The History of Freemasony in Namibia 1905-2019, by Gordon McGregor

The History of Freemasony in Namibia 1905-2019, by Gordon McGregor. Selfpublished. Windhoek, Namibia 2019. ISBN 9789991670027 / ISBN 978-9-99-167002-7.

The History of Freemasony in Namibia 1905-2019, by Gordon McGregor, is a general history of the Freemason Lodges and Chapters in the country presently called Namibia.

Gordon McGregor  

The history starts with the first recorded activity of Freemasons in the country in 1905 up to the present day. There can be no doubt that there were Freemasons travelling around or residing in the country before 1905, but they as they were never active as Freemasons or set up Lodges in the country we will never know who they were. As the author, I am merely the person that fused together the histories of the various Lodges and Chapters that were compiled and written by the members themselves and submitted for incorporation into the book. Some histories being very comprehensive and others not so. The reader will notice that the style and contents of the Lodge and Chapter histories varies quite a lot due to the variety of authors and I have made no changes to their histories except to standardise dates and times for the book. The information therein sometimes makes for interesting and unusual reading. What proved to be exceedingly difficult were the histories of those Lodges or Chapters that have already closed down and their records have become lost, their members are no longer alive or have moved elsewhere. I have tried to reconstruct the history of these Lodges or Chapters with the information presently available and but sometimes the information proved to be very elusive and in many cases lost and this especially with regard the old German Lodges. Where no information could be obtained then blank spaces were left which can hopefully be filled in at a later stage. There is still a lot of work to be done on the various histories and if any person has any further information not contained in this book, then please contact me and pass on the information on as this could lead to a possible second edition. What had a serious impact on early Freemasonry in this country was the rise of the National Socialists in Germany and their coming to power in 1933. The result of this led to the banning of Freemasonry in Germany and the spill over effect of this was also felt by what was termed the 'German Lodges' in the Protectorate of South West Africa. Now, being a German and a Freemason had become irreconcilable! This placed a great dilemma in the hearts and minds of the German Freemasons - why could they not be Germans and Freemasons at the same time! This book is a history of the various Lodges and Chapters in the country and does NOT delve into the various rituals or practices of Freemasons as there is enough available information covering this. The term 'Jewel' used in Freemasonry is synonymous with the term 'Medal' as used by the military. Within this publication I have placed a picture of the Founders Jewel, and when a Founder Jewel could not be obtained then a Past Masters Jewel, of each Lodge or Chapter at the beginning of its history. If there is no picture of the Jewel at the beginning of either a Lodge or Chapter history then there was not one produced or a photograph of it could not be obtained. To compensate for the lack of a Jewel, I have used the Lodge or Chapter's crest. A section titled 'Terms and Abbreviations' has also included at the end of the book which will assist non-Masons readers to interpret the various terms and abbreviations used by Freemasons. [...]

This is an exceprt from The History of Freemasony in Namibia 1905-2019, by Gordon McGregor.

Title: The History of Freemasony in Namibia 1905-2019
Author: Gordon McGregor
Selfpublished
Windhoek, Namibia 2019
ISBN 9789991670027 / ISBN 978-9-99-167002-7
Softcover, 15 x 21 cm, 176 pages, numerous b/w and colour images