The Board has said goodbye with regret to John Bonomy, Past Provincial Grand Master, East Kent, who has served as a member (and as Chairman of the Audit Committee) since 1999, when the Board took its present form. The Board wishes to place on record its grateful thanks for his services over the last eleven years.
     J.M. Long has been serving as a co-opted member of the Board since the beginning of the year, and the Grand Master has now formally appointed him a member.

Annual Dues

2011: A resolution was approved that the annual dues (including VAT) payable to Grand Lodge for each member of every lodge for 2011 shall be: in a lodge in England and Wales that is unattached, £44; a lodge in a Metropolitan Area or a Province, £26.50; a lodge in a District, £6.50 and a lodge abroad not in a District, £11.

Fees

2011: A resolution was approved that the fees (exclusive of VAT) payable for registration, certificates and dispensations should be increased in line with inflation to the registration of a Grand Officer, present or past, on first appointment, £100; a Deputy or Assistant Metropolitan Grand Master or a Metropolitan Grand Inspector, £55; a Deputy or Assistant Provincial or District Grand Master, £55. A holder of Overseas Grand Rank, £21.50; a mason, inclusive of Grand Lodge Certificate (initiation or joining from a lodge not under the Grand Lodge) in a lodge in England and Wales that is unattached, £55; a lodge in a Metropolitan Area or a Province, £49; a lodge in a District, £30; a lodge abroad not under a District, £42. Replacement or amendment of a Grand Lodge Certificate, £54; a certificate for a Serving Brother, £30; a Dispensation by the Grand Master, £28 and a Dispensation by the Grand Master nunc pro tunc, £56.

A contribution to the Grand Charity

Under the Book of Constitutions, Grand Lodge must fix each year the annual contribution payable to the Grand Charity. The Council of the Grand Charity requested that for 2011 the annual contribution remain at £14 in respect of each member of a lodge in a Metropolitan Area or a Province, or in England and Wales that is unattached. A Resolution to this effect was approved.

Prestonian Lectures

2009: Go, and do thou likewise: English Masonic processions from the 18th to the 20th centuries. The Lecturer, Dr J.S. Wade, has informed the Board that in addition to the three official deliveries to Britannia Lodge No. 139 (Yorkshire, West Riding), William Preston Lodge No. 766 (London) and the Provincial Grand Lodge of Norfolk, the Lecture was also delivered on 21 other occasions.
     The Board desires to express its thanks to Bro Wade for the considerable time and effort he has spent in this connection.

2010: Music in Masonry and Beyond:
     The Prestonian Lecturer for 2010 is W.B. Warlow.
     Four official Prestonian Lectures for 2010 have been or will be given under the auspices of Lathom Lodge No. 2229 (West Lancashire), Guildhall School of Music Lodge No. 2454 (London), Old Wycombiensian Lodge No. 6754 (Buckinghamshire) and Proscenium Lodge No. 9059 (South Wales).
     2011: The Board has submitted a nomination to the Trustees of the Prestonian Fund and they have appointed Dr J.W.P Campbell as Prestonian Lecturer for 2011. The title of his Lecture will be: Was Sir Christopher Wren a Freemason? Arrangements for the delivery of the Lectures will be considered by the Board in November and applications are now invited from lodges. Applications should be made to the Grand Secretary through Metropolitan, Provincial or District Grand Secretaries.
     These are the only Lectures held under the authority of Grand Lodge. It is, therefore, hoped that applications for the privilege of having one of these official Lectures will be made only by lodges which are prepared to afford facilities for all Freemasons in their area, as well as their own members, to participate and thus ensure an attendance worthy of the occasion.

Royal Arch tie

At the recent Annual Investiture the Grand Master announced that the new Royal Arch tie, approved by the Committee of General Purposes of Supreme Grand Chapter, could be worn in future in Craft lodges, and that further guidance would be given on the appropriate wearing of the tie. The Board is anxious to emphasise the indissoluble link that exists in English Freemasonry between the Craft and the Royal Arch, and accordingly recommends that qualified Royal Arch Companions should be permitted, and indeed encouraged, to wear the new tie in private lodges, unless they are attending in an official capacity on behalf of the Grand Master or their respective Metropolitan, Provincial or District Grand Master, when the appropriate Craft or plain black tie should continue to be worn.
     At meetings of Grand Lodge, however, the Board recommends that there should be no change in the current practice and that only the Craft tie or a plain black tie be worn. In the case of a meeting of a Metropolitan, Provincial and District Grand Lodge, the Board considers that it should be left to the discretion of the individual Metropolitan, Provincial or District Grand Master which tie should be worn and by whom, but hopes that the wearing of the Royal Arch tie will not be discouraged.

Recognition of a Foreign Grand Lodge

The Grand Lodge of Cyprus: The Grand Lodge of Cyprus was formed on 15 June 2006 from six lodges meeting in the Republic of Cyprus under the Grand Lodge of Greece and has shown that it is a descendant of a duly recognised Grand Lodge and that it conforms to the basic principles for Grand Lodge recognition.
     The Grand Lodge of Cyprus has confirmed that it recognises the right of our lodges to continue to work in the Republic of Cyprus and the right of the Grand Master to warrant new lodges there. A resolution that the Grand Lodge of Cyprus be recognised was approved.

Amalgamations

The following lodges have surrendered their Warrants in order to amalgamate: St James’s Lodge, No. 482, in order to amalgamate with Queeselet Lodge, No. 6887 (Staffordshire); Tuscan Lodge, No. 5127 and Liberty Lodge, No. 5870, in order to amalgamate with Bowdon Lodge, No. 4943 (Cheshire) and Pilgrim Lodge, No. 6207, in order to amalgamate with Bootle Lodge, No. 1473 (West Lancashire). A Resolution to allow the amalgamations was approved.

Erasure of Lodges

Seventeen lodges have closed and surrendered their Warrants. They are: Beacontree Lodge, No. 1228 (London), Byfield Lodge, No. 2632 (London), Hygeia Lodge, No. 2664 (London), Holden Lodge, No. 2946 (London), Cornwall Legh Lodge, No. 3382 (Cheshire), Kano Lodge, No. 4975 (Nigeria), Rockcliff Lodge, No. 5265 (Northumberland), Maylands Lodge, No. 5375 (Essex), Borough Lodge, No. 5681 (Cheshire), Lotus Lodge, No. 5911 (London), Finchley and Hendon Lodge, No. 6089 (Middlesex), Esoteric Lodge, No. 6774 (London), Rose of Brentham Lodge, No. 6863 (Buckinghamshire), Grennell Lodge, No. 7848 (Surrey), Prior Walter Lodge, No. 8687 (London), Boundary Lodge, No. 9031 (Middlesex) and Genesis Lodge, No. 9209 (Sussex). A resolution that they be erased was approved.

Expulsions

Two Brethren have been expelled from the Craft.

Grand Lodge Accounts 2009

The Audited Accounts of Grand Lodge for the year ended 31 December 2009 were approved.

Election of Grand Lodge Auditors

Horwath Clark Whitehill LLP were reelected as auditors of Grand Lodge.

New Warrants

The following lodges were granted new Warrants from 10 March 2010: No. 9855 Seven Stars Lodge (Okehampton, Devon), and No. 9856 Sine Favore Lodge (Duke Street, St James’s, London).

Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter meetings

Meetings of the Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge will take place on 8 December 2010, 9 March 2011, 27 April 2011 (Annual Investiture), 8 June 2011 and 14 September 2011. Meetings of Supreme Grand Chapter will be held on 10 November 2010, 28 April 2011 and 9 November 2011.