The Freemason’s Ashlar
27 May 26
A cairn off Main Street
By RW Bro Peter Stoneman
Nestled between the main western rail line and busy Main Street in Lithgow is one of the few masonic monuments on the Australian Monuments Register. Here on a strip of mown grass, along with a flagpole, is the Freemason’s Ashlar.
Hewn from a block of black granite and in the form of a double cube the ashlar was prepared by McMurtrie & Co, who are monumental masons, in Orange NSW and installed in 2004.
The masons primarily involved in the project were RW Bro Basil Lemcke and W Bro Geoff Fergusson of Lodge Independent Lewis then number 592.
The principal side of the cairn outlines the evolution and history of Masonry in the Lithgow valley but essentially this history revolves around Lodge Independent No 8 as the mother lodge for the region including Oberon and to a lesser extent Bathurst.
Lodge Independent was originally The Independent Masonic Lodge of the Great Western District of New South Wales No 904 (EC). It was formed in Bathurst in 1853 and first met on 7 June 1854. Later it would be renumbered as No 621 (EC). This happened in 1863.
In 1878 the lodge moved to Lithgow and held its first meeting there on 21 September of that year. In about 1883 the lodge amalgamated with Royal Albert Lodge No 2023 (EC) and then with Lodge Lithgow Kilwinning No 638 (SC) to form Lodge Independent No 621 (EC).
In 1889 the lodge petitioned the newly formed UGL of NSW for a new Warrant.
The newly warranted lodge became Lodge Independent No 8 and held its first meeting on 24 June 1889 in Lithgow.
Two of the more noteworthy members of Lodge Independent were VW Bro Sir Joseph Cook and MW Bro Harold Coates.
Joseph Cook, a coal miner, was initiated into Lodge Independent No 8 on 12 February 1892 and remained a member until his death on 29 July 1947. He was Australia’s sixth Prime Minister from 1913–14 and afterwards High Commissioner for Australia in London (1921–27), where he affiliated with a London lodge and eventually became Senior Grand Deacon of the GL of England.
The National Archives of Australia has this to say about Joseph Cook:
- He ‘was one of the “Australian Lincolns” – those prime ministers whose early poverty meant they had left school early to work
- Was a founding member of New South Wales Labor Party, then a member of the other 3 major parties from 1901 to 1921
- Lost government in the first double dissolution of Commonwealth parliament in 1914
- Was dubbed ‘the most humourless’ of the prime ministers.’
MW Bro Harold Coates OBE PGM was initiated by his father W Bro George Coates on 8 August 1935. He was WM of Lodge Independent in 1941–43.
Always involved in his community, he served as Lithgow mayor on three occasions, the longest term being from 1954–57. In 1965 he was elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly and served there until 1976.
In 1980 he was elected as the 28th Grand Master of the UGL of NSW & ACT and served in that position until 1985.
In his condolence speech to the legislative assembly following MW Coates’ death in 2002, the then member for Bathurst noted, ‘He was a mason and he held the highest office of Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales for a record term. In that capacity he did a great deal of charitable work. As honourable members know, masonic lodges are famous for such work, particularly the Frank Whidden Homes. For many years Harold was very much involved with that organisation and its spread throughout New South Wales. He was one of the people in Lithgow who was responsible for the masonic brethren and the St Vincent de Paul Society getting together and working at charitable events’.
As can be seen from the inscription on the ashlar, Freemasonry flourished in the Lithgow valley. Unfortunately, however, Masonry in the Lithgow valley has contracted and now Lodge Independent Lewis No 346 is the last lodge still meeting in the area. It meets on the second Thursday of the month at the 104-year-old and newly restored masonic centre in Portland.
Of further interest …
- There is a flagpole associated with the site, but the draught from the nearby trains and the almost relentless wind associated with the site’s exposed position meant that flags were being shredded within a few months of being hoisted, so a flag is no longer flown.
- In 1912 authority was granted by the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland for the operation of The Order of the Eastern Star (OES) in New South Wales. On 13 March 1913, Hartford Chapter No 34, was one of the first two Chapters to be instituted in the State. Under the authority of the Grand Chapter of NSW & ACT, Lithgow No 39 continues the traditions of the OES in the valley.
- Interestingly the piece of land where the cairn is situated has no street address! If you read the entry in the Monuments Register it is listed as being in ‘Main Street, Park opposite Tyrepower, Lithgow, 2790’. This address works whilst ever Tyrepower continues to trade but after that there may be a problem, or more precisely its location is; ‘Latitude: –33.482488 and Longitude: 150.149753’.
If you are familiar with the Apple/Android Application called What3Words, then the address is ‘Spices.Sings.Reflect’
Above: The Freemason’s Ashlar in Lithgow