A HUNDRED YEARSOF MASONS

The introduction of Freemasonry in Malaya was largely attributed to the arrival of the British East India Company in Penang on July 17, 1786. Naturally, the island became the first foothold for the Freemasons when the Royal Prince of Wales Lodge was consecrated in 1875.

After that, other Masonic Lodges in the centrally-located Malay states were established in relatively quick succession. The Perak Jubilee Lodge in Taiping began in 1887 while Read Lodge in Kuala Lumpur was consecrated in 1889.

Masonic activities only reached the northern portion of the Malay Peninsula after the signing of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty in 1909. That agreement effectively transferred all Siamese rights of suzerainty, protection and control over Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu to Great Britain.

The subsequent appointment of George Maxwell as Kedah’s first Adviser and the influx of British civil servants effectively cleared the path for the arrival of European pioneers keen to set up rubber plantations in the fertile plains in the state’s central and southern parts. Without a doubt, it was these settlers who ultimately introduced the practice of Freemasonry to Kedah.

Naturally, the centrally-located town of Sungai Petani, and not the further north Alor Star state capital, became the obvious choice for the founders of Lodge Kedah to set up their chapter. For more than half a century after that, the European planters formed the backbone of this establishment.

According to records held at the United Grand Lodge of England library, 15 Masons formed the initial group that made up Lodge Kedah. Led by the state’s Public Works Department’s chief draftsman Charles Geoffrey Boutcher, the men either held high positions in the civil service or rubber estates in the state.

The earliest reference to the establishment of Lodge Kedah was in the Penang chapter’s half yearly communication The Royal Prince of Wales Lodge crest decorating the tip of a silver spoon. dated Nov 9, 1917. It announced that a petition had been sent to England for sanction to open a Lodge in Sungai Petani, Kedah. Another announcement was made on Feb 28, 1918 saying that the petition had been granted and the consecration of Lodge Kedah could take place after the arrival of the Warrant.

More than a week before the determined consecration date of Aug 2, 1918, the District Grand Master of the Eastern Archipelago, F.M. Elliot and several others boarded a ship named Ipoh and headed up the coast. Captained by J.M. Daly, the vessel stopped at Port Swettenham (Port Klang now) to pick up more Masonic members.

The party disembarked in Penang and took the 2.30pm train up to Sungai Petani where they spent the night at the Government Rest House. The members of the entourage was so numerous that every inch of the place was occupied. Unsubstantiated reports even told of members sleeping on the verandah and roof!

During the Lodge Kedah consecration ceremony, Elliot installed Frank Blackwood Sewell as the first Master of the Lodge. Among the 11 officers elected were Justice Percy Julian Sproule (State Lawyer), Alexander William Davidson (State Surveyor) and James