In 1896 a group of masons in Kimberley petitioned
the Grand Lodge of Scotland for a new lodge, which
was duly constituted as the Cosmopolitan Lodge No
838. The name reflected the Lodge's intention of
being completely cosmopolitan in membership and it
went so far as to carry out workings in different
languages. In 1899, the members resolved to form a
new 'English' Constitution lodge in Johannesburg,
with the synonymous name (Kosmos) and the
requirement to have an English sponsor lodge was met
by Corona Lodge. The Charter Master, Bro Willem
Bernard Maria Vogts, had been the Charter Master of
Cosmopolitan Lodge a few years earlier.
Within months of the consecration of Kosmos, the
South African war started and the lodge went into
recess until March 1902. Bro Vogts remained in the
chair until 1903 and retained a keen interest in the
progress of the lodge during its early years despite
his becoming, in 1906, the first Provincial Grand
Master for the Transvaal under the Grand East of the
Netherlands. Kosmos, although probably less
'cosmopolitan' than its predecessor, drew its
membership from many sources, and it can probably be
said to have had only one difficult period during
its history, namely through the great depression of
the late twenties and early thirties.
The lodge has had many members of masonic prominence
in the District including in particular Wilfred
Henry Hulbert, who led the Transvaal as District
Grand Master from 1939 to 1942, Charles Puzey (DG
Secretary 1973/82) and Grand officers in B A D
Kinahan, Dick Walwyn, John Thompson, Alan Tennant
and Ken Baker.
Throughout its life, Kosmos Lodge has responded
strongly to District and Grand Lodge appeals, and
has given particular support to the Transvaal
Masonic Educational Institution through the
provision of a number of scholarships and bursaries.
It is one of only three lodges in South Africa to
have earned the Hallstone Jewel for contributions to
the Grand Lodge War Memorial Building Fund and it
has become the custom for the masters of these
lodges (Boksburg, Kosmos and Rising Star of
Bloemfontein) to attend each other's installations
and invest the incoming Master with the Hallstone
Jewel.
Over the years Kosmos Lodge may be said to have
become 'characterised' as a lodge of engineers and
its membership today bears this out. But the more
important characteristic of the lodge is its
vitality, which undoubtedly rests on the
recognition, within the lodge, of the importance of
positive and sustained involvement of its members.
Exsequi Lodge meets at Park
Lane in Johannesburg, South Africa on the fourth Monday of
February (Election Meeting), April (Installation Meeting),
June, August, October and November. Exsequi is a Freemasons
Dining Lodge and masonic guests are most welcome.
Freemasonry a web site for and about Freemasons - South African
Lodges
