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Above:
The Duke of York
(centre), later
George VI, after
his affiliation in
a Scottish Lodge
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STAR LETTER
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THE KING AND SCOTTISH MASONRY
I can add a few more background
details to two paragraphs of John
Hamill’s excellent article on George
VI (MQ, Issue No. 15) dealing with the
affiliation to a Scottish Lodge and the
Grand Master Mason of Scotland by
the then Duke of York.
Perhaps one of the main reasons for
the choice of Lodge Glamis (now known
by its older name as The Lodge of
Glammis) No. 99 was that his fatherin-
law, Claude (George) Bowes-Lyon,
14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne,
was a member and Past Master.
The proposed affiliation was
announced at the Quarterly
Communication of the Provincial
Grand Lodge of Forfarshire held in
Dundee on 29 April 1936, as reported
in the following day’s edition of the
Dundee Courier and Advertiser.
The affiliation took place on 2 June
1936 in the presence of several senior
officers of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
and of the Provincial Grand Lodge, as
evidenced by a photograph of a group
of 18 brethren.
The then Grand Master Mason, Sir
Iain Colquhoun of Luss and Colquhoun,
7th Baronet, nominated The Duke of
York as the next Grand Master Mason
at the Quarterly Communication of
Grand Lodge held on 6 August 1936,
and it was he who installed the Duke
on 30 November 1936.
Following his accession to the
throne a mere eleven days after his
Installation, it was not until 8 March
1937 that the King wrote a letter of
resignation from Buckingham Palace,
addressed to Sir Iain Colquhoun at
his London address, so in theory he
remained Grand Master Mason of
Scotland for 88 days after becoming
George VI.
I am greatly indebted to Brother
C. Martin McGibbon, Grand Secretary
of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, for
providing dates and details in a letter
written on 16 November 1994, and
to Brother Iain D. McIntosh, lately
Provincial Grand Secretary of
Forfarshire, for providing a copy of
the photograph, identifying all the
brethren in the picture and for copies
of the relevant press announcements
of both events.
Bro McIntosh also provided the
information of the Especial Grand Lodge
Meeting held at the Royal Albert Hall
the following June from the Dundee
Courier & Advertiser of 1 July 1937.
The newspaper had the headline
‘First King at Masonic Meeting’ with the
enthusiastic, but perhaps somewhat
exaggerated, ’9,000 Greet George’.
Bruce B. Hogg,
Middlesbrough
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HRH’s equerry
The meeting at which the Duke of York
(later George VI) became an affiliated
member was held at the Usher Hall,
Edinburgh because the normal Lodge
room used by Glamis Lodge was too
small for such an event.
My father was a Grand Officer in the
Edinburgh Defensive Band Lodge No. 151
and was present at this special occasion, when
he was chosen to act as a steward for the
ceremony. His specific duty was to escort the
Duke, who was accompanied by his equerry,
to the robing room. My father challenged the
equerry to ascertain if he was a Mason or not,
to which he replied “No, sir”.
My father escorted him to the front
door and pointed to a café over the road
and suggested that he have a cup of tea
and come back in an hour and a half!
Clifford E Ranson, Cheadle Heath, Cheshire
Visit to Kitchener Lodge
The Kitchener Lodge No. 2998 EC, about
which one of its Past Masters, W. Bro.
Alex Taylor, wrote in your July 2005 Issue,
does indeed continue to flourish.
It was founded in November 1903 in
Simla, and my great-uncle, the first Earl
Kitchener, who was then Commander-in-
Chief of the Indian Army, was a founder.
The Lodge had a difficult time when
Masonic relations between England and
India were strained, but last October
I was invited to its centenary celebrations
in Delhi, where it now meets.
I was most hospitably entertained by the
Lodge and by the District, and also by the
Indian Army Signals, with whom I served
briefly in Delhi just after the War. There are
now no European members, but the Lodge
values its historic connection with a Mason
who was a famous soldier and statesman of
another race.
Kitchener, Chichester, Sussex
Beamish request
I am sure you will have heard that Durham
Province, for its Millennium Project, is
rebuilding within Beamish Museum an 1867
Masonic Hall. The project is progressing well
and we intend to have the official opening in
Spring 2006. We have collected many
Masonic objects and artefacts from within
our Province and throughout the country.
However, amongst the things we now
desperately need is a pair of large Lodge
Room Columns to stand inside the Lodge
as a main feature. The taller and more ornate
the better, as the room is 27 feet high.
Quality is obviously important, but any
pair would be considered. Collection would
not be a problem as our colleagues at Beamish
are well practiced in the art of dismantling
and removal. Further information on the
project can be seen on our website at
www.durhamfreemasons.org
Alan Hall, Provincial Grand Secretary for Durham
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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