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Our large and important collection and
provision of access to it involves considerable
costs. We are supported by annual grants
from Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter which
cover our core costs, mainly staff. In the four
years since 2003 these core costs have risen by
only 8%. Staff undertake over 1,000 tours of
the Grand Temple a year.
Despite the assistance of Grand Lodge,
the support of individual members and
Lodges is still very important. Joining the
Friends group is a significant way of
supporting the Library and Museum
financially. You can also help by supporting
the Shop at Freemasons’ Hall.
Reports of major acquisitions are made
in MQ from time to time, such as the
purchase last year of the 1765 Bible used by
the Excellent Grand and Royal Chapter,
the governing body for the Royal Arch
Degree formed by members of the Premier
Grand Lodge.
There was no specific reference to a Bible
in the early history of this organisation and
its existence had not been known before it
was brought in to us by a member of the
public. It may be the oldest surviving artefact
associated with the Royal Arch.
We also purchased the inscribed silver gilt
and ivory trowel used by the Grand Master,
the Earl of Zetland, to lay the foundation
stone of the Victorian Freemasons’ Hall in
Great Queen Street, in 1864. The purchase
has been generously supported by the
London Grand Rank Association to mark
their forthcoming centenary.
In the first half of this year alone over
£60,000 has been spent on conservation of
the existing collections, including a major
conservation project on the series of
portraits of Grand Masters. Funds for this
work are provided by the profits from sales
of the Craft tie and, since last year, from
investment income.
Over the last four years we have made
good progress in upgrading the display cases
in the Library and Museum so as to provide
a better standard of care for the displays.
We have also completed a major restorage
project involving the design and
commissioning of a dedicated area on the
lower ground floor to store the archives
of the United Grand Lodge and Supreme
Grand Chapter.
The Library and Museum also benefits
from the generosity of members and their
families who continue to donate a large
number of objects and books.
We plan to make available a largely
unknown archive of material relating to the
slavery and abolition movements of the 18th
and 19th centuries. Documents relating to
Lodges in the West Indies and American
colonies (later the United States) are
currently being catalogued with the support
of a grant from the Pilgrim Trust/Esmee
Fairbairn Foundation Cataloguing
Grants programme.
The catalogue will be made available
early in 2007 on the Library and Museum’s
web site as part of a national series of events
to mark the 200th anniversary of the
abolition of the slave trade.
Supreme Grand Chapter has supported
projects to raise awareness of our collection
of friendly and fraternal society material. In
2003 Library and Museum staff initiated and
participated in an event at the Museums
Association conference to introduce
curators to the importance and diversity of
fraternal material. In 2005 we organised a
ground-breaking exhibition which drew
on our extensive collections of friendly and
fraternal society material.
Our leading role in this sector has just
been recognised by the recent award of a
small grant to explore the establishment
of a Subject Specialist Network on Fraternal
and Friendly Societies and Associations.
One of the challenges of working in
this Library and Museum is to maintain
the high standards we have set ourselves
and to meet the ever-increasing expectations
of an increasing number of users who,
rightly, compare us with the very best
in other library, museum and archives
collections both in this country and
internationally.
Appointments
The MW The Grand Master has made
the following appointments: W Bro Pierre
Edouard Malan PSGD to be District Grand
Master for South Africa, Eastern Division,
in succession to RW Bro Grey de Villiers,
who resigned on 6 April 2006.
W. Bro The Rev. Malcolm Clifford
Lane JGD, to be Provincial Grand Master
for Monmouthshire in succession to
RW Bro John Hughes, who retired
on 30 September 2006.
W Bro Colin Vaughan Foster to be
District Grand Master for South America,
Northern Division, in succession to RW
Bro Peter Bodman, who resigned on 20
June 2006.
In his capacity as First Grand Principal,
the MW The Grand Master has appointed
E Comp Dr Michael Andrew Roberts as
Grand Inspector of the Namibia Group of
Chapters in succession to E Comp Fritz
Fricke, who retired on 31 August.
E Comp Jock Halliday Rodger to be
Grand Superintendent in and over the South
America, Southern Division, in succession
to E Comp George Newell, who retired on
31 August.
Help the Library & Museum
by joining the Friends group
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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