In June 1856, the first ‘Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales, the Colonies and Possessions of the British Crown’ was constituted, officially by the Brethren of four Mark Masons’ Lodges, from places as widely dispersed as London, Berwick on Tweed and Bath. At the splendid 150th anniversary celebrations this year the Grand Master of the Order, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, welcomed a record number of participants, members of their families and a large number of non-masons.
    The Mark degrees, which are concerned with bringing stones for inspection to build King Solomon’s Temple, were already conferred in England in the late 1760s, although there is evidence that they were practised much earlier than that. In other countries and other masonic jurisdictions, Mark Masonry is considered an integral part of Ancient Freemasonry, and before the Union of the two Craft Grand Lodges in 1813, the Mark Degrees were worked under the Grand Lodge of All England at York. Neither the Antients nor the Moderns Grand Lodges worked the Mark Degrees.
    In 1851 a Mark Lodge, Bon Accord, was started in London which was to result in the formation of a Mark Grand Lodge. In 1856 the United Grand Lodge of England first resolved, and then at the next meeting reversed the decision, that the Mark Degrees could form part of Craft Masonry. As a consequence, members of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge decided to form a Grand Mark Lodge. Mark Masonry today ranks as one of the most popular non-Craft degrees.
    The comprehensive celebrations this year were spearheaded by the impressive gathering at the Albert Hall, London on 26 October, when the Grand Master of Mark Master Masons, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, entered in procession. The proceedings were greatly enhanced by two large video screens, which relayed each of the events as it happened to all those attending, enabling them to see clearly all that was happening at a distance.
    In his opening remarks, the Grand Master extended a warm welcome, and said that the Founders, at the first meeting on 23 June 1856, could not have imagined that the organisation they had formed would grow to the extent that it had. ‘Today,’ he continued, ‘it has almost 45,000 members in over 1,500 lodges spread across forty-one Provinces, twenty-eight Districts and three inspectorates around the world.’
    Nor could the Founders have envisaged that the celebrations would be held in front of a capacity audience of almost five and a half thousand Mark Masons and members of their families, as well as a video link to Freemasons’ Hall, London he said. In addition to members of Mark Masonry, there were present representatives of various Orders in Freemasonry, together with Grand Lodges from all over the world, ‘but especially the delegation from the United Grand Lodge of England, and in particular its Grand Master’. Indeed, the proceedings were marked by the fact that HRH Prince Michael and his blood-brother HRH The Duke of Kent were seated side by side, with the Craft Pro Grand Master, The Marquess of Northampton, seated to the right of the Duke of Kent.
    There then followed an illustrated talk by James Daniel, Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England from 1998-2002 on the history of Mark Grand Lodge entitled ‘Founders and Builders’, at the end of which the choir of the Royal Masonic School for Girls sang a full and varied programme of music, and some pieces were played by the Connecting Arts Brass Quintet. The surprise announcement then came when those present were asked to welcome HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.
    The most colourful part of the proceedings then followed, with the presentation of new lodge banners to the five Foundation Lodges of the Mark Grand Lodge. The Grand Master spoke of ‘the foresight and determined nature of those Brethren in 1856, without which our very existence as a Grand Lodge might well not have occurred. The banners have been designed to incorporate a unique motto to show that they were the lodges at the very beginning of this Grand Lodge.’ The new banners of the Bon Accord Lodge, the Old Kent Lodge, the Royal Cumberland Lodge, the Northumberland and Berwick-upon-Tweed Lodge and the Phoenix Lodge were then dedicated after a short prayer by the Grand Chaplain and the hymn ‘Now thank we all our God’.
    After this, it became apparent that HRH The Duchess of Cornwall was present in her capacity as President of the National Osteoporosis Society. The Grand Master invited Keith Carmichael, the President of the Mark Benevolent Fund, to speak.
    ‘Making the largest charitable donation in its history is a fitting way for Mark Masonry to commemorate this important event,’ he said. ‘I am therefore pleased to announce that the Mark Benevolent Fund is making a donation of £3 million to the National Osteoporosis Society to fund a Mobile Osteoporosis Scanning Service that will provide up to 30,000 bone density scans every year.’ He then presented the cheque to Angela Jordan, the acting Chief Executive of the Society. The first of the mobile scanning units was on show outside the Albert Hall.
    At the end of the proceedings, the procession out was hardly less colourful and spectacular than the start. The Royal Party afterwards attended a reception at Freemasons’ Hall, London, where HRH Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Michael met many of those who had been unable to obtain a seat at the Albert Hall. In the evening, a splendid banquet was held at the Guildhall, hosted by the Grand Master, where the guest list included HRH The Duke of Kent and The Marquess of Northampton.
    Timed to coincide with the celebrations was the publishing of the book Marking Well, (reviewed on page 58) which includes contributions from, amongst others, Andrew Prescott, Peter Glyn Williams, Neville Cryer, James Daniel and Richard Gan, and covers historical, symbolical and other aspects of Mark Masonry. This is accompanied by a wide-ranging exhibition devoted to Mark Masonry in the Museum at Great Queen Street, London.