Gerard Noel Money, CB

Gerard Noel Money was born in Blatherwick, Northamptonshire in 1835, the eldest son of the Rev. James Drummond Money.In 1857 at 22 he married Sarah Selina Stuart Menteth, daughter of Col.William Stuart Menteth - Sarah bore him three sons, Louis James Gerard, Ernest Noel and Cecil Noel. He was a BSc. Colonial Indian Staff Corps and H.M. Corps of Gentlemen at Arms.

Col. Gerard Noel Money, CB

Colonel Noel Money is known to have served in the Bengal Signals Regiment and later in the 5^th Punjab Infantry Regiment and retired on full pay in July 1882, the honour of Commander of the Order of the Bath having been conferred on him in the previous year.

His military career is recorded in the Army Lists in the India Office Library in London and his Masonic career in India has been traced in Grand Lodge records.

He was Initiated when he was aged 22 years in the Lodge of Charity No. 823, Umbulla, Bengal in March 1857 but made no further progress until he joined the Lodge of Hope and Perseverance No. 1084, Lahore on 3^rd March 1862 when he was Passed and Raised on 7^th April 1862.

He was the a Founder and First Master of the Indus Lodge No. 127 at Dera Imail Khan, Punjab but there were difficulties over the appointment because he had not fully served the Office of Warden in a Regular Lodge. In forwarding the Petition for the new Lodge to Grand Lodge in London in 1869 he wrote, at the age of 34, the following letter:

‘We most earnestly solicit that he (the Grand Master) may be pleased to grant a dispensation authorising my appointment as first master to which office I have been unanimously elected, without having served the required year as Senior Warden of a Lodge.

The establishment of the Lodge will depend upon this indulgence being granted as with the exception of Bro. Goldney we have no one qualified. I have tried to persuade W. Bro. Goldney to accept the office for the first year but he says it is quite impossible, for although he could attend the Lodge he has no time to devote to the work and the business of the Lodge as he should feel it was necessary for him to do in that position.

On my own behalf I may plead that it is very unfortunate and not my fault that I have never served as Warden. I have never been for two consecutive years within reach of any one Lodge and could never therefore hold office but I am the oldest Mason I believe on this frontier and never since my Initiation in 1857 have I been within reach of a lodge without becoming a member and as a member I have never once been voluntarily absent from any meeting of the lodge.

I can confidently appeal to the MW District Grand Master and Deputy District Grand Master of the Punjab to bear testimony to my zeal for the Craft.

In pleading thus earnestly for myself I do so with no unworthy motive nor solely for the selfish end of holding this Office although I would not be thought to disclaim an ambition which no Mason should be ashamed to own – but I do so for the sake of the lodge which I hope to see established and which I am confident will be a most successful and flourishing one. I can say with truth that I will devote my best energies to the welfare of the lodge and the good of the Craft.

I remain
Sir and MW Brother
Yours faithfully
(signed) G. Noel Money
563, Charity Umbulla, Captain, 5^th Punjab Infantry'

The Warrant for the Lodge dated 20^th August 1869 and the Dispensation for Captain Money to be the First Master were duly granted but the Indus Lodge did not long survive Bro. Money’s retirement to England in 1882. It was finally erased in 1890 and the Warrant is now preserved in Grand Lodge Library, Great Queen St., London.

Bro. Col. Money became Deputy District Grand Master, Punjab, in 1875 but only served one year. He is first recorded in Surrey Provincial Grand Lodge minutes as Senior Warden in 1890. Within a year he was appointed Provincial Grand Master. While holding this office he was also Treasurer of St. George’s Lodge No. 370, in 1892 and Master of the Lodge of Friendship and Harmony No. 1616 in 1893.

His death certificate from Somerset House shows that at the time of his death aged only 59 years, his occupation was that of Colonel in Army (Retired) of Royal Body Guard.

During his relatively short lifetime, Col. Noel Money had a distinguished Masonic career which is summarised below:

Lodge of Charity No. 823 (now Erased), Umballa, Bengal
Initiated on 4^th March 1857 while a Lieutenant aged 23 years

Lodge of Hope and Perseverance No. 1084 (now No. 782), Lahore, East Indies
Passed on 3^rd March 1862 and Raised 7^th April 1862 aged 27 years

Indus Lodge No. 127 (now Erased). Punjab
Petitioner, the Warrant being granted 20^th August 1869
Worshipful Master 1869 and 1871

Kyber Lodge No. 582, Peshawir, Punjab
Joined 21^st January 1875

Adair Lodge No. 936, Aldeburgh, Suffolk.
Joined 26^th April 1890
Worshipful Master 1890

St. Georges Lodge No. 370, Chertsey
Joined 26^th April 1890

Lodge of Friendship and Harmony No. 1616, Weybridge
Joined 22^nd May 1890
Worshipful Master 1893

Royal Alpha Lodge No. 16, London
Joined 13^th June 1892

Noel Money Lodge No. 2521
Petitioner, the Warrant being granted 6^th June 1894; Consecrated 2^nd October 1894
First Worshipful Master

St. Georges Chapter No. 370, Chertsey
Exalted 23^rd May 1891 aged 55
Principal, 1892 and First Principal 1893

Chertsey Abbey Chapter No. 2120, Surrey
Petitioner, the Charter being granted 1^st November 1893
1^st Principal, 1893

Col Noel Money became District Junior Grand Deacon in 1870, District Junior Grand Warden in 1872 and Deputy District Grand Master in 1875. He was Grand Superintendent for Surrey in Royal Arch Masonry as well as Provincial Grand Master, from 1891 until his death at 1, Whitehall Gardens, London on 11^th February 1895.

Interestingly, the most important civic event on the national scene at this time in the Victorian era, was the passing of the Education Act of 1891 which abolished the payment of school pence laid down in the great Education Act of 1870 and in effect made elementary education open to all children of school age. The year 1895 also saw the births of such famous people as Sir Malcolm Sargent, Buster Keaton and Groucho Marx and in April 1895, the end of the infamous Trial of Oscar Wilde.

The funeral of Col. Noel Money was a most significant local event and a detailed account of this at Weybridge Parish Church, where he lies, was chronicled in The Freemason, 23^rd February 1895; an extract follows:

‘Although the severity of the weather prevented many of the deceased old comrades in the Indian Mutiny and later engagements from being present at the funeral on Thursday 14^th February 1895, the Internment at Weybridge Cemetery was witnessed by a large concourse of friends. Business at Weybridge was entirely suspended and there being every manifestation of local mourning.

The deceased’s brother, the Rev. WB Money, MA (Rector) conducted the first part of the service in the Parish Church where there was a very large gathering. The service was choral, the hymn ‘Lead, kindly light’ being sung by the choir and the Dead March in ‘Saul’ played on the organ. The coffin which was of polished oak with heavy brass mounts, bore the inscription, ‘Gerard Noel Money, CB, died February 11^th 1895; aged 59 years.’

It was conveyed on a bier to the cemetery where it was interred in a grave lined with evergreens, ivy and moss. Covering the coffin was the Union Jack and on a velvet cushion were placed the deceased’s helmet and plume, sword, gloves Masonic collar and Apron and the following decorations;

Commander of the Bath, Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Indian Mutiny medal with clasps Lucknow and Delhi, the Kabul to Kandahar medal, a medal with the clasps Jowaki, 1877-8, and Umbeya, the Afghanistan medal, 1878, 1879 and 1880 with the claps Kandahar and Kabul and the Queens Jubilee, Household decoration.

The coffin was preceded by a large number of distinguished brethren and members of Her Majesty’s Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms walked by its side'

At the subsequent meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge at County Hall, Guildford on 6^th July 1895, W. Bro. Fred West, the Deputy but then Acting Provincial Grand Master moved a vote of sympathy on the death of the late Provincial Grand Master, which had already been conveyed to his brother, Canon Noel Money, the Vicar of Weybridge

And so brought to a sombre close, the end of the first chapter in the history of Noel Money Lodge No. 2521.