The Interview: John Tully

from Freemasonry Today - Spring 2020 - Issue 49

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At your masonic service

Growing up with parents who looked after a local masonic hall and with 40 years as a Freemason under his belt, John Tully is more than prepared for his role as UGLE’s Director of Masonic Services

PHOTOGRAPHY: SEBASTIAN BÖTTCHER

When John Tully was six, the colliery in his Northumberland home town closed down. His dad lost his job, and with it went their home, which was owned by the mining company. Fortunately, his mother was able to find a job working as the cook and caretaker at the local masonic hall. The job came with a house that was attached to the hall, and the Tully family moved in. John’s father became a Freemason and started to run the bar at the hall.

Growing up in such proximity to Freemasonry meant it was surely no huge surprise that John himself became a Freemason a few weeks short of his 21st birthday. ‘I got to know the hall very well – and the people who used it,’ he says. ‘I’d investigate every nook and cranny, exploring all the rooms I shouldn’t go in. I became a Freemason in 1980, so my 40th anniversary is coming up soon.’

Forty years on, John is an active Freemason. He has been Master at his Northumberland mother lodge, at his lodge in Essex where he now lives and at a lodge that needed support in Central London. He is about to take the chair at Letchworth Lodge, No. 3505. ‘Letchworth meets at Freemasons’ Hall. It was founded as a lodge for the Grand Secretary’s staff and has now been broadened out to include staff from all the London masonic HQs: Freemasons’ Hall, Mark Masons’ Hall and 10 Duke Street,’ he explains.

As that would suggest, John works at Great Queen Street, having held the role of Director of Masonic Services since it was created a little over a year ago. He started working in UGLE’s Secretariat

Department in 2015, having previously spent 30 years as a constable in the Metropolitan Police and working for the Metropolitan Police Federation, eventually as chairman.

‘The Police Federation is the police equivalent of their union, a staff association for their welfare, and I was responsible for 30,000 officers,’ he says. ‘I was dealing directly with the commissioner and home secretary and other very senior figures – it was more politics than police work.’

Behind the scenes That experience has served him well in his role of Director of Masonic Services, a position with a range of responsibilities that see him interacting with senior Freemasons. ‘Anything administrative that we need to do to make the organisation tick comes through our department,’ he says.

That means managing a number of important annual meetings and ceremonies, including the annual investiture ceremonies for Craft and Royal Arch, the convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter and UGLE’s Quarterly Communication. The department is in charge of maintaining and updating bylaws, warrants and charters, patents of appointment, Hall Stone jewels, and banners and badges. It publishes a range of books including the Masonic Year Book, Directory of Lodges and Chapters, and Book of Constitutions, as well as papers of business. It administers Provincial and District executive registrations and, sadly, finalises the process for the erasure of those lodges that have closed. Finally, it organises a number of training and development schemes for Provincial Secretaries and other officers.

‘The key requirement is attention to detail, accuracy and confidentiality,’ John says. ‘Because of the nature of our responsibilities, we deal with the most senior people in the organisation on a

daily basis. Meaning that minor mistakes can have major consequences. The entire department hold themselves to a very high standard, knowing that their work is viewed across the organisation.’

Driving modernisation Whenever a new Provincial or District Grand Master is invested, the department is responsible for making the necessary arrangements to ensure the whole event runs smoothly. In the first half of 2020, there are investitures taking place in Jersey, Northern India, Buckinghamshire, North Island, New Zealand, and Hampshire & Isle of Wight, and three in Districts in Africa later in the year.

‘They manage themselves as an entity, but when it comes to the Installation of a new Provincial or District Grand Master we organise the ceremonial aspects and send a team along: a Ruler, the Grand Secretary, the Grand Director of Ceremonies and one of his Deputies,’ John says. ‘On the day, they do all the ceremonial work for the Installation.’

There is a considerable amount of tradition and ceremony in the work done by the department, such as organising and proofreading the handwritten patents of appointment, warrants and charters on vellum. ‘We are the second biggest user of vellum after the House of Commons,’ John notes. But at the same time, the department is at the centre of the continuing modernisation efforts necessary to ensure the effectiveness and success of any

‘We’re bringing the admin process into the 21st century. A lot of the things we do have been around for 300 years – they are still worth doing, but we can do them in different ways’

organisation, even one that has more than 300 years of history under its belt. The main area in which this will affect Freemasons outside Great Queen Street is the rollout of Project Hermes, which will modernise how UGLE interacts with its members.

‘We’re bringing the admin process into the 21st century,’ John says. ‘A lot of the things we do have been around for 300 years – they are still worth doing, but we can do them in different ways. So we are looking to bring the organisation up to date without ignoring the important traditions that are the soul of Freemasonry.’

John has found that working directly for UGLE has enriched his experience as a Freemason. ‘My work as Director bears no resemblance to what I do as a Freemason, but it’s given me greater insight into how the organisation has developed and how it operates,’ he says. ‘I’m quite a traditionalist – I like pomp and circumstance – so I enjoy being involved in Grand Lodge and the processions and ceremonies. I love planning and attending the big ceremonies and then hearing about satisfied customers.

‘There’s such a wide spectrum of experience, and it broadens your outlook on how people experience Freemasonry. Even after 40 years I am learning more every day.’