25 Queens Road, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 3YH
ARTHUR JOLLY LODGE 8102
HISTORY OF THE LODGE
HISTORY
The Arthur Jolly Lodge was founded to commemorate the Boys Festival of 1966, at which the Provincial Grand Master of Sussex, R.W.Bro Arthur Jolly presided, and which raised a total of £444,000 for the Boys School.
It was named after the Provincial Grand Master himself, not merely as a tribute to his work as a freemason but to recognise his total contribution to society which is reflected in the second part of this Lodge History entitled "Arthur Jolly - The Man"
It had seventeen founders, and the, then Deputy Provincial Grand Master, the Rev Charles H Mosse became the first master of the new lodge.
The founders undertook that the Lodge would fully observe the Sussex Masonic Ritual in every detail and would also follow certain practices and develop traditions which would give it a distinctive, and hopefully admired, character.
The Lodge Banner was donated by Mr and Mrs Jolly and dedicated in 1970.
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Amongst its valued possessions are a bible, referred to in freemasonry as the Volume of the Sacred Law, donated by the first Master, Rev, C.H.Mosse; the Worshipful Master's Ivory Gavel, presented by Arthur Jolly personally and a Loving Cup for use at Festive Boards presented by the Founders. In our masonic ceremonies we refer to certain working tools, which are used to demonstrate the teachings of the craft, and a set of these was presented by W.Bro M A T Male a Past Master of the Lodge.
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Sadly in 2016 the last our founders W Bro Carl Haydon passed away aged 93 years. He was a stalwart supporter of the lodge rarely missing a meeting and the lodge was truly honoured at his having attended our special 50th year anniversary meeting in May 2016. All the members of our wonderful Lodge are committed to maintaining the memory of Arthur Jolly through the standard of our ritual and the practice of the principles and tenets of freemasonry.
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In 2019 we applied and were successful in becoming a UGLE Universities Scheme Lodge. We are very proud to be affiliated with the University of Sussex and Brighton University. Please contact us for further details.
Arthur Jolly - The Man
Arthur Jolly was born on 19th December 1892 at Woodford in Essex. He was an only child whose father, a ship's chandler, died in 1906. He was educated at Eastbourne Grammar School, which he left in 1910 and settled in Hove where he lived for the rest of his life.
He served under Articles with a local firm of Chartered Accountants and qualified after army service during the 1914-18 war. After opening a Hove office of a London firm he practiced as a public accountant for some 40 years.
He married his wife, Bonnie, in June 1927 at St Cuthman's Presbyterian Church and was blessed with three daughters and a son.
He was initiated into freemasonry in 1920 at the first meeting of the then newly formed Temperance Lodge No 4064 and became a dedicated freemason as reflected in the resume of his masonic career set out further below.
The offices he held were very time demanding but yet he was able to be extremely active in public service. The terms of his partnership precluded him from seeking election to Town or County Council but that did not diminish his record of public service.
In 1989, he was made a freeman of the Borough of Hove and the local press recorded much of his life's activity listing among others the following.
He served as a Justice of the Peace becoming Chairman of both the Juvenile Court and the Magistrates Court. He was a member of the area probation committee, national assistance appeals tribunal, further education committee, youth advisory service and helped to start the Alex Clarke's old peoples' home and also assisted with the Citizens' Advice Bureau. Additionally he was a founder of the Hove Chamber of Commerce, the first Chartered Accountant to practice in Hove and the first man to put on a variety show in Lewes Prison.
After World War One he was involved in the Victory Loan Campaign and raised more than £1 million in Hove. In the second World War he was convener and organiser of the fire guard service for Hove.
On a personal front he gave considerable service to the Presbyterian Church both locally and in a wider field.
It seems impossible that with all these commitments he could find the time to hold the offices he filled in freemasonry. He received his first appointment to Provincial Grand Office in 1933 and rose through the most senior of offices to become Provincial Grand Master from 1959 - 1976.
The last occasion he attended the lodge that bore his name was on his 91st birthday in December 1982 . He died after a full life of dedicated service on 22nd May 1983. We are immensely proud of the examples he set for others to follow and bear his name with pride.
His masonic career, was as follows:
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1920 Initiated at the first meeting of Temperance Lodge No. 4064, becoming W.M. in 1927 and again for the 5Oth year of the Lodge in 1970.
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1949 Prime Mover and Founder of St. Cuthbert Lodge No. 6865.
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1933 Appointed, Past Deputy Prov. G.D of C at a special meeting held in the out patients department Royal Sussex County Hospital for the laying of the foundation stone of the Sussex Eye Hospital, this being one of nine additional Provincial Honours authorised to mark the dedication of the Masonic Million Peace Memorial
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1938 Provincial Junior Grand Warden
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1943 Provincial Grand Secretary
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1949 Assistant Provincial Grand Master
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1956 Deputy Provincial Grand Master and in charge of the Province for some months after the resignation of R.W.Bro.V.Rev. A.T.A. Naylor in 1959.
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1959 Provincial Grand Master - retired 29/9/76
In 1943 he was appointed Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies and promoted to Past Grand Deacon in 1951. He was therefore a Provincial officer for over 44 years and during this time steadily rose higher in the regard and respect of his Brethren in Sussex. He continued after the loss of his wife to participate fully in all his masonic and other interests and was much loved for his great warmth and humour.
The Lodge Banner
The Grant of Arms which appear on the Lodge Banner are partly based on the Grant made to Robert Jolly of Hatten Garden in the Parish of St. Andrews, Holborn in the County of Middlesex on October 7th 1692.
By tradition, R.W.Bro. Arthur Jolly, the Provincial Grand Master, was supposed to be descended from him but to date this cannot be substantiated and in consequence the Garter Knight of Arms at the direction of the Earl Marshall granted the present Arms on 1st August 1967 to be borne by Arthur Jolly and his descendants for ever.
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These Arms incorporate certain family associations. Firstly from the Grant of October 1692 by the inclusion of an Eagle and two left hands. Secondly the wavy blue band and the Sextant are in allusion to long associations with the sea during the l8th and l9th centuries. Thirdly the Sussex Martlets are a reminder of the fact that we are members of the Province of Sussex. Lastly the Curriers' knives in saltire refer to the Provincial Grand Master's membership of one of the City of London's ancient Guilds, the Worshipful Company of Curriers, of which he is a Past Master.
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The inscription LAETAVI can be translated "Let us be happy" or, if one prefers, "Let us be Jolly".
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​The Lodge is indebted to R.W.Bro. Arthur Jolly, the Provincial Grand Master, and Mrs Jolly for their generosity in presenting this Banner.
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