Promoting the Fraternity across the World
Mr David Eager of The Surrey Masonic Sports Association, has been awarded the Order of Mercy, a prestigious medal, for his voluntary service over many years to charities and non profit organisations in the United Kingdom and overseas.
Donations from the Norfolk 2016 Festival Appeal, in aid of the Freemasons’ Grand Charity, came to a staggering £2,051,686.44. The incredible total was announced at a Festival Finale dinner, held at St Andrew’s Hall in Norwich, on Thursday 26th May.
Posted: 14th June 2016
Freemasons from the Province of Norfolk have exceeded their target to fundraise £1.5 million for the Norfolk 2016 Festival Appeal by over £500,000.
With the Portal Dreadnought safely berthed at Eastgate Masonic Hall, it was time to welcome, and Install, the new Skipper who had agreed to take on this motley crew and navigate them through the next 12 months. Who was willing to take on this arduous task, none other than the much travelled Provincial Grand Master Overseer for 2015/2016 in the Province of Mark Master Masons West Yorkshire, Brother Charles David Lindsay, not a happy soul after he had to hand in his Acting Officers Jewel.
As is tradition the annual church service began with lunch followed by a procession of the Provincial Grand Master, visiting dignitaries and Grand Officers escorted by Acting Provincial Grand Officers from Alderson House through Warwick to the church. Whilst the British weather threatened the procession, the worst of the rain held off and failed to dampen spirits. Visitors to Warwick had their cameras at the ready to capture the spectacle of Freemasons processing in full Regalia.
On 21st June the peace and quiet of Trafalgar Lawn, the home of the Masonic Centre in Barnstaple, was shattered by the arrival of sixteen large powerful motorcycles! Brothers from the ‘Widows Sons South East Chapter’ were on a marathon 24 hour ride visiting 12 Provinces in the South of England from Kent to Cornwall and back to Kent.
The need for this further essay was first made apparent to me when—in my capacity as Secretary of the Lodge and Editor of the Transactions—I began to receive inquiries from Brethren as far away as Vancouver and Singapore, asking for materials and information which might help them to complete their own papers on Kipling, and I found, to my surprise, that while our library contains a great deal of relevant material, there has never been a paper on Kipling in our Transactions.
The special meeting, held under dispensation from the PGM saw Lodges of Friendship from all over the country getting together to strengthen the bond of their association through having the same name. Lodges from as far afield as, Cumberland & Westmorland and Devonshire attended the meeting with the next Lodge to host the Gathering, the Lodge of Friendship No. 100, in the Province of Norfolk taking over the Ceremonial Gavel to be used next year in Great Yarmouth.
The Annual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of Worcestershire took place at Kings Heath, Birmingham on Saturday 9th July 2016. Caption: Provincial Grand Master his Deputy and Assistant…
The Classic 300 breakfast at Alderson House in Warwick on Sunday 3rd July attracted a splendid turn out with 30 cars and 8 motorbikes coming from as far afield as Cheshire and Leicester with strong representation from the four provinces working together on MFest. The weather was also kind making for a very pleasant event.
Records of Royal Arch activity in England, in today’s Supreme Grand Chapter, start with the entry in the first minute book of the unnamed ‘Excellent Grand and Royal Chapter’. They are dated 22 March 1765 and show the first meeting to have been held at the mysterious and still unidentified Mr Inge’s premises, until the move to The Turk’s Head in Gerrard Street, Soho, London on 12 June of the same year. It took a further four years before Supreme Grand Chapter issued warrants establishing the first new Chapters under the jurisdiction of the Order.