St George’s Lodge No. 8322

Consecrated 30th May 1970

 

Meeting at: Swaziland, Manzini – Pim Lorentz Masonic Hall, Esser Street, Manzini.

 

Meeting Dates: 1st Friday of the Month, February – June. July Installation Meeting. August to December.

 

Contact (00268) 760 23446

 

Lodge History.

When Swaziland gained its independence in 1968, its ongoing administration and development remained largely dependent on retaining the service, on a contract basis, of expatriates.

A number of these were masons and although there was a lodge (Swaziland No 7035) in Manzini, the road connecting the two towns was narrow, and especially dangerous at night. So a number of brethren, drawn from three Constitutions, agreed to form an ‘English’ lodge to meet in Mbabane.

The lodge (which used to meet at the Mission Street Masonic Hall) necessarily recruited largely from ‘contract expatriates’, which resulted in a very transient membership; and as time went on, the ‘localisation’ of Government posts reduced the expatriate population, resulting in the lodge going through a very lean patch, with 60 per cent of the 50 odd members being ‘country’, and only about half the remainder being active in the lodge.

However, the basis of membership is gradually being broadened and it is hoped that the inclusion of more permanent members of the population will strengthen the lodge and secure its future.

In addition to two earlier Grand rank appointments mentioned under Swaziland Lodge, W Bro Bob Worrall, a long standing and very active member of St George’s, received Grand honours in 1993, in recognition of his services to the Craft in Swaziland.

In 2010 meeting of St.Georges Lodge was moved to the temple at

Pim Lorentz Masonic Hall, Esser Street, Manzini