Appointment of New Grand Secretary

The appointment has been announced of Nigel Brown, Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies, as the new Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England, and he has taken up his appointment with effect from 1 February this year.
    The new Grand Secretary will be responsible for all matters relating to the English Craft, which includes Districts and lodges overseas under the United Grand Lodge of England. Nigel Brown, born in what was then Northern Rhodesia, was educated in Southern Rhodesia before going into the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He was initiated into the Household Brigade Lodge, No. 2614, in 1987. He has a distinguished military career behind him, going into the Grenadier Guards from Sandhurst, and retired from the Army with the rank of Captain. Since then, he has occupied posts in senior management and has more recently been a business consultant, advising on competitive global tenders.
    Among his other masonic accomplishments, Nigel was perfected into Holy Empire Rose Croix Chapter, No. 600 in 1995, and was Sovereign in 2000/2001. He is a Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies 32°.
    The responsibilities of the office of Grand Secretary have been split, as announced at the Grand Lodge meeting last autumn, with the creation of the new office of Grand Chancellor, of which office Alan Englefield is the first incumbent. He will be responsible for external relations with other Grand Lodges on the continent of Europe and overseas.

Music Exhibition in the Library

The latest exhibition in the Library and Museum in London explores the development of masonic music over three centuries. Music has always been integral to English Freemasonry from the early years of the eighteenth century and the inclusion of songs set to music in James Anderson’s first Book of Constitutions (1723) is clear evidence for this. During the nineteenth century dedicated masonic halls were built and, often as a reflection of the Victorian vogue, a pipe organ installed. The previous century’s tradition of lodge music, with its echoes of tavern culture, was ill-suited to the new lodge environment, and the process of appropriating a new musical repertoire from the church, chapel and the classical repertoire began.
    Christian hymns and psalms, and new music inspired by them, expressing sentiments thought to validate Freemasonry’s fraternal tenets, began to dominate. The Freemason’s Liber Musicus was a much reprinted compendium of music for all lodge occasions, compiled by Dr William Spark, member of the Lodge of Fidelity, No. 289, Borough Organist at Leeds and a prolific composer of both sacred and secular music. The exhibition runs from February to May.

Grand Superintendent for Yorkshire North and East Ridings

The Grand Superintendent for Yorkshire North and East Ridings, Donald Davinson, with all the active Provincial Officers, attended a special meeting of the Anchor Chapter, No. 1337, to present a Provincial certificate commemorating the Chapter's hundred years of existence. Supreme Grand Chapter were unable to grant a centenary warrant as the Chapter’s activities were suspended in the second World War when the then General Bernard Montgomery commandeered the Masonic Hall in Northallerton.
    The Province is particularly active, since there was another centenary the same week, and other anniversaries, in addition to the presentation of a banner.
    At the end of the same week, the Grand Superintendent chaired the Annual Provincial Grand Chapter meeting, attended by over 600 Companions – about one third of the total Provincial membership.

Grand Charity Help for Hospices

The Grand Charity has a tradition of helping hospices, and this was carried forward recently by a gift of £500,000 to more than 200 recipients. This will help hospices offer the best possible quality of life to those suffering incurable illness, and includes many donations to children’s hospices. The individual grants range from £500 to £7,000.
    The Grand Charity’s Hospice scheme, which is targetted at independent hospices across England and Wales, annually distributes grants to services that receive no more than 60% of their funding from the NHS, thus contributing to the millions of pounds needed each year for hospices to deliver their services.
    Speaking about the grants, Grahame Elliott, President of the Grand Charity said, ‘For many years Freemasons have recognised the importance of the care provided by the hospice movement. Over 22 years the Grand Charity Hospice Grant Scheme has distributed more than £6 million in support of the activities of hospices and we are pleased to contribute to the continuation of their important work through the Scheme, supported by masons throughout the country.’
    In conjunction with the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys ‘Lifelites’ project, targeted at the same need, English Freemasons demonstrate their commitment to the hospice movement.

New Masonic Samaritan Fund Festival 2012

The Province of Warwickshire has set £3.5 million as the target for the New Masonic Samaritan Fund Festival in 2012. This was announced at the Provincial Headquarters at Edgbaston, Birmingham, by Provincial Grand Master, Michael Price, who received the first donations amounting to £25,000 from Craft, Royal Arch and Mark Masons.
    The Provincial Grand Master said, ‘I am delighted that our Province has been chosen to host this Festival, which will run for seven years, ending in 2012. The NMSF is still a young charity. Established in 1990 it provides medical assistance to needy Freemasons and their families, who are unable to obtain NHS treatment without undue delay and cannot afford private medical care. The Brethren of Warwickshire are well known for their generosity, and I believe that the target of £3.5 million could well be exceeded.’
    A number of fund-raising projects are already launched, among them Autumn Glory – the Warwickshire Masonic Charity Concert to be held on Sunday 7 October, featuring the Warwickshire Symphony Orchestra and the Stratford-upon-Avon Gilbert and Sullivan Society. There will also be golf tournaments, a staging of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes and Christmas concerts.