Meetings are held on the 4th Wednesday Jan, April, August,
Oct & Last Sat Oct.
Before embarking on a brief history of the District Lodge I
think it would be pertinent to point out the unique situation of one particular Lodge in the District namely L.O.L. No 9.
Their warrant was one of the first Warrants issued by the Grand Lodge of Scotland when it was first formed in 1836. The warrant
was in actual fact granted to No 1 District Airdrie for L.O.L. No 9 to sit in Shotts.
The peculiar aspect is that the warrant
is dated 1876 (a difference of 40 years), since the formation of the Lodge was in 1836. The reason for this was because of
the reorganisation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland which took place in that year.
Lodges in Scotland were sitting with warrants belonging to
the Grand Orange Lodge of Great Britain (basically the English Organisation) and some belonging to Irish Lodges, came together
with the Scottish Lodges and new warrants were granted to every Lodge, even though many of them retained their original number.
The District warrant was granted in 1902. The founder Lodges
of the District being L.O.L. No 9 with Bro. W.G.Lyons in the chair, meeting in the Co-operative hall, Dykehead. No 49 with
Bro. G.Armstrong in the chair, meeting in Shotts Public School, Shottskirk and L.O.L. No 91 with Bro. J.Smith in the chair,
meeting in the Co-operative hall, Dykehead.
The first Worthy District master was Brother W.G. Lyons who
served in the position for a period of 26 Years. He was well grounded in the administration of the Institution as he was Secretary
of L.O.L. No 9 before he became Worthy Master of that Lodge. There can be no doubt of the sterling service given by Bro Lyons
to District 32 as he seems to have laid good foundations. It is interesting to note that that at a Grand Lodge meeting in
1902 the then Grand Secretary Bro James Rice reported that "This is an new District, which has sent it's returns in for the
first time, so we cannot compare it with last year. We have every confidence however, that a Mater Mariner like W.D.M. Lyons
at the helm he will steer the ship steadily and safely through all the perils that beset it. This year they returned 60 new
members and we would expect them to double it next year. We wish them good luck."
The District made steady progress over the years and in 1905
added L.O.L. 35 to its strength( Now in 35 District). The District continued to grow with L.L.O.L. 36 being added in 1912
with Sister J. Brodie as Worthy Mistress followed by L.O.L. 26 in 1931, L.L.O.L.146 in 1950 and L.L.O.L. 185 in 1974.
