R.W.Bro. Ven Archdeacon Walter B. Mant
R.W.Bro. Ven. Walter B. Mant
(1807-1869) |
R.W. Ven. Archdeacon Walter Bishop Mant was born at Buritan, Hampshire, and was the son of the Bishop of Down & Connor, and brother of Rev. Frederick Woods Mant.
He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford receiving his BA in 1827 and MA in 1830. It was in 1827 whilst at university in Oxford that Bro. Mant was initiated into Freemasonry, joining Apollo University Lodge No. 357. His brother Frederick, mentioned above, was also a member of the Craft having been also initiated in Apollo University Lodge No. 357 in 1840. He was the Rector at Hillsborough, County Down, and Archdeacon from 1834 to his death. He was an Antiquarian, prose writer and poet [Christopheros, and other poems; by Walter B. Mant. London: Bell & Daldy. 1861. viii, 167 pp]. |
On the 28th day of July, 1848, a Patent was issued by His Grace Augustus Frederick, 3rd Duke of Leinster, Grand Master of Ireland, to the Ven. Walter Bishop Mant, Archdeacon of Down, appointing him Grand Master of the lodges within the Baronies of Massereene, Belfast, and part of Carrickfergus, in the County of Antrim, and Baronies of Ards, Castlereagh and Iveagh, in the County of Down, constituting them the Masonic Province of Belfast and North Down.
A meeting was held in the Music Hall, Belfast, on 1st November, 1848 at which this Provincial Grand Lodge was duly instituted, and Bro. David Connor, Lodge 40, installed as P.D.G.M.
R.W. Bro. Archdeacon Mant was present at the banquet held in the Ulster Hall in celebration of the laying of the foundation-stone of the New Hall in Arthur Square. He was an enthusiastic member of the Order and compiled a beautiful ritual for the Knight of Malta degree, which was used for a long time, but is now, of course, obsolete.
He was the eldest son of the Right Rev. Richard Mant, D.D., Bishop of Down and Connor, and was born in 1808. His second name he received from his godfather, the Rev. William Bishop, Fellow of Oriel, Oxford, where W. B. Mant also received his education, graduating M.A. in 1830.
From 1831 till 1832 he was Vicar of Tickmacrevan, Connor, from 1832 till 1834 Archdeacon of Connor, and from 1834 till 1869 Archdeacon of Down. He married in 1831 the Hon. Marianne Blackwood, daughter of Hans, 3rd Lord Dufferin. She died in 1845. Subsequently he married at Hillsborough Church Emily Neville, daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Marcus Corry, J.P., D.L., of Ballyhomra, Hillsborough, High Sheriff of Co. Down. She died in 1865, and her husband followed her on 6th April, 1869, aged 62 years.
A meeting was held in the Music Hall, Belfast, on 1st November, 1848 at which this Provincial Grand Lodge was duly instituted, and Bro. David Connor, Lodge 40, installed as P.D.G.M.
R.W. Bro. Archdeacon Mant was present at the banquet held in the Ulster Hall in celebration of the laying of the foundation-stone of the New Hall in Arthur Square. He was an enthusiastic member of the Order and compiled a beautiful ritual for the Knight of Malta degree, which was used for a long time, but is now, of course, obsolete.
He was the eldest son of the Right Rev. Richard Mant, D.D., Bishop of Down and Connor, and was born in 1808. His second name he received from his godfather, the Rev. William Bishop, Fellow of Oriel, Oxford, where W. B. Mant also received his education, graduating M.A. in 1830.
From 1831 till 1832 he was Vicar of Tickmacrevan, Connor, from 1832 till 1834 Archdeacon of Connor, and from 1834 till 1869 Archdeacon of Down. He married in 1831 the Hon. Marianne Blackwood, daughter of Hans, 3rd Lord Dufferin. She died in 1845. Subsequently he married at Hillsborough Church Emily Neville, daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Marcus Corry, J.P., D.L., of Ballyhomra, Hillsborough, High Sheriff of Co. Down. She died in 1865, and her husband followed her on 6th April, 1869, aged 62 years.
