The Bancroft's connection with the Freemasons

 

Black Bull Inn - Haworth

 

 The Freemasons organisation is a long established and respected body and two Bancroft men locally were involved with the Haworth branch.

Firstly a Timothy Bancroft [1761-1837] helped to set it up with two other local men. Records from 1805 explain about its formation in its earliest form known as :

'This degree of “Knights Templar”, or to give it its full title, "The United Religious Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple, and of St. John of Jerusalem, Palatine, Rhodes and Malta in England and Wales and Provinces Overseas," has, as one can deduce from its title, a history based on the medieval orders of chivalry, and there are many books devoted to this Degree and its origins.'

 In Haworth the initial application to form this Degree was made by the members of Prince George Lodge in 1805, reference to which is made in the history of Prince George Lodge.

The Principal Officers were to be John Barraclough, John Sutcliffe and Timothy Bancroft.

The Haworth Lodge was formed in September 1792 and the first recorded meeting was held at the Black Bull on 7th July 1806. They continued to meet at the Black Bull until they moved to Lodge Street in 1821. 

The Lodge had an early connection with the well known local man Branwell Bronte, son of the famous Patrick Bronte, the Haworth minister.

In February 1836, at the age of 18, Branwell sought companionship and intellectual stimulation by joining The Lodge of Three Graces. At the time, the lodge met at the Black Bull Public House, situated mere steps from the Brontë Parsonage at the top of Haworth's steep main street,as shown above.

Branwell quickly became a central figure in the lodge. His education and eloquent writing style made him a perfect fit for leadership, and he was appointed Lodge Secretary in June 1837.

The Records, his minutes are preserved to this day. They reveal a man who took great pride in his work, written in an elegant, flowing script. Alongside formal administrative entries, he occasionally left small sketches in the margins.

The Freemason meetings provided Branwell with an audience. He was known for his witty conversation, his ability to recite poetry from memory, and his brilliant storytelling.

Unfortunately, meeting at the Black Bull meant that lodge nights were directly tied to drinking. The pub was already Branwell's second home.....he even had his own designated chair there. The culture of post-meeting drinking sessions exacerbated his growing alcoholism.

Branwell’s tenure as secretary ended under a cloud in 1842. Due to his increasingly erratic behaviour, financial mismanagement of lodge funds, and frequent absences caused by his worsening addictions, and the lodge replaced him.

His decline into alcohol and drugs and final early death in 1848 at the age of only 31 years has been widely recorded elsewhere.

Now onto the Bancroft's connection.

Timothy Bancroft's history is that he was born in the Haworth area and baptised at Haworth Parish Church on 14/6/1761, the son of Joseph and Grace Bancroft. He is shown on various records as a farmer from the late 18^th century and died around February 1837 at Deaning Bottom at Lees on the outskirts of Haworth, and was buried there in the Parish Church by Patrick Bronte.

 

Timothy Bancroft's burial 1837

He was married twice, firstly to Ellen Mitchell, known as Nelly who died at the young age of 35 years. The parish records say she died of the 'decline'. He then went on to marry an Ann Mitchell who lived into her nineties. [It is not confirmed whether or not they were related...possibly sisters?]

His will, which was published a few months after his death show he left £207 in his estate, which at that time was a substantial sum of money. Together with his two wives he had twelve children

A second, and unrelated Bancroft was George Bancroft [1860-1915]. The following picture shows George in full  Grand-Master masonic attire, but it is not clear exactly when he took on this role. It is is thought that it was between 1900 and 1915, when he was probably seen as an important businessman in the local area and was listed  as 'a Gentleman', probably because he owned at least eight houses locally which were valued at the time as worth £1500.

The Masonic Lodge is still there at Mill Hey Haworth, close to where he was living  and running his tailoring business at the time and he, no doubt, was able to get lots of business from his lodge connections.

George Bancroft in masonic apparel 

 The full story of George's life can be read here on an earlier blog article

 

The current Lodge at Mill Hey was constructed in 1907.

 

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