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Jerome K. Jerome query
I am enquiring whether anyone has
information regarding the possible Masonic
membership of Jerome K. Jerome, the author
of Three Men in a Boat. We have a small
museum in Walsall to perpetuate his work.
Among the list of many books and
articles he wrote is one listed as being
sold as a souvenir of the Grand Masonic
Bazaar in aid of the Scottish Masonic
Benevolence 1890.
The book was entitled Pot Pourri of Gifts
Literal and Artistic, and Jerome’s item was
called The Prince’s Quest. He left Walsall
at a very early age due to family business
problems and moved around the country.
Any information would be gratefully
received and faithfully applied.
Gordon Whiston, Aldridge, Walsall
Burdett casket
With regard to the article (MQ, Issue No.
10) on the Library and Museum page headed
“Acquisitions” and the Burdett Casket,
two very important names are missing.
In addition to Terry Iles, mentioned in
the article, there are David Sparks, APGM
for the Mark Province of Middlesex and
Gerald Pickering, who agreed to cover
a bid for the casket when auctioned at
Cannes in 1998.
Unfortunately, the sale produced £3,000
more than their bid and was bought by a
Belgian Freemason. In December 2003
it was again auctioned, this time in Paris.
With the help of Diane Clements,
Director of the Library and Museum of
Freemasonry and Terry Iles, negotiations
were successful for it to be withdrawn
from auction and purchased directly,
funded between the United Grand Lodge
of England and Mark Middlesex Province.
K G K Wheatley, Broughton, Oxfordshire
Kitchener’s jewel
Following the article about the Duke
of Wellington (MQ, Issue No. 9), and
a subsequent letter in Issue No. 10 about
Lord Haig, I hope I can put meat in the
sandwich by drawing attention to Lord
Kitchener’s membership of British Union
Lodge No. 114 in Suffolk.
The Lodge has written to the third earl,
who sadly has no record of the inscribed
Past Master’s jewel presented to the then
Viscount Kitchener, who was born in
Ireland at Ballylongford, Co. Kerry in 1850.
The Lodge is keen to trace this jewel
and commit it to safe keeping in Suffolk.
Can any of your readers help in this matter?
Surgeon Cdr. J B Gill, Ipswich
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A replica of the Kitchener jewel
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The memorial to Walter Rodwell Wright in
the Msida Bastion Garden of Rest, Malta.
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Masonry in Malta
As a visitor to Malta in recent years I read
with great interest the article “A Warm
Welcome In Malta" (MQ, Issue No. 10).
Walter Rodmill Wright, the founder
of the Lodge of St John and St Paul, is
commemorated in two burial places near
Valletta, a memorial in the Msida Bastion
Garden of Rest in Eloriana and his
memorial tablet in Ta’ Braxia cemetery
in Pieta/Eloriana.
He died, aged 50, on 20 April 1826,
and was President of His Majesty’s Court
of Appeal in Malta. In 1815 he was a founder
member of the Lodge of St John and St Paul,
and was its first Master, a position he held
again in 1819, 1823 and 1824.
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There are also memorials to other
Freemasons in these cemeteries including
Colonel Marmaduke Ramsay. Some of
the British military cemeteries also have
memorials with Masonic connections
including a fine one to a Second Class
Staff Sergeant Senior.
Leslie Larnder, Saxmundham, Suffolk
Ritual tides
For many years I have mused over various
sections of Masonic ritual such as in the
Address to the Initiate which refers to
“where the tide regularly ebbs and flows
twice in 24 hours.”
Being a yachtsman and having a great
interest in navigation, I know of only one
area where the tide behaves in this manner –
i.e., two ebb tides and two flood tides in one
day – and that is the Solent waters off
Hampshire.
I wonder if the ‘founder’ of Freemasonry
in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and a
gentleman of the area, Thomas Dunkerley
(1724-1795), had a hand in compiling part of
our modern ritual.
D R Radford, Gosport, Hampshire
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