Consecrated 24th February 1950
Meeting at: Johannesburg - Freemasons Hall, 8 Park Lane, Parktown
Meeting Dates: 1st Tuesday Feb, Mar, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. Inst Feb
Contact 082 892 1810
Lodge History
A lodge with a difference? Yes, that is indeed true of Hesperia, which was formed for the specific purpose of providing a masonic home for brethren from various parts of Western Europe 'where real freedom had been banished'. These were the words of the Charter Master, W Bro Prof A J Boyazoglu who had, shortly before, been the second WM of another 'different' lodge, Orphic (qv). The founders of Hesperia, 27 in all, included some very senior South African masons, drawn from the English and Scottish Constitutions and the first appointments to office were so arranged that they were alternately held by 'continental' and South African brethren. This blending was obviously desirable in a lodge lightheartedly referred to as the one 'in which English is spoken in sixteen different dialects'.
The lodge crest depicts one of the Hesperides (the daughters of Hesperis and Atlas) guarding the golden apples given to Hera as a marriage gift, with the dragon slain by Hercules at her feet. Hesperus, the evening star, symbolised to the founders the true values and traditions of their fatherlands. A fine bronze statuette of the lodge emblem is to be seen in the library at Freemasons' Hall. Masonic research and enquiry was, initially, one of the specific objectives of the lodge and it is recorded that more than half of the 280 meetings held in the first 25 vears included 'talks lectures and addresses' on masonic subjects.
The first home of the Iodize was at Kerk Street but since 1957 it has met at Freemasons' Hall Parktown.
In 1971 the lodge was pleased to receive, as a joining member, Bro the Revd Canon Eric Richardson and to provide him, a few years later, with the opportunity to go through his first Craft chair (in 1974/5) after being a mason for 27 years. He had been appointed District Grand Chaplain in 1969, an appointment he was to hold for 21 years, and attained well deserved Grand honours in 1981
The policy of widespread sources of membership is no longer limited to Western Europe, and a joining member from Ghana and an initiate from Zaire have recently been welcomed into the lodge.
Reference: 'A Century of Brotherhood' by A A Cooper & D E G Vieler