County Orange Lodge of Toronto
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
The Formation of the County Orange Lodge of Toronto

The present County Orange Lodge of Toronto was formerly a District Lodge in the original County of York. At the County of York meeting in February, 1859 held in Holland Landing, the County of York was divided into four counties; namely, York East, York West, York North and Toronto. There were 96 brethren present at that meeting, the largest meeting of the County of York up to that time. The motion to divide the County into four was to properly reflect the federal electoral districts at that time. The motion was put forward by Brother Rev. Harry Bath Osler and seconded by Brother Harcourt P. Gowan and passed unanimously.
​The Notice Calling the First Meeting

The following advertisement published in The Patriot called together the first meeting of the County Orange Lodge of Toronto:
​​Loyal Orange Institution of British America

County Lodge of Toronto

Annual Meeting

“Notice is hereby given to all whom it may concern that the approval and ratification to form the County Orange Lodge of Toronto has been duly received. And in accordance with the vote of the last meeting of York County Lodge, the annual meeting for 1860 shall be held in the George Street Orange Hall, in this city on Monday the 6th day of February next, commencing at half-past seven o’clock p. m. Of all which every brother concerned will take notice and govern himself accordingly. The lodge will, as usual, be opened in the Royal Arch Purple Mark Degree.

God Save the Queen

F. Medcalf W.M.275 – County Master   H. P. Gowan W.M.4 – County Secretary
​Lodges Composing the County of Toronto

The lodges composing the County of Toronto, therefore, in 1860 were:
​
  • No. 4;
  • No. 136;
  • No. 137;
  • No. 140;
  • No. 212;
  • No. 275;
  • No. 287;
  • No. 301;
  • No. 328;
  • No. 375;
  • No. 396;
  • No. 404;
  • No. 506;
  • No. 551;
  • No. 588;
  • No. 621;
  • No. 657; and
  • No. 781.

The total membership was 1140 an average of 60 members to each lodge. It is noted here that the warrants of four of these lodges (4, 136, 137 and 140) pre-date the incorporation of Toronto itself in 1834.
First Officers

The first officers of the County Orange Lodge of Toronto were as follows: 
​
  • ​Francis H. Medcalf, County Master;
  • James Burns, Deputy County Master: 
  • Robert Bell, Chaplain; 
  • Harcourt P. Gowan, Secretary;
  • John Carr, Treasurer; 
  • W. Nichols, Director of Ceremonies; 
  • ​John Rogers, County Proxy.

Following Brother Medcalf, William Adamson filled the chair of County Master for 19 years to January, 1880, when he was succeeded by Brother E. F. Clarke, followed by Worshipful Brothers Frank Somers,William Bell, H. A. E. Kent, J. L. Hughes, John McMillan, W. D. McPherson, John Hewitt andHarry Lovelock.

The County Orange Lodge grew significantly for the next several years and was sub-divided itself into three District Lodges (Centre, Eastern and Western) in 1876.

Submitted by John Wells – County Secretary – Feb 28th/2011

Source: “Reminiscences of Toronto Orangeism” Article by Harry Lovelock (County Master 1900 – 1902) and taken from the 1902 Toronto County Parade Programme.
Banner of the County Orange Lodge of Toronto.
Metro Toronto House of Orange, home of the County Orange Lodge of Toronto located at 417 Kennedy Road in Scarborough, Ontario (Photo: Grand Orange Lodge of Canada, grandorangelodge.ca/).
Metro Toronto House of Orange, home of the County Orange Lodge of Toronto located at 417 Kennedy Road in Scarborough, Ontario (Photo: Google Maps, 2019).
Metro Toronto House of Orange, home of the County Orange Lodge of Toronto located at 417 Kennedy Road in Scarborough, Ontario (Photo: Google Maps, 2019).
Past County Masters from 1820 to 2018

  • 1860-1860  F. H. Medcalf
  • 1861-1879  Wm. Adamson
  • 1880-1883  E.F. Clarke
  • 1884-1886  F. Somers
  • 1887-1888  James L. Hughes
  • 1889-1890  Wm. L. Bell
  • 1891-1892  H.E. Kent
  • 1893-1895  J. McMillan
  • 1896-1897  W.D. McPherson
  • 1898-1899  J. Hewitt
  • 1900-1902  H. Lovelock
  • 1903-1904  J.H. Pritchard
  • 1905-1906  F. Dane
  • 1907-1908  J.E. Thompson
  • 1909-1910  Wm. Bush
  • 1911-1913  Wm. Crawford
  • 1914-1916  A.A. Gray
  • 1917-1918  T.L. Self
  • 1919-1920  W.H. Eliott
  • 1921-1923  T.H. Wilson
  • 1924-1924  Wm. L. Bell Jr.
  • 1925-1925  J. Winnett
  • 1926-1926  George McCombe
  • 1927-1927  ?
  • 1928-1928  W.A. Smith
  • 1929-1929  James Mayor
  • 1930-1930  R. Hardy Small
  • 1931-1931  A.R. Nesbit
  • 1932-1932  Ian MacDonell
  • 1933-1933  C.W. Armstrong
  • 1934-1934  A.H. Birmingham
  • 1935-1935  W.V. Muir
  • 1936-1936  W.M. MacPhee
  • 1937-1937  W.H. Goddard
  • 1938-1940  J. Elliot
  • 1941-1945  T.H. Addy
  • 1946-1947  E.E. Hunt
  • 1948-1949  J. Murphy
  • 1950-1951  M.S. Cooper
  • 1952-1953  Redvers King
  • 1954-1955  Dominic DiStasi
  • 1956-1957  Ed Davies
  • 1958-1959  Wes J. Adams
  • 1960-1961  Thomas Murphy
  • 1962-1963  Alan C. MacRobbie
  • 1964-1965  Howard Saunders
  • 1966-1966  John Moorehead
  • 1967-1968  David Griffin
  • 1969-1970  John Megaw
  • 1971-1972  Andrew Robertson
  • 1973-1974  John Atkinson
  • 1975-1977  Tom Bell
  • 1978-1979  Joseph Kennedy
  • 1980-1983  John Armstrong
  • 1984-1985  Alan Price
  • 1986-1987  Alex Rough
  • 1988-1989  James Pritchard
  • 1990-1991  MacGregor Roulston
  • 1992-1993  John Thompson
  • 1994-1995  Donald E. Wilson
  • 1996-1997  Jackson Reilly
  • 1998-1999  John Wells
  • 2000-2001  Tom Barr
  • 2002-2003  Niall Good
  • 2004-2005  Adrian Watt
  • 2006-2007  Donald M. Guy
  • 2008-2009  Edward Kelly
  • 2010-2011  David Griffin
  • 2012-2013  Mark Aiken
  • 2014-2014  Donald M. Guy
  • 2015-2016  Gerry Morgan
  • 2017-2018  Lynn Barr

​Information from the County Orange Lodge of Toronto.
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