Jewels reunited
A series of masonic jewels presented to Archibald Frank Tailby during his masonic career in Leicester were recently offered for sale on the online auction site eBay, including jewels from both his Craft and Mark lodges.
These jewels were successfully secured by the Provincial Communications Officer W Bro Andy Green, who is automatically notified of items listed for sale on eBay pertaining to every lodge name and number within the Province of Leicestershire and Rutland. Sadly, masonic regalia is all too regularly sold on eBay, but over the past few years several lodges have successfully bid for regalia and other items have been secured for the Provincial Museum at Freemasons’ Hall, Leicester.
Bro Tailby, a company director from Quorn, Leicestershire, was initiated into Wyggeston Lodge No. 3448 in 1922 and became its 31st Worshipful Master in November 1940. At the end of his year as Master in 1941, he was presented with a 9ct gold Past Master’s jewel to mark the occasion which was inscribed on the rear of the square with these details. The jewel also had a decorative bar with the latin ‘Trigesimus Primus’ (31st) attached.
The Wyggeston Past Master’s jewel has the lodge crest, which includes the coat of arms of William Wyggeston, the Leicester benefactor whom the lodge is named after. Along the top is a representation of the former buildings of the Wyggeston’s Hospital on Fosse Road, Leicester which were demolished in the 1960s.
In 1950, Archibald Tailby also became the founding Master of the Wyggeston Lodge of Mark Master Masons No. 1149 and again was presented with a silver Past Master’s jewel to recognise ‘His services as 1st Master’ to the Lodge in 1951. Just 10 years later, W Bro Archibald died at the age of 69 years in 1961.
At the installation meeting of Wyggeston Lodge of Mark Master Masons in April 2015, Bro Andy Green, who is a member of the lodge, presented the Past Master’s jewel back to the lodge in the hope that it will be used and enjoyed by members in the future. It is anticipated that the Wyggeston Lodge No. 3448 will also be reunited with its jewel at their October meeting.