South African Freemasons Lion of the North Lodge
in the District of South Africa North
Lion of the North Lodge No. 3640 P.O. Box 45
Louis Trichardt
District Louis Trichardt
Consecrated: 1913
Meetings: 3rd Thursday, (3rd Sat April)
Meeting place:127 Munnik Str., Louis Trichardt
An usual feature of the Consecration ceremony was
that it was conducted not by a ‘chainbearer' but by
a Past District Junior Grand Deacon, W Bro J Venning,
of Star of the North Lodge No 2640. Possibly the
fact that the Charter Master, W Bro C E Schlesinger,
was a very active member of Star of the North (which
merged into Pietersburg United in 1916) had
something to do with it, as well as geographical
convenience. Bro Schlesinger, who was to occupy the
chair of Lion of the North three times, had for
years regularly cycled the 140 miles from Louis
Trichardt to Pietersburg and back to attend his
mother lodge, and overall he most clearly merited
the Grand honours accorded to him.
A portion of a stand in Burger Street was donated to
the Lodge and the masonic hall built there served as
a home for the Lodge until new premises in Munnik
Street were completed in 1952.
In 1934 the Lodge sponsored the Messina Lodge No
5483 and the friendship and cooperation between the
two 'far north' Lodges has contributed greatly to
keeping them going in increasingly difficult
circumstances. Another encouraging factor has been
the pairing of Lion of the North with Corona Lodge,
which has successfully demonstrated the value of
such linking between town and country lodges.
The building and maintenance of suitable premises in
'one lodge centres' invariably places a strain on
lodge finances, and Lion of the North has had to
struggle to meet its liabilities and at the same
time to respond to District appeals, but it has
soldiered through.
However, further deterioration of the condition of
the masonic hall during the recent severe drought
has been followed by extensive consultation, with
expert advice from District Grand Lodge; and
although rains recently have provided some
alleviation of the position, the basic problem
remains unsolved.
Bro Schlesinger could be said to have started a
'tradition' of Lodge stalwarts, which was to include
two more members who earned Grand honours, namely
Bro Chaim Brenner (WM in 1949/50) and Bro Harry
Coxwell (WM in 1960/1), and then Bro George Grobler
joined the Lodge on moving to Louis Trichardt in
1960, and went through the chair in 1967/8 prior to
returning to Pretoria where he joined United
Services Lodge No 2967, became active in the
District, and was appointed Assistant District Grand
Master in 1978.
In addition to worthy support for the District
charities, the Lodge has several 'Memorial Funds' in
the names of deceased Brethren, which are used to
provide support for local charities.
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.
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