 1959/60, 1962/3 and 1981/2) was very active in the Lodge and the District for many years, and was honoured with Grand rank in 1980, and promotion to PJGD in 1991. At the 700th meeting in April 1969 he said: '.. in our history we have had many ups and downs, some of the downs have been long but we have persevered...' The Lodge is of course not alone in having 'ups and downs', and it is currently trying to find a way out of a rather prolonged 'down', which left a membership, in 1993, of under twenty. However, in the 1992 valedictory report the outgoing WM stated that 'the past personal conflicts in the Lodge appear to be a thing of the past' and a year later his successor expressed the view that there is 'now a hard core of Brethren who, I am sure, will build on our present base and raise the Lodge to the prestigious place it should hold in English Freemasonry in the Transvaal'.
Reference: 'A Century of Brotherhood' by A A Cooper & D E G Vieler