Page 54 - An account of the Lodge of Nine Muses No. 235. 1777 to 2012UGLE

54 An Account of the

the other end of the scale stands Henry Aston Barker (1801), who made a fortune
by painting panoramas, one of which, representing the battle of Waterloo, is said
to have brought him in £10,000.
Thomas Harper’s jewels entitle him to a place amongst the artists; a number
of fine examples survive, and are well worth the attention of modem designers.
An artist in his way must have been Bro. F. C. I. Rasch (1865), a finished dandy,
famed for the possession of twenty-five exquisite frock-coats, and for having his
hair trimmed and curled every other day in Bond Street.
The Services have given the Lodge a considerable number of members. Of
soldiers none has been of outstanding eminence, though many have served with
credit in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.
One of the first of whom we know anything was Major William Holcroft
(1806), who saw a good deal of fighting in the American wars of the eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries, and especially distinguished himself at Niagara
in 1813. Major-General William Kincaid (1887) ended more than thirty years
meritorious service in India as political Agent at Bhopanir.
The war of 1914-18 is referred to in Chapter Fifteen.
The Navy, however, shows several memorable names: Lord Cranstoun (1779)
was a notable sea-dog, and commanded Rodney’s flagship Formidable at the
destruction of the French West India Squadron off Dominica in 1782. He was
appointed Governor of the island of Granada in 1796, but before taking up his
post died a death unique in the annals of the Lodge; he is said to have been
accidentally poisoned by drinking cider which had been kept in a leaden vessel.
Sir William Henry Dillon (1807) was awarded a sword of honour at Lloyds for
a gallant action in 1808 against heavy odds, in which he was severely wounded;
he saw service in many parts of the world, and at his death in 1857 was Vice-
Admiral of the Red. Vice-Admiral Robert O’Brien Fitzroy (1875) was with the
Naval Brigade in Egypt, and fought at Tel-el-Kebir, receiving the C.B., and Rear-
Admiral Rolfe (1877) was with the Naval Brigade at Ashanti in 1874, on the
Niger in 1876, and at El Teb in 1884.
Vice-Admiral Sir William N. W. Hewett (1881) behaved with conspicuous
24
gallantry during the Crimean War and was one of the first to receive the Victoria

24 W.Bro. Granville Angel, Med, BSc, RN (retd) gave a lecture “The Victoria Cross, Freemasons’
Band of Brothers” to the Lodge in Sept. 2003. He went on to be nominated Prestonian
Lecturer for 2005.