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The pace of modern legislation is such that
since the original draft of the amendment to
Rule 179A was produced – a good many
months ago – the Sex Offenders Act 1997
has been largely superseded by the Sexual
Offences Act 2003. To reflect this, notice
of an amendment in the name of the Grand
Registrar to the Motion Pursuant to Notice,
was approved.
Brethren under 25
At the June Quarterly Communication the
Grand Lodge approved an amendment to
the Book of Constitutions to reduce by one
half the fees and dues payable in respect of
candidates under the age of 25. In moving
the amendment the President of the Board
indicated that the Council of the Grand
Charity had agreed to a similar reduction
in the Grand Charity contribution and that
it would be possible to bring forward an
amendment to the new Rule 270B at the
September Quarterly Communication.
Notice of Motion to amend the Book of
Constitutions appears accordingly at item 7
of the paper of business.
Amalgamations
The Board has received reports that the
following Lodges have resolved to surrender
their Warrants:
(a) Oldham Lodge No. 6428, in order to
amalgamate with Mitre Lodge
(b) Lodge No. 5633 (East Lancashire);
Warrington Lodge No. 6987 and Good
Companions Lodge No. 7531 in order
to amalgamate with Winmarleigh Lodge
No. 6101 (West Lancashire).
(c) A Resolution that the Lodges be removed
from the register in order to effect the
respective amalgamations was approved.
Erasures
The Board has received a report that
18 Lodges have closed and have surrendered
their Warrants. The Lodges are:
Midland Lodge No. 882 (South Africa,
Eastern Division); Leigh Lodge No. 957
(London); Grove Lodge No. 1957
(Cheshire); Alleyn Lodge No. 2647
(London); Royal Edward No. 2889 (West
Lancashire); Claughton Lodge No. 3915
(Cheshire); Eccles Lodge No. 4422 (West
Lancashire); Lodge of St Barnabas No. 5050
(Warwickshire). Hamilton Lodge of
Installed Masters No. 5454 (Cheshire);
Travellers Lodge No. 5820 (South Africa,
North); Brook Green Lodge No. 6087
(London); Preston Portcullis Lodge No.
6316 (West Lancashire); Gothic Lodge No.
6749 (Durham); Lodge of Manna No. 7602
(London); Heathrow Lodge No. 7999
(Middlesex); Joseph Lister Lodge No. 8032
(London); Peace and Harmony Lodge
No. 8182 (Surrey) and Woollaton Lodge
No. 8201 (Nottinghamshire).
The Board’s recommendation that they
be erased was approved.
Panel for Clemency
The following members of the General
Council have been elected to serve on the
Panel for Clemency, in addition to the
President and Deputy President of the
Board of General Purposes:
VW Bro D. E. Davinson PGSwdB,
VW Bro K.E. Thomas PGSwdB, VW Bro
Dr. M. R. Aish PGSwdB, VW Bro J. C.
Edgcumbe GSuptWks, VW Bro K. R.
Smith, TD, PGSuptWks and W Bro R. P.
Rosswick PJGD.
Expulsions
As required by rule 277 (a) (i) (B) and (D),
Book of Constitutions, eight Brethren have
been expelled from the Craft (with effect
from 6 August 2006).
Motion Pursuant to Notice
Amendments to the Book of Constitutions
Amendments to Rules 75, 175 and
179(A) (MQ, Issue No. 18, July 2006,
pages 22–23) were approved.
Notice of Motion
For the next Quarterly Communication
of Grand Lodge
The President of the Board of General
Purposes to move: Amendment to the Book
of Constitution: That Rule 270B be amended
by inserting “and the Annual Contributions
payable to the Grand Charity under Rule
271” after the words “Rule 269”.
Diane Clements, Director of the
Library & Museum, gave the following
talk to Grand Lodge:
A continuing popular interest in history is
reflected by the recent experience of the
Library and Museum. Visitor numbers this
year have risen by nearly 17% compared
with 2005. Last year the Library and
Museum website, which includes the
online catalogue, received over 35,000
hits, more than 6% higher than in the
previous year.
Our current exhibition, The Hall in the
Garden, about the history of this site in Great
Queen Street, has been visited by over 1,000
people a month since it opened. Family
history enquiries have increased by 75% in
the last two years, an interest which was
brought home to us when we organised a
study day for family historians earlier this
year, which was oversubscribed.
At least some of this additional interest
has been brought about through the greater
access to our collections via the website and
especially the catalogue. For many this will
be where they obtain their initial
information. We already receive a large
number of enquiries which are triggered by
an initial search of the online catalogue.
We are currently cataloguing the music
collection and preparing the photograph and
print collection for cataloguing, but it will
be some time before the online catalogue
truly reflects the richness of the collections.
There have been increasing opportunities
to work with other museums, archives and
libraries. Both the British Museum and the
British Library lent material to our
exhibition on the artist and engraver John
Pine in 2004. We have worked with the
National Archives on both our archives
cataloguing projects for the Access to
Archives scheme.
Earlier this year we arranged a study day
for archivists working in Historic Houses,
many of whom have Masonic material in
their collections. Firepower, the Museum
of the Royal Artillery, based at Woolwich,
made a temporary loan of three Victoria
Crosses to help us launch our very popular
exhibition Most Glorious of Them All about
Masonic holders of the Victoria Cross earlier
this year.
The most visible example of partnership
is the Masonic Hall at the Beamish Open Air
Museum, opened in April this year. For
an exhibition currently at Norwich Castle
Museum, which moves to the Millennium
Galleries at Sheffield later this month, we
were approached by Norfolk Museums
and Archaeology Service to lend a marble
tracing board and two ashlars for their
exhibition called Art at the Rockface.
We have also lent an important silver
commemorative jug to Guernsey Museums
Service as part of an exhibition marking the
250th Anniversary of the birth of Sir John
Doyle. These two latter loans illustrate how
Masonic pieces can be used in displays on
subjects other than Freemasonry.
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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