The origin of LOL 240 in Newtownards is shrouded in a small mystery that has not been explained to this day.
The original roll book in the possession of the Lodge for the year 1846 listed some forty members registered for LOL 568. The following year 1847 the number of members had dropped to around twenty and in 1848 the Lodge number had changed to LOL 240 with most of the original members registered again. The reason for the change of number is not commented upon anywhere in Lodge records or even in County or Grand Lodge reports.
The Warrant No. 240 is a duplicate of a Warrant that had been issued earlier to a Lodge in the Cloughmills area of County Antrim and is still active at Tullygrawley on the outskirts of Ballymena. LOL 240 took the title The Risings Sons of William and has remained a constant and active part of Newtownards District since that date in 1848.
lambeg drummers on 12th July 2005
The Lodge has never at any time in its history been numerically very strong; the numbers fluctuating between forty members in the good times and twenty in the lean years, but the quality of the membership has always been high. The members of the Lodge were originally drawn from the working class section of the town and they have been involved in all of the activities of the Orangemen of the District, including the huge protest demonstration organised by William Johnston on the 12th of July 1867.
Within its ranks have been men who have served the British Empire in many of its wars, some with distinction. Bro. Andrew Brown, a long time member of the Lodge, wore a medal on his sash that he had won in the Zulu Wars of 1879. Rifleman Thomas Trueman, a member of LOL 240, was the first man in Newtownards to be honoured in the First World War: he won the DCM for his bravery in France in 1915.