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There aren't very many Lodges that can claim to have been founded due to the machinations of international business interests, Mersey Lodge can.
The birth of Mersey Lodge was a direct result of the merger of Lever Brothers Ltd and Margarine Unie in 1930 and was caused by the relocation of the Lever Brothers Ltd Headquarters in Liverpool to the newly built Unilever House in London. This resulted in many of the staff of Lever Brothers moving as well and this included a group of Freemasons mainly from the Masonic province of West Lancashire who found themselves in London and having difficulty attending meetings of their Mother Lodges.
Although they had quickly made some new Masonic contacts in London, the decision was taken to form a new Lodge centred around Unilever employees thereby making it easier for these misplaced Freemasons to continue to meet. The first official approach to form a new Lodge was made to the United Grand Lodge of England on 24th May 1933 and preparations began in earnest.
The first meeting of the 14 Founders of Mersey took place on 11th August 1933 and those present were:
Herbert Coppen of Royal Alfred Lodge No. 780,
Bert Griffiths of King's Friend Lodge No. 293,
Joseph Blawking of Canonbury Lodge No. 657,
Hubert Chapman of Sukkur Lodge No.1508,
Richard Harrison of Stanley Lodge No. 1325,
Henry McFail of Blundellsands Lodge No. 2289,
William Ball of Lodge of Unions No.256,
Charles Sixsmith of Knowsley Lodge No. 3581,
Leonard Roper of Liverpool Dramatic Lodge No. 1609,
Ernest Wilkins of Anfield Priory Lodge No. 4039,
Frederick Dapp of Polytechnic Lodge No. 2847,
Robert Ottaway of Bon Accord Lodge No. 3750,
Matthew Hawksworth of Minerva Lodge No. 4002
Luke Beaumont of St Helens Lodge No. 4121.
At that meeting several decisions were made that were to shape the future and feel of Mersey Lodge amongst which were: the choice of the Lodge Crest, a Liver bird, which is always a subject of interest to visitors of the Lodge as Mersey is a London Lodge and always has been. However, the Crest as with the name is a reminder of where the Lodge founders originated. There is also the "Mersey" Ritual which was originally described as "Emulation with possibly slight variations". The best way to describe Mersey ritual would be that it is akin to Emulation with the added attraction of Taylor's movements.
Mersey's Sponsoring or Parent Lodge is the Royal Alfred Lodge No.780 and the Petition to form Mersey Lodge was voted approved and signed by its Master and Wardens on the 8th September 1933. Mersey Lodge was Consecrated on 19th January 1934, by the Grand Secretary W. Bro. Sir Colville Smith, CVO, PGW assisted by five Grand Officers who were supported by a further four more Grand Officers. In addition there were 46 visitors. What a night that must have been!
Mersey began its existence being very closley associated with Unilever and in the beginning was actually considered to be the "official" Lodge for Unilever employees, sadly this is no longer the case. As a result it has always been (and remains) a numerically small Lodge, this has led to some difficult times in its history, particularly during the 1960s and 70s.
The difficulties that beset the Lodge in these decades were due in part to bad-luck. In 1958 the reigning Master died whilst in Office, in 1961 the Master Elect died before being Installed and no less than five of the Lodge’s most prominent members died between 1967 and 1969. These events marked a bad time for Mersey’s fortunes generally. However in 1975 one of the younger members of the Lodge managed to argue the reinstatement of Mersey’s Lodge of Instruction (closed in 1965) and for a short while it looked as if things were on the up. However, this buoyancy did not last, as between 1976 and 1977 a further four highly esteemed brethren were called from Labour to eternal refreshment.
Things came to a head in 1978, when a Resolution to reduce meetings from 5 to 4 was passed, albeit by a slim majority. The Lodge also passed a Resolution to move meetings from Freemasons’ Hall in Great Queen St 9due to rising costs) to Mark Masons’ Hall in St James’ in order to reduce Lodge overheads. The move after 44 years at GQS was not well received. To top things off, the Master Elect that year failed to be Installed due to an overseas posting at short notice.
However, after two not very happy years, 1980 was to prove a turning point in Mersey’s history. At the October meeting the Secretary, with no warning to the Lodge, gave Notice of Motion to close the Lodge and surrender its Warrant! Luckily a member of the Lodge passed the news around his contacts, within Mark Masons' Hall, of the impending closure of Mersey and as a result there was an influx of proposed joining members. So when the Motion was voted on, at the November meeting, it was defeated due to the fact that there were 8 prospective joining members waiting to come into the Lodge. The Secretary resigned from the Lodge and has not been seen since.
This reinvigoration of the Lodge and a new optimsm led to the subsequent acquisition of a Lodge Banner, which was dedicated on 20th January 1984 in commemoration of the Lodge’s Golden Jubilee and the next 15 years were good ones for Mersey’s fortunes. Despite a small membership the majority were regular attendees and meetings were always excellent occasions.
However, Mersey greeted the turn of the 21st Century in a similar predicament as in the 1980s. The Lodge membership fell below 30 with only a core of around 10 -14 active members attending meetings regularly. This was due to a mixture of ill-health, deaths and indolence amongst some members. Meetings were being so poorly attended that, Visitors to the Lodge were routinely filling in for Officers of the lodge.
By 2004, talk was once again turning to the future of the Lodge the ideas of reducing meetings, amalgamation and even dissolving the Lodge were all discussed. However, these ideas were (once again) shot down in open Lodge and a new determination to reinvigorate our Lodge emerged.
By 2005, Mersey’s fortunes were beginning to turn around, despite, once again, losing some of its longer standing characters to the Grand Lodge Above. Mersey welcomed back two members who had been country members for some time and one new joining member.
2006 saw our first new Initiate for several years welcomed into the Lodge.
In 2007, with two more new members (and another in the pipeline), more members returning to active participation and a new Officer line-up Mersey Lodge has started to plan the celebrations for its 75th Anniversary in 2009 with a renewed confidence for its future.
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