Beaver Lodge No. 83 - Strathroy, Ontario - Established 1857

Meeting Info

Third Monday at 7:30pm

Closed July and August

Location

Currently meeting at 26005 Napier Road, Adelaide-Metcalfe (Napier), Ontario, in the Ionic Lodge No. 328 Lodge building.

Contact

Beaver Secretary

The Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Canada held July 8, 1857, in Montreal, note Beaver Lodge as under dispensation and represented by V. W. Bro. James Moffat, who carried a Proxy for voting purposes. At the request of the Grand Master, the Grand Secretary read out a list of Lodges under dispensation which included “Beaver Lodge. Strathroy. London District.” It was unanimously approved that Warrants be issued to nine of the Lodges. Warrant No. 45 was issued to Beaver Lodge. This was changed to No. 83 with the general re-numbering of lodges on January 19, 1859.

At the 37th Annual Communications of the Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario held at London on July 20, 1892, the Grand Secretary reported that “on the 18th December, 1891, Beaver Lodge, No. 83, Euclid Lodge, No. 366, of Strathroy, amalgamated under the name of Beaver Lodge, No. 83, Strathroy, in the Second Masonic District.”

A notable member of Beaver Lodge No. 83 was Sir George William Ross (1841 - 1914), Premier of Ontario (1899 - 1905). He was initiated into Beaver Lodge on August 5, 1872. Sir George William Ross was born on September 18, 1841, at Nairn, Middlesex County, the son of James Ross and Ellen McKinnon. He was educated in the area, matriculating from Albert College, Belleville, and entering the Toronto Normal School, graduating with a first-class teaching certificate. He became Inspector of Model Schools for Lambton County. He turned to law, obtained an LLB in 1883 and was called to the bar in 1887. He represented the federal riding of Middlesex from 1872 to 1883 in the House of Commons, switching to provincial politics in 1884, when he immediately became Minister of Education. He became Premier in 1899. He and his government were defeated in 1905, and he became Opposition Leader for two years. He was appointed a Senator in 1907 and became the Liberal Leader in the Senate from 1910 until his death on March 14, 1917. He was married three times: to Christine Campbell in 1862; to Catherine Boston in 1875; and to Margaret Peel in 1907. He was Knighted in 1910.

During its existence, eleven members of the Lodge have served as DDGM: R. W. Bros. George Billington (London No. 1, 1870 -1871), William Milner (London No. 2, 1881 - 1882), Robert A. Wilmott (St. Clair 2, 1903 - 1904), J. H. Argue (St. Clair 2, 1909 - 1910), W. A. Campbell (St. Clair, 1926 - 1927), Stinson Swales (Sarnia, 1950 - 1951), Duncan A. McGugan (Sarnia, 1957 - 1958), Robert G. Patterson (Sarnia, 1965 - 1966), John K. Howden (Sarnia, 1989 - 1990), Paul D. Brown (Sarnia, 2007 - 2008) and J. Douglas Hoelzli (Sarnia, 2011 - 2012).  

Other members of the Lodge have given distinguished service to our Grand Lodge in various offices, including:

Grand Chaplain - R. W. Bro. W. M. Kannawin (1912 - 1913)

Grand Registrar - R. W. Bro. Robert Frederick Richardson

Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies - V. W. Bro. William Oldham (1908 - 1909),

Grand Pursuivant - V. W. Bro. David J. Donaldson (1921 - 1922)

Assistant Grand Chaplain – V.W. Bro. C. Coster Scovil (1976 – 1977)

Grand Stewards:

V. W. Bros. William Milner (1878 - 1879),
John Mallon (1887 - 1888),
J. P. Whitehead (1888 - 1889),
Robert Frederick Richardson (1910 - 1911),
Stewart S. Donaldson (1910 - 1911),
R. Latimer (1927 - 1928),
Thomas Edgar Bogue (1943 - 1944),
Leslie James Hartwick (1951 - 1952),
R. W. Tufford (1966 - 1967),
Duncan C. Lamond (1976 - 1977),
William S. Gough (1988 - 1989),
Kenneth D. Featherstone (1990 - 1991),
Richard J. Collier (2008 - 2009), and
C.A. (Sasha) Vojvodin (2012 – 2013).

Beaver Lodge was originally a moon lodge and met on the Friday before the full moon. In 1924 - 1925 it changed it meeting night to the third Friday. In 1958 - 1959, finding a Friday evening to be unacceptable to a majority of members it changed its meeting night to meeting on the third Monday of each month from September to June inclusive at the Masonic Hall, 115 Centre Street, Strathroy. Since 2022, Beaver Lodge has been meeting at 26005 Napier Road, Adelaide-Metcalfe (Napier), Ontario, in the Ionic Lodge No. 328 Lodge building.