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Chapter History
Brief historical notes
As the name implies Agricola Chapter has very strong farming links. Traditionally members were said to be farmers or associated allied trades. Nevertheless this did not prevent membership from other walks of life in the early years, and there were a quite a number of Licensees and Police Officers. These days there are not very many farming members but there are some notable exceptions including Richard Hinge and Ernie Nicholls. Of course the Prison Service has various agricultural interests and we have had a number of companions who were employed in that service.
The Chapter was consecrated on the 7th October 1927. We celebrated our Golden Jubilee in 1977 at which stage the only surviving Founder Member was Lord Cornwallis.
There have been other notable members of the Chapter over the years but, in the early days, undoubtedly the driving force was James Hillier-French. He was the initial Scribe E and remained in that office until 1943. He was a man of substantial influence in Freemasonry; in local politics; and as Secretary of the National Farmers Union.
Traditionally the Chapter has tended to draw its membership from three main sources namely South Kent Lodge No. 4303 of Ashford; Maeides Stana Lodge No. 7868 of Maidstone and of course Agricola Lodge No. 4501. Unfortunately the membership has recently tended to come more from Agricola Lodge than from the other Lodges. This has come about since Maeides Stana consecrated its own Chapter, and potential members from Ashford are now more drawn towards joining Ashford Chapters.
The current cost of membership is £40.00 per year which contrasts favourably with other Chapters.
The membership of the Chapter has remained between 50 and 60 for some time. Unfortunately all previous efforts to increase the size of our membership have been blunted as a result of deaths and members moving away from the area. However of late there has been a significant increase in brethren joining..
Finally we should perhaps mention how the name Agricola is pronounced, as this sometimes causes problems. It is correctly pronounced as though it rhymes with the word “tricolour”. Occasionally it is mispronounced to rhyme with “funicular” or even “cola” the soft drink. |
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