WYNDHAM LODGE NO. 688 GRC History of the Formation
This Lodge was Instituted 02 March 1957;
Consecrated 06 November 1957.
Lodge Motto: Vigilo Quaero Edisco
For eighty years
three lodges served the purposes of Masonry in Guelph. By the middle of
the twentieth century the population of Guelph had approximately
tripled and the excessive work which the three lodges carried on
indicated the need of a fourth lodge. Morley J.
Wright, Past Master of the Prince Arthur Lodge, Arthur, Ontario, Earl
Wilson and John F. Heap, both Past Masters of Speed Lodge, took the
initiative in organizing a new Lodge. These men, along with several
others from Speed Lodge, some from Waverley, one from Guelph and
members of the craft who had recently come to Guelph, made up the
charter members of the new Lodge. Early in
the deliberations necessary for the formation and institution of the
new Masonic Lodge in Guelph, arose the need for a suitable name. The
members were anxious to be original, to maintain an association with
the name Guelph, and to indicate our loyalty and respect for the land
of our forefathers. Happily, the name of Wyndham was selected. There is
no other lodge in Ontario so named and this name has a distinct Guelph
connotation. The first Masonic building in Guelph, known as the Masonic
Block, was on Wyndham Street - which is one of the oldest main streets
in Ontario. The name Wyndham is probably named after the Right
Honourable William Wyndham (1750-1810) the colonial secretary in Lord
Pitt's cabinet. Macaulay,
the great English historian, described Wyndham as the first gentleman
of his age, of athletic physique, intelligent, ingenious, high souled
and chivalrous. Should later historians describe the brethren of
Wyndham Lodge in equivalent terms, the hopes of those who gave Wyndham
Lodge its name will be accomplished.