County: Cambridgeshire
Issued on: Return
Date of presentation: 28/05/1901
Number issued: 1
Gold jewel, to:
1st Volunteer Active Service Company, 1st Bn. Suffolk Regiment –
6542 Private Arthur William HALLS
Presentation made by Sir Knight Rye, at the 'Merton' Lodge R.A.O.B., Northampton Street, Cambridge.
Inscribed: "Presented to Private A.W. Hall [sic] by the 'Buffs', of Cambridge, as a mark of esteem and a slight recognition of his services with the Volunteer Battalion of the 3rd Suffolk Regiment in South Africa, 1900-1901".
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Cambridge Daily News, 29th May 1901
PRESENTATION TO A “BUFF”. – Presentations to Cambridge Volunteers returned from South Africa are the order of the day, and the members of the R.A.O.B. “Merton” Lodge, Northampton Street, determined to show their appreciation of the patriotic services of Private A.W. HALL, one of their number who volunteered for the front, by presenting him with a jewel on Tuesday night. The presentation was made in camera, and was presented and accompanied by the solemn mystic observances known only to the brotherhood. The official report of the proceedings was, in the language of the craft, as follows – “Primo W. Smith opened the lodge at 8.15, with a link of 16 brothers. The presentation of a jewel to Primo Hall was made by Sir Knight Rye. The lodge was closed with a link of 25 brothers, and the meeting was then thrown open to friends. The Provincial Grand Lodge was in full strength”. The significance of the above will, no doubt, be duly appreciated by the initiated. With the throwing open of the meeting to friends the severe solemnity of the occasion disappeared, and the brethren made it their pleasant business to illustrate in themselves the adage which stands in large characters over the throne on which their elders sat, viz., “No one is wise always”, and so gave themselves up to conviviality. Songs, instrumental solos, and speeches made a very enjoyable evening, Mr F. Fuller presiding at the piano. The inscription on the jewel, which was a gold ornament of very handsome workmanship, was as follows – “Presented to Private A.W. Hall by the ‘Buffs’, of Cambridge, as a mark of esteem and a slight recognition of his services with the Volunteer Battalion of the 3rd Suffolk Regiment in South Africa, 1900-1901”.
