|
A Royal Lodge
With regard to the Masonic Sons of George
III (MQ Issue No. 12), George, Prince
of Wales, Grand Master, gave his Royal
approval to the then Berkeley Lodge of
Faith & Friendship.
As a regular guest of Viscount Dursley
at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, he
is thought to have accompanied his host
to Lodge on more than one occasion. He
was certainly present in 1807, and according
to local folk memory, declared it to be
“a right royal Lodge”.
The official reason for this remark
was the warmth of his welcome and the
generosity of the festive board.
A request to make it official was granted
and a Royal warrant was added to the 1789
Lodge warrant. The Lodge (No. 270) has
been styled “The Royal Lodge of Faith and
Friendship” ever since.
It remains the only private Lodge in the
world with a warrant entitling it to style
itself a Royal Lodge.
Chris Malpus, WM, Royal Lodge of Faith & Friendship
‘Robertson’s Preserve’ Masons
My eldest daughter has located, on Ebay,
five ‘Robertson’s Preserve’ brooches,
replicas of five offices within a Lodge:
Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master
Mason, Director of Ceremonies and Master.
Each has the appropriate apron, collar
and jewel. Does anyone have knowledge of
the missing brooches for the other offices?
Neville West, Fetcham, Surrey
Jersey remembers
As part of the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of Jersey from German occupation,
which takes place on 9 May, the Province of
Jersey is to mark the occasion by opening the
Masonic temple to the public on the previous
Saturday, 7 May.
The Jersey temple was the only Masonic
establishment under the English
Constitution to have been sacked by the
Nazis, and there will be an exhibition of
artefacts, regalia, photos and much more
relating to the period.
It is an opportunity for visiting brethren,
their families and the general public to view
this magnificent building and see for
themselves historical evidence of what took
place in those dark days.
Ian Russell, Information Officer, Province of Jersey
Boscastle talk
At a meeting of Kirkleatham Lodge No.
6363 on 12 January, one of our Brethren,
Flight Lieutenant Martin Wood, who is
stationed at RAF Chivenor, gave a
presentation.
Bro Wood piloted an RAF Sea King
helicopter during the dramatic rescues at
Boscastle, and he and his crew rescued 50
people and a dog. The presentation was
most informative, showing a great deal of
unseen footage taken during the incident.
His father, W Bro Gerald Wood, is DC
of the Lodge.
Martin was part of a team – one of four in
his helicopter and one of nine helicopters
(including Navy and Coastguard), not to
mention the police, fire and ambulance on
the ground.
John Halliwell, Boscastle, Devon
Improving ritual books
I write in response to the letter from Brother
John Skeldon (MQ Issue No. 12). Lewis
Masonic is a long-established firm, founded
in 1886, specialising in the publishing of
Masonic texts.
We publish all major Craft and Royal
Arch rituals as practised under the UGLE.
In answer to Bro Skeldon, no CD ROM
of the ritual is available at present and there
are no plans afoot at present to produce
such a product.
However, we do produce a large print
version of the Emulation ritual as we
understand that the pocket version can
be hard to read for some of the older
brethren. If anyone would like to suggest
how we can improve our ritual books,
I would be delighted to hear from them
on the email below.
Martin Faulks
Martin.Faulks@lewismasonic.com
Welcome in the Bahamas
Last December I was to begin three months in
Nassau on holiday and I contacted the website,
www.info@freemasonrybahamas.org to make
contact to visit a lodge there.
My e-mail message was answered
promptly by the secretary of Royal Victoria
Lodge No. 443 from Nassau, welcoming
me to visit the Lodge.
I was taken in his car to the Lodge for
one of four visits I made last year. In fact,
I became a paid up member of Royal
Victoria Lodge.
Each time I was made extremely
welcome by the 30 or so members present.
Visiting again in February, this meeting
was also attended by Grand Lodge Officers
of the Scottish and Irish Constitutions,
who have separate Lodges in Nassau and
the outlying Islands.
If any Mason is visiting Nassau or any
of the other outlying Islands, I would
strongly recommend them to make an
effort to visit any of their Lodges after
consulting the website.
Rowland D Jones, Leeds
Parry memories
Regarding Joseph Parry (MQ Issue No. 12):
He died at his home, “Cartref”, 23 Victoria
Road Penarth (not Plymouth Road as stated).
My wife’s grandmother, who was about
18 at the time (1903), would talk about
various happenings in Penarth in her youth,
including Joseph Parry’s funeral procession,
which set out from his home in Victoria
Road for St Augustine’s churchyard.
When the procession reached the
churchyard – about a mile away – the end
of it was just leaving the house. The grave
in the churchyard has recently been restored
and now looks as new.
Trevor Warren, Penarth
Masonic Referees
The article on Masonic FA Cup Final
referees (MQ Issue No. 12) makes at least
one notable omission, that of John Hunting,
who refereed the Everton v Watford final
in 1984. It was the culmination of a long
career in the centre of the field, as John
had officiated at many internationals.
Bro. John has been a member of Temperantia
Lodge No. 4088 in Leicestershire
and Rutland for over 25 years, is a regular
attendee and a participant on many
occasions on the floor of the Lodge.
John is also a regular referee at
Wimbledon, and is known throughout
the tennis world for his fairness and
impartiality when involved in any sport.
John Peacock, Penrith
(John Hunting tells me the Royal guest that
day was the Grand Master, the Duke of Kent.
Rodney Dale informs me that Bournemouth
Mason Derek Nippard, PM of Horsa Lodge No.
2208, is “very active in Freemasonry locally” and
refereed the 1978 Arsenal v Ipswich final – Editor)
More referees
Regarding referees generally (MQ Issue No. 12), probably the two best-known
referees, Ken Aston and Sir Stanley Rous,
were both Masons.
They were members of London Lodge,
Exonian No. 3415, until they passed to
Grand Lodge Above. Sir Stanley Rous
was responsible for the red and yellow
card system. I was proud to be in contact
with him when I was Lodge secretary.
Don McKenzie, Maidstone, Kent
|
|
Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
|
|
Next Page
