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DGC COA


Vrede Lodge No. 4816

Consecrated 8th October 1926


Meeting at: Johannesburg - Freemasons Hall, 8 Park Lane, Parktown


Meeting Dates: 3rd Monday (ex Dec) Inst Oct


Contact 083 676 9898


See also the booklet produced for the 1000th meeting


Lodge History

A predecessor lodge, of the same name, was constituted under the Netherlandic Constitution in the 19th century. It went into recess during the South African war, was revived in 1905 but still did not flourish and in 1914, resolved to surrender its warrant. Interestingly one of its 'liquidators', C J Moll, was to be instrumental in helping to reactivate Freemasonry in Vrede, and the present lodge was consecrated in 1926, but came under the District Grand Lodge of Natal during its earlier years. The membership was never large but the lodge kept going, partly by encouraging social activity, including balls at the local hotel, and partly by strong support, via joining membership, from Standerton Lodge. The lodge's premises in Vrede, costing some £250 in the 1920s, were to provide a home for some 40 years.

Despite the support from Standerton, which included P T (Flippy) Engelbrecht taking the chair three times, and assistance from Southern Cross Lodge, Vrede Lodge lost ground, and in 1969 faced closure. But the Transvaal District, mindful of the special interest of Standerton and Southern Cross Lodges, took a hand and it was arranged to transfer Vrede Lodge's activities to Johannesburg. So the premises in Vrede were sold and the proceeds eventually helped the lodge to buy a 12% share in the new masonic hall in Rewlatch, and it has come to thrive there as one of the closely knit group of four 'English' lodges in the Southern suburbs of Johannesburg.

Reference: 'A Century of Brotherhood' by A A Cooper & D E G Vieler