HISTORY
On the 17th January 1913 a meeting was held at the Masonic Temple in the High Street, Paisley to form Lodge Paisley St. James.
The meeting was convened by Brother James Warnock PM of Lodge No 129 and after due deliberation a petition to grant a Charter to Lodge Paisley St. James was forwarded to Grand Lodge under the signatories of:
Bro James Warnock
Bro James Campbell
Bro John Williamson
Bro John Jamieson
Bro Walter Maxwell
Bro Samuel McGill
Bro William Lyle
Bro Robert Gardiner
Bro Thomas Flett
Bro Robert Shaw
Bro William Campbell
Bro Matthew Jamieson
Bro James Walker
Bro Claude Hannah
The Charter to constitute Lodge Paisley St. James was granted on the 1st May 1913 and the Number 1116, was given to the Lodge by the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
The petitioning brethren became the founding member of the Lodge and elected Bro James Campbell as the founder Right Worshipful Master.
Bro James Warnock a jeweller in the town presented the Lodge with the Chains of Office and Jewels for the Master and Wardens.
The Lodge met in the Masonic Temple in the High Street until 1947 when it moved premises to the Liberal Club Halls.
In 1957 the opportunity was taken to move to self-contained premises in Maxwellton Road where the Lodge continues to meet regularly today.
The 75th Anniversary was made special by the events of September 1987 when the full Masters Regalia was stolen.
The Regalia was replaced, the new apron and cuffs purchased from Goudilocks and a local Jeweller, Stephen Butler was commissioned to make a replica of the Masters Chain and Jewel.
The events celebrated were twofold.
The re-consecration of the Lodge was the main part of the Ceremony, coupled with the new chain and jewel being consecrated and presented to the Right Worshipful Master.
The Provincial Grand Lodge of Renfrewshire East carried out the full Ceremonial Work.
The second part of that day was a celebration of the work of the founding members of the Lodge and 75 years of prosperity in Lodge Paisley St. James.
It was also a milestone on the way to our Centenary and just as our Founders brought in the rituals and tradition of their Mother Lodges which become the foundation stones of our Masonic teaching and ritual to carry forward into the future.
The event of Lodge Paisley St. James mirrors the history of Paisley and our Founders had the foresight to choose a crest, which is derived, from the Great Seal of Paisley Abbey.
The Abbey Crest portrays St. James on the obverse of the Great Seal and it is this figure, which gives the Lodge its distinctive Crest.
It is therefore our task to further maintain and enhance Masonic teaching, learning and brotherhood, which has been faithfully tended over 94 years and ensure that it continues to burn brightly for our Brethren through future years guiding them in their path from darkness to light.
Original work: 1988
(A. Thomson P.M.)
Updated: 2007
(Philip M. Simpson P.M.)