Lodge Pambula Daylight. No 1000 UGL of NSW & ACT

Regional Grand Councillor (Region 10) - RW Bro Mike Dalton. PJGW
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(Click here for Region 10 web site)

Meetings - First Friday, 10am at Pambula Masonic Centre,
Toalla Street, Pambula, NSW. (except January)

Visiting brethren are always most welcome particularly those on
holiday in the area.

On 3rd November 2006, Bro. Kevin Mulcahy was reinstalled into the chair of King Solomon.
The installing Master was VW Bro Donald More PDGIW. The District Grand Inspector of Workings, VW Bro Charles de Rochefort represented the Grand Master and VW Bro. Ron Doyle PDGDC was the Grand Director of Ceremonies.
Also attending were the DGIW, VW Bro Russell Yelds, and several other Grand Lodge officers.

26 brethren witnessed the ceremony which was more than ably carried out by the installing master and his team.
Visiting brethren came from Bairnsdale Daylight Lodge, Lodge Baddeley, Lodge Bega, Lodge Cooma-Monaro, the Mountain Lodge, Bombala and Eurobodalla Daylight Lodge.
A very pleasant installation banquet followed at the Pambula Masonic Center.

VW Bro Charles de Rochefort DGIW representing the Grand Master presenting the Certificate of re-installation.

On Friday 24th August a contingent of Lodge Pambula Daylight brethren travelled to Moruya to witness the installation of our frequent visitor and applicant for affiliation, Bro Athol Cairn into the chair of King Solomon at Lodge Eurobodalla Daylight. It was a wonderful ceremony with the installing office, W Bro Peter Taylor, doing justice to the occasion. 106 people enjoyed the Festive Board testimony to the popularity of Athol and the Lodge itself. It was a great experiance to see a Lodge in such a positive position with an assured future.

Located some 50 kms north of the Victorian border on the beautiful Sapphire Coast of South-East NSW, and only 5 kms South of Merimbula which the center of this major tourist area

Pambula was discovered, by the white people that is, by George Bass on 18 December 1797. The resident Aborigines referred to it as Pambula, meaning "two waters", a name reflecting an harmonious relationship with the environment. It became popular for a very lucrative off-shore industry, whaling, as part of the Imlay Brothers empire at Twofold Bay in the early 1800's

It has also been a rich farming area, gold mining until cyanide became too expensive for dissolving the quartz, maize growing, oats, horses and now it is a quiet little village with craft shops and several historic buildings of which our Masonic Lodge is one. Pambula has a small population of around 1,500 and can be referred to nowadays as a quiet little rural town on what used to be a bend in the Princes Highway. While the town may not abound in great architectural treasures, it does have surviving cottages and buildings that are authentically colonial.

Perhaps the most historic building is the house which Syms Covington built. As an 18 year old, he sailed with Charles Darwin as a cabin boy and ship's fiddler on the "Beagle". He emigrated to Australia in 1840 and took up residence in Pambula as the local Postmaster. His house was at one time the doctor's residence and is now a quality restaurant.

The Lodge was originally the Pambula School which comprised one room. The building is quite small and is no longer used for lodge meetings as extensions were added years later to house the temple and a large South. The original school house was built on the river flats and the flood of 1870 made the building uninhabitable so the children were transferred to a room at the rear of Mrs Baddeley's tannery. Because of strong community support, a new school on a site opposite the Court House was completed in 1872. The contractors guaranteed that the eighteen inch rubble walls would "withstand the strongest winds". Unfortunately, there was no guarantee that the school system would withstand the turbulence buffeting educational circles - dissention was not confined to Pambula.

Pambula Masonic Center - History

The first meeting of Lodge Baddeley 205 took place on 7 July 1892 "...amid a large and brilliant concourse of brethren worthy of the opening of the first lodge south of Moruya on the coast district".

Ninety six years later in 1988, Lodge Pambula Daylight 1000 was consecrated and currently shares the Center with Lodge Baddeley. The latter began as the result of a petition, raised by the Mountain Lodge (190) of Bombala, which was sent to Grand Lodge by Charles Henry Baddeley 1810-1892. He is recognized as founder of Lodge Baddeley and is also shown as the first W.M. for the Mountain Lodge, Bombala on Warrant No 920 issued 23 August 1862 by the UGL of England.

Initially Lodge Baddeley held its meetings in the Pambula School of Arts and although attempts were made to become independent, this situation continued for twenty-one years. From 24 June 1913 lodge meetings were held in the (old) school building (shown above), which still stands as a monument to the lodge's history.

In 1948 a building fund was opened and this paved the way for a new lodge room. Member numbers had risen significantly after the war and this was also reflected in the number of visitors to the lodge. By 1957 the new lodge room had been completed and it was dedicated by the Grand Master in August that year. During 1978-79 steps were taken to replace the old South. This was completed during 1980 and was dedicated by the Grand Master in April of that year.

Other lodges in the area of District 105 are Lodge Bega Remembrance, 220 (1895), Lodge Monaro (Cooma), 164 (1865), The Mountain Lodge Bombala, 190 (1862)

Hanging in the Lodge room of the Pambula Masonic Center is a lithograph of numerous masonic symbols, coats of arms, etc. It is dated 1882 for copyright registraion and was printed by the Brotherhood Professional Art Society, Boston, USA. Two names appear on the bottom and can only be read on the original with a magnifying glass eg HA Fowler and TC Fielding (interesting initials). Another name at the right bottom under the pillar reads JH Daniels Pr, Boston. Presumably the printer. The lithograph is approximately A1 size and the image on the next page was obtained by scanning 6 times with an A4 size scanner and joining the pieces with photoshop. The full sized image is 2524x 2739 pixels which is a bit large for a web page.

The lithograph belongs to Lodge Baddeley, the owners of the Center, and it has been around for so long that none of the present members can shed any light on where it came from. The symbols illustrated so beautifully cover many orders and degrees so we are fairly certain that it was not a tracing board for one particular order. If anyone reading this has anything to contribute by way of information about its reason for being, please drop us an email using this link

Lodge Bega Remembrance - meets at the Bega Masonic Center, 3rd Wednesday, 7.30pm
Secretary - W Bro Malcolm Privett. 02 6494 0022.

Lodge Baddeley - meets at Pambula Masonic Center, 2nd Friday, 7.30pm
Secretary - W Bro Terry Deacon, 02 6495 7005

Please sign our visitors book before leaving. Your comments, even brief ones will be appreciated.

Domain name and web site owned and managed by WBro Kevin Mulcahy.
Pambula history taken from "Pambula's Colonial Days" by Julie Higgins.
Lodge History taken from 100 year booklet on Lodge Baddeley by W Bro Peter Rice