Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

ROYAL ARCH PURPLE TIE CLIP "2 1/2"

Date Range From

1910

Date Range To

1952

Materials

SILVER, ENAMEL

No. Pieces

1

Height

0.6

Length

5.9

Width

1.2

Description

TIE CLIP, SILVER AND ENAMEL, BLUE AND RED ENAMEL DEPICTING ARCH, STAR, EYE AND “2 ½”.

Subjects

CLOTHING-ACCESSORY

Historical Association

ASSOCIATIONS

History

ACCORDING TO DONOR BOBBIE FOX (NEE SHIPPOBOTHAM) AT THE TIME OF DONATION, "BOTH CHARLES CHRISTOPHER ROBERT (C.C.R.) SHIPPOBOTHAM( DONOR'S PATERNAL GREAT GRANDFATHER) AND FRANK SHIPPOBOTHAM (DONOR'S PATERNAL GRANDFATHER) WERE MEMBERS OF ORANGE LODGE NO 1666 IN LETHBRIDGE. FRANK SHIPPOBOTHAM WAS ELECTED AS FIRST COMMITTEEMAN IN 1951 AND FINANCIAL SECRETARY FOR LODGE 1666 IN FEB OF 1952. FRANK'S FATHER (C.C.R.) WHO WAS A LONGTIME MEMBER FROM HIS YOUNG ADULT LIFE IN IRELAND INFLUENCED FRANK’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE ORANGE LODGE AND THIS CARRIED OVER WHEN HE SETTLED HERE IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1910. BOTH C.C.R. AND FRANK WERE MASTERS OF LODGE 1666. MY DAD(ROBERT SHIPPOBOTHAM) CAN REMEMBER MY GRANDFATHER GOING TO LODGE MEETINGS. MY DAD REMEMBERS THE MEETINGS BEING HELD AT THE I.O.O.F. BUILDING AND LATER AT A BUILDING THAT LOOKED LIKE A CHURCH AT THE CORNER OF 17TH OR 18TH ST. SOUTH AND 10TH AVE. SOUTH." THE TIE CLIP SYMBOLISM IS CONSISTENT WITH THE ROYAL ARCH PURPLE ORDER, WHICH IS AN AFFILIATION OF THE ORANGE LODGE. THE ROYAL ARCH PURPLE DEGREE (3RD DEGREE) IS BASED ON THE ORIGINAL THEME OF THE EXODUS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL FROM EGYPT TO THE PROMISED LAND. THE 2 1/2 REMINDS US OF THE TRIBE OF REUBEN, THE TRIBE OF GAD AND THE HALF TRIBE OF MANASSEH WHO, ALTHOUGH THEIR INHERITANCE WAS ASSURED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF JORDAN ADVANCED IN THE VANGUARD OF THE ARMY WHEN CROSSING THE RIVER TO ASSIST THEIR BRETHREN TO SECURE THE PROMISED LAND. THE ORANGE INSTITUTION (MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ORANGE ORDER OR ORANGE LODGE) IS A PROTESTANT FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION BASED MAINLY IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND, THOUGH IT HAS LODGES THROUGHOUT THE COMMONWEALTH AND UNITED STATES. ITS NAME IS A TRIBUTE TO DUTCH-BORN PROTESTANT WILLIAM OF ORANGE, WHO DEFEATED THE ARMY OF CATHOLIC JAMES II AT THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE (1690). POLITICALLY, THE ORANGE INSTITUTION IS STRONGLY LINKED TO UNIONISM. THE ROYAL SCARLET KNIGHTS AND THE ROYAL ARCH PURPLE ARE BRANCHES OF THE ORANGE LODGE FOR MEMBERS WHO HAVE RISEN TO THE NEXT RANK WITHIN THE ORDER. THE LETHBRIDGE BRANCH OF THE LOYAL ORANGE LODGE STARTED IN 1918 ACCORDING TO THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD FROM JULY 1938. COMMON SYMBOLS USED IN ORANGE LODGE AND ROYAL ARCH PURPLE MYTHOLOGY ARE THE BIBLE, AARON’S ROD, THE THREE STEP LADDER, FIVE POINTED STAR, THE COFFIN, THE ARCH, KING WILLIAM ON A HORSE CROSSING THE BOYNE RIVER, OR THE CROWN. FIVE GENERATIONS OF SHIPPOBOTHAMS LIVED AT 427 – 12 ST “A” NORTH. THE DONORS GREAT GRANDPARENTS’ BOUGHT THE HOME IN 1925 AND THERE RAISED HER GRANDFATHER AND HIS BROTHERS, DOUG AND VICTOR. STATED DONOR BOBBIE FOX, "ONCE MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER DIED, MY GREAT GRANDFATHER ASKED MY GRANDFATHER AND GRANDMOTHER TO MOVE IN WITH MY DAD. WHEN MY GREAT GRANDFATHER DIED EVERYTHING THAT WAS IN THE HOUSE BECAME MY GRANDPARENTS’ PROPERTY BECAUSE THEY WERE LIVING THERE AT THE TIME. MY DAD WAS RAISED IN THAT HOUSE AND SO WAS I FOR A TIME DURING MY CHILDHOOD." WHEN THE DONOR'S GRANDMOTHER GARNETTE SHIPPOBOTHAM (FRANK'S WIFE) PASSED AWAY IN NOVEMBER OF 2009, THE DONOR, A GALT STAFF MEMBER AT THE TIME OF DONATION, REQUESTED HER DAD ROBERT SHIPPOBOTHAM INFORM HER WHEN HE DISCOVERED ESTATE OBJECTS THAT MIGHT BE OF INTEREST TO THE MUSEUM. THE OBJECTS WERE THEN GIVEN TO HER BY HER FATHER FOR DONATION TO THE GALT. STATED THE DONOR, "DUE TO MY BACKGROUND IN MUSEUM STUDIES, IT IS MY HOPE THAT BY DONATING THESE PIECES WE CAN GAIN A RICHER INSIGHT INTO LETHBRIDGE’S HISTORY." SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR FAMILY HISTORY. THE LETHBRIDGE BRANCH OF THE LOYAL ORANGE LODGE STARTED IN 1918 ACCORDING TO THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD FROM JULY 1938. SEE PERMANENT FOR FAMILY HISTORY.

Catalogue Number

P20100004008

Acquisition Date

2010-03

Collection

Museum

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