6 minute read
From the Grand Secretary and Grand Scribe E
FROM THE GRAND SECRETARY & GRAND SCRIBE E
I didn’t know Peter Lowndes when I first started as Grand Secretary. Of course, I met him at one of my many interviews for the role, but to me then – as to so many Freemasons – he was simply a name close to the top of the toast list. I knew that he was an Old Etonian and had gone to agricultural college. Over the past four years I have come to realise that one should never rely on stereotyped impressions.
One role of the Pro Grand Master is to hold in perpetuity the spirit of Freemasonry, preserving the institution and its essence throughout his tenure to hand on to future generations. He exercises his important charge by influencing those around him, his fellow Rulers, the Board and the Grand Secretary, as well as the Provincial and District Rulers, and he has done this with decisive tact – a rare combination.
Over the past four years, as we have worked together, I have grown to know him and I can, with all seriousness, say I have never known Peter to make a wrong call. I thank him for his gentle and wise corrective guidance when I have been tempted to go astray. He assiduously acts only after due thought and consideration, always triangulates what he is told rather than just ‘reacting’, and always makes time to listen. These are traits that are sadly rarer today than they once might have been. Above all, I consider him a very wise man, a phrase not often used these days, but most apposite here, and he is a very decent man. It has been a great personal pleasure for me to serve under him. He is both a leader and a friend and I am grateful for our time together.
His self-deprecating and English humour and ability to speak to a room and conduce the audience to listen, and to hear, with apparent effortless ease, is something many of us who speak in public envy greatly. I have seen that same ability only once before in my life, in a long since defunct Secretary of State for Health. He walked into a room of hostile, militant, hospital workers and within three minutes had the whole room eating out of his hand. It is a wonderful skill to have and Peter – while I’m sure he has never had to walk in to a room full of abject hostility – has it in spades. I wish his successor, RW Bro Jonathan Spence, who will be installed at the September Quarterly Communication, the very best of luck and I have no doubt that he will, in his own way, imprint his own personality and ideas as he takes over his important charge.
While on the subject of those leaving us, it would not be right for me to allow the passing of one of my illustrious predecessors to the Grand Lodge Above to go unmarked. I would like to pay tribute to Cdr Michael Higham, Grand Secretary and Grand Scribe E for 18 years, who died after a short illness this March. We remember his service, and marvel at his longevity in office. Rest eternal grant unto him, and let light perpetual shine upon him.
While speaking of service, the Quarterly Communication in June will focus on celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, with a special presentation of the Prestonian Lecture, this year on Royal Freemasonry, by Dr John Hawkins. I had the pleasure of accompanying HRH the Earl of Wessex during his recent visit to Freemasons’ Hall and made time to show him a specially assembled collection of items from the Museum Collection with special Royal significance. Highlights included the inkwell and stand used to sign Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee loyal address; a silver casket presented to King Edward VII in India, which was given by the Queen to the United Grand Lodge of England on the occasion of the investiture of HRH the Duke of Kent; and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh’s apron, worn at his initiation. The event celebrated the donation of the £300,000 pounds raised by Freemasons in memory of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards. It will enable more than 30,000 children with special educational needs to participate in the scheme and I feel marks a fitting tribute to such a well-respected member of our organisation.
As summer approaches, I hope that you all manage to have some time away, enjoy the Jubilee celebrations and recharge the batteries in time for the start of the new Masonic season. We are finally back to normal, with the pandemic behind us. I have enormously enjoyed visiting Lodges, Provinces and Districts once again, and have just come back from Zambia where I took part in the ceremony to install the new District Grand Master. I wish him the very best of fortune in his important charge and hope that, as the world opens, we are all once again able to visit our Brethren and Companions overseas and welcome them as visitors to our Lodges and Chapters at home.
I wish you all a peaceful and enjoyable summer and look forward to meeting with you again in September.
Dr David Staples
Grand Secretary & Grand Scribe E
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Issue 58 – Summer 2022
Editor Donna Hardie Editorial Panel Michelle Worvell, Shaun Butler, Guy Roberts, Martin Cherry, Julian Perry (Culture editor)
Published by Sunday, 207 Union Street, London SE1 0LN, www.wearesunday.com for the United Grand Lodge of England, Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ Editorial Manager Shaun Butler editor@freemasonrytoday.com Freemasonry Today, Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ Advertising contact Gaynor Garton gaynor@square7media.co.uk 020 3283 4055 Square7 Media Ltd, 3 More London Riverside, London SE1 2RE Circulation fmt@freemasonrytoday.com 020 7395 9392
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Welcome
3 From the Grand Secretary and Grand Scribe E
Dr David Staples welcomes you to the summer issue
Out & About
6 News and views from the Provinces The 1723 Constitutions, plus the Ukraine appeal and HRH The Earl of Wessex visits
Stories
28 The interview
As he approaches retirement, Peter Lowndes reflects on his time as Pro Grand Master of UGLE
32 Here’s to 150 years!
Square & Compass Lodge finally observes a significant anniversary
34 Down to a science
Freemasons fund lifesaving studies for Bowel Research UK
40 Masonic milestone
British Lodge No. viii celebrates a landmark 300 years at Freemasons’ Hall
A daily advancement
44 Brothers and benefactors The fascinating objects donated to The Museum of Freemasonry
46 Take a letter
Correspondence of Francis George Irwin reveals a fascination with Masonic Orders
Grand Lodge
50 Quarterly Communication
Pro Grand Master Peter Lowndes on welcoming new candidates
32
46
52 Solomon
Becoming a better Freemason
54 Hermes
The system is put through its paces
58 Pathway
Helping Lodges to grow the ranks
The Royal Arch
66 The Supreme Grand Chapter
Ceremonies and consecrations
Culture
68 Books, reviewed by you In the community
70 Charity and the Craft
How the MCF and Freemasons support members and their families nationwide
Fraternal world
75 Home and abroad
UGLE Lodges around the world
78 Your tweets and letters
82 Thēsauros
The fascinating and unusual
