Bursary Presentation by South Wales

The Provincial Grand Master for South Wales Western Division, Dr. John Lloyd, recently attended the Institute of Rural Studies at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, to present a bursary of £1,000 to Miss Lara Harrup. Lara is embarking on her M.Sc. course in Equine Sciences.
    Dr John Harries, Director of Education at the Institute said that student funding was now much harder to achieve for all areas of education. The Provincial Grand Master said how glad Freemasons were whenever they found an area like this that needed their support.

A Tale of a Chair

The Grand Charity recently sent a cheque for £2,075 to Harry Callaghan, Assistant Provincial Grand Master of West Lancashire, to be passed on to Francis House, the children’s hospice in Manchester.
    The fund raiser for the hospice, Pamela Daly, has many calls on her support, but in this case the amount matched almost exactly the funds needed to purchase a special water chair, designed to allow very sick children to sit comfortably and out of pain.
    The problem of how to raise this money had concerned Pamela for some time, and the gift was particularly welcome. The order was placed immediately, and once again masonic giving has gone directly to the point of need within the community.
    With acknowledgments to The West Lancashire Freemason

The Zip Club

25,000 heart bypass operations are carried out each year. All of these involve open-heart surgery in which the surgeon has to divide the breast bone – and zip it together again! Recipients of this operation describe themselves as members of the Zip Club. George Skuse, a Cirencester Freemason, designed his own motif and has had it printed on sweaters and T-shirts.
    Sweaters (£15) and T-shirts (£10) plus £1.50 p&p are available from George Skuse, with profits going to cardiac units in Gloucestershire hospitals. mail@gtskuse.freeserve.co.uk

Lodge Family Tree Database

The Lodge Cross Reference and Family Tree Database is a computer application which shows the genealogy of all lodges under the United Grand Lodge of England by constructing lodge family trees.
    The challenge was to collect all the relevant data in order to construct the charts. By the end of 1998, it had been updated to show previous Lodge numbers for those lodges formed prior to the current numbering system introduced in 1863.
    A CD with a 32-page user guide, is available for £12 from J.G. Amos, 21 The Spinneys, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS9 5QZ. All proceeds to the New Masonic Samaritan Fund.
    See also www.amos-99.freeserve.co.uk/xref_int.htm

Canonbury Masonic Research Centre

The Sixth International Conference on Freemasonry Saturday 6 November and Sunday 7 November Freemasonry and Religion: Many Faiths One Brotherhood
    Topics include: The masonic Archbishop of Canterbury – Geoffrey Fisher Heretical or Revolutionary? Anderson’s Constitutions Kabbalistic Influence on the Master Masons Degree
    Carole McGilvery – 020 7226 6256 email mcgilvery@canonbury.ac.uk www.canonbury.ac.uk
    Available now: The Canonbury Papers – Volume 1 The Social Impact of Freemasonry on the Modern Western World Canonbury Bookshop & The Bookshop - Freemasons Hall £17.50 (+ £2.50 postage & packaging UK)

Centre for Research into Freemasonry, Sheffield University

Admission is free. Unless otherwise stated, seminars are held at 5.15 pm in the Library Seminar Room, 387 Glossop Rd, Sheffield. Contact the Centre’s Secretary Julie Banham Tel. 0114 222.9890; fax 0114 222 9894; e-mail: j.p.banham@sheffield.ac.uk
14 October: Trevor Stewart English Speculative Freemasonry - some possible origins, themes and developments. (The Prestonian Lectuer for 2004) 6.00pm Arts Tower Lecture Theatre.
21 October: Corinne de Popow Dream and reality in the works of James Hogg. James Hogg (1770-1835) the author of the celebrated Scottish novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner became a Freemason in unusual circumstances shortly before his death.
16 November: Professor José A Ferrer Benimeli, Universidad de Zaragoza The History of Freemasonry in Spain ( in Spanish with English summary).

The Cornerstone Society

A Cornerstone Society Royal Arch Seminar, entitled Royal Arch Ritual Reform – Right or Wrong? will be held at Freemasons’ Hall, London on Tuesday 14 September at 6.0 pm. The speaker will be Richard Sandbach, Past Grand Superintendent for Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire and a Past Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, in addition to serving on the Royal Arch Strategic Working Party. All Royal Arch Companions are eligible to attend. Richard Sandbach’s talk will be followed by a short demonstration and a question-and-answer session. There will be light refreshments after the seminar. Tickets cost £6.
    Applications with stamped addresssed envelope to Mark St. John Qualter, 1 Chancery Close, St Albans, Herts. AL4 9YF. Cheques payable to The Cornerstone Society. Please include details of your name, address and name of Royal Arch Chapter.
    The fourth Northern Conference, entitled ‘Veiled in Allegory’ will be held at the Leyland Masonic Hall, Church Road, Leyland, Lancs on Saturday 13 November. Details will be made known shortly. Those interested should write to The Cornerstone Society, 17 Park Avenue, Timperley, Altrincham, Ches. WA14 5AX.
    Website – www.workingtools.org Email – workingtools@aol.com

Quatuor Coronati

Thursday 9 September 2004 Thomas Harper, Masonic Jeweller, and the Jewels of his Period Speaker: T.A. Kent
    Thursday 11 November 2004 Installation meeting – Inaugural Address by the Master
    yasha@compuserve.com Tel 077 6829 2066