The Lodge's ivory gavels, presented by Bro. Stanley Goddard at the Lodge's founding.
Reflections on the Founding
What caused the Telephone Lodge to be formed? It is clear that most of the founders of the Telephone Lodge knew one another through their employment with the National Telephone Company. But given their widely differing backgrounds, it is clear that they already had many Masonic links with one another. 4 founders were members of Britannic Lodge No 33, while 2 were members of Electric Lodge No 2087. Also there was a quasi-masonic dining club known as the Klondyke Klub that pre-dated the founding of the Telephone Lodge, but the common membership of the Klub and the Telephone Lodge was quite noticeable.
At the 1911 Telephone Lodge installation banquet, toasts were given to 4 “Kindred Lodges”, namely:-
- Electric Lodge 2087
- Telegraph Cable Lodge 2470
- Vulcan Lodge 3181
- Hardware Lodge 3365
W. Bro. P.P. Kipping was a Founder of Hardware Lodge. He was also a founder of Kelvin Lodge 3736 in 1914, a daughter lodge of Electric Lodge. Britannic, Telephone and Kelvin Lodges jointly purchased the Jewel and Grand Lodge clothing when W. Bro. P.P. Kipping was made Assistant Grand Superintendent of Works in 1916.
There is no doubt that after 1905, the NTC were well aware that their company would be absorbed into the Post Office in 1912, as the government had indicated that it would not renew its licence which run out at that date. One might imagine that many in NTC wished to see some of the spirit of NTC carried forward and the Telephone Lodge may well have its origins from those feelings.
One unexplained aspect of Telephone Lodge is the Lodge badge, which comprises the shield from the Royal Arms between two earpieces of the type used on the candlestick phones of the day. Given that in 1908, the NTC was a private company, how and why did the Lodge adopt this shield when arguably it had no right to? The NTC itself never used such a device - its main symbol was a bell. It is thought that the inclusion of the shield is symbolic. Together with the two candlestick telephones, it shows how the telephone could link the nation.