Hamlet Court Lodge No. 6026 in Essex had the rare priviledge of witnessing three of its brethren reaching the milestone of 50 years in Freemasonry in the same year

It is believed to be the first time in the lodge's history that an event like this has occured.

Tony Compton, Harvey White and Dennis Surgeon were initiated into Freemasonry between January and February 1968, when they were all in their 20’s.

What made this event on 9th March 2018 even more interesting is that Tony and Harvey were brought into the lodge by their fathers, and Dennis by his father-in-law. All three members have still got active roles within Hamlet Court Lodge.

All three received their certificates from Allan Clark, Assistant Provincial Grand Master of Essex.

Members of Colcestria Lodge No. 7123 in Essex held their annual Ladies Festival gala dinner at the St Giles Masonic Centre in Colchester on Saturday 2nd December 2017, in aid of Blesma, The Limbless Veterans

Proceeds from the night totalling £1,100 were donated to Blesma at the request of the Worshipful Master Brian Chenier. As well as being employed as a Support Officer with the charity, Brian has a family connection with Blesma.

Blesma is the national charity for all limbless service men and women, their widows and dependants. Brian's late father, David, was an associate member after losing his left leg through diabetes and his mother Margaret continues the family connection as a Blesma widow. David was also a Freemason and was a member of Colcestria Lodge.

Brian said: 'As Master of my lodge I was able to nominate a charity to benefit from the Ladies Festival. Choosing Blesma was an immediate and obvious choice. The support my Mum and Dad received from the association was superb and my Dad was very proud to be part of Blesma.'

Through his work, Brian has seen first-hand the benefit this donation will have. 'Through my work and connection with Blesma I was able to really impress on my fellow Freemasons the importance of making such a donation,' added Brian.

'As Masons we do not go out and collect money from others, we give what we can out of our own pockets. I was very pleased with the generosity of those that attended the Ladies Festival, many of whom were non-masons.'

During a lodge meeting, Brian arranged for the Master of Ceremonies from the night, Paul Humphries PJGD, to present the cheque to him. Paul, himself a veteran having served in HM Royal marines, said: 'It was a pleasure to have been part of such a wonderful night of celebration and to be able to present the cheque. The work Blesma do to support our injured veterans really strikes a chord with me as a veteran and as a Mason.'

The cheque for £1,100 was handed over to Blesma Chief Executive Barry Le Grys at their office in Chadwell Heath.

It was a very special evening in Norfolk at Thorpe St Andrew Lodge No. 8010, where Laurence Corbett Whitbread, aged 95 years, received a certificate to mark his 75 years in Freemasonry

It's 75 years since his initiation into Freemasonry back in November 1942 when Laurence was initiated at the age of 20 by his Father, Edward Corbett Whitbread, who was the Master of the United Lodge of Prudent Brethren No. 145 in Colchester, Essex.

Laurence was appointed to London Grand Rank in 1972 and then promoted to Senior London Grand Rank in 1990. He joined Thorpe St Andrew in 1992 and was appointed to Past Provincial Grand Registrar in Norfolk in 2012.

His son Jonathon is also a member of Thorpe St Andrew and was proudly present to see the ceremony. 

The Lodge then held a Past Master's night, with ceremonial of the highest quality as they performed a Raising. The highlight of the evening though was when Laurence Whitbread returned to the floor and delivered the Exhortation faultlessly.

Have you heard the one about the three Essexboys?

The Essex Cornerstone Club is bringing younger masons together to create new connections across the Province, as Peter Watts discovers from three of the founding members

Lazy stereotypes abound when it comes to Essex, yet it’s one of England’s most diverse and under-appreciated counties. It boasts a lively mix of busy commuter towns, rural villages, regal Roman settlements and colourful seaside resorts. Essex also has a huge number of Freemasons, with around 10,000 members meeting in hundreds of lodges.

Since 2016, Essex has also been home to the Cornerstone Club, which was founded to connect young masons from across the Province. Three of its founding members – self-declared, born-and-bred ‘Essex boys’ – talk among the cockle sheds of Leigh-on-Sea, which sits on the northern side of the Thames Estuary: ‘With the Cornerstone Club, we want to capture the spirit of Essex,’ announces chairman Elliott Chevin. ‘It’s such a large Province with so much to offer.’

Elliott and his co-founders Jack Gilliland and Jack Saunders discuss the beginnings of the club, which has attracted 150 members from Essex’s large but not particularly youthful masonic community. Elliott, 41, took to Freemasonry enthusiastically in his 20s, but only realised the full range of potential masonic experiences as he moved higher up the ranks, out of his own lodge and into the wider Province. This was also when he began to meet other young Essex masons.

‘There was an age gap between me and everybody else in my lodge,’ he says. ‘I enjoyed the meetings, the meals, the beer, and I loved meeting different people, but the interests of somebody in their 20s can be very different to those of someone in their 60s.’

YOUNG GUNS

After Elliott became more involved at the Provincial level, he met more people of a similar age and formed a circle of younger masonic friends. ‘I wanted to find a way to extend this, as I knew there were masons in Essex who had never had that sort of access.’

Supported by Deputy Provincial Grand Master Paul Reeves, Elliott recruited a six-man team of young masons, among them Jack Saunders. Now 31, Jack has been a Freemason for three years and helps to manage the Cornerstone Club’s social media presence.

‘We looked at the data for the Province and saw there were around 500 masons under 40 – one or two per lodge – and we wanted to join them together,’ says Jack. ‘It’s great being with different people [in lodge], but sometimes you want to speak to someone who has the same life experience.’ The club has blossomed, and half its 150 or so members are under the age of 30 – the youngest being 19.

The Essex Cornerstone Club combines its home county’s get-out-and-do-it spirit with a deep respect for masonic tradition. ‘We didn’t want to create another commitment, something that was compulsory,’ says Elliott. ‘We wanted to create something so compelling they’d want to be there. It’s not just meetings and beer – although beer and meetings are important – but a mix of social and educational events that deepen and strengthen knowledge as well as being fun.’ 

Events have included a tour of the museum at Freemasons’ Hall, playing paintball, a trip to a local brewery, a chance to go inside an Apache helicopter, a family day at Romford Greyhound Stadium and marshalling at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for a charity run raising funds for Haven House Children’s Hospice.

The imagination demonstrated by these activities may account for the club’s success. ‘We expected an initial burst of interest but have continued to build on those numbers every month,’ says co-founder Jack Gilliland, 33. ‘After every event, people have talked about it on social media, and we always get new members. It’s the mix. We’re not just a drinking club; we have thrown in educational events and charity and community engagement.’

‘The club is all about connecting with people – creating an extended family’ Elliott Chevin

PEER-TO-PEER

The club is focused on holding events in different parts of the Province to enable members from all over Essex to participate, but also to ensure all new young Freemasons in the county are aware of the club. Here, the support of the Province is essential.

‘When a new young mason signs up, we will go to a meeting to welcome them and talk about how to connect with Freemasons of a similar age,’ explains Elliott. ‘We also try to be there every time they do a ritual or event. The Province was very supportive [when setting up the club] and it was important we moved in step with them in order to use their ability to communicate with Essex’s 10,000 Freemasons.’

Jack Saunders admits the club initially had to reassure lodges that it wasn’t planning to poach any younger masons. Now lodges all over Essex help to spread the word, understanding that the Cornerstone Club operates to everybody’s benefit. ‘It’s supplementary, not competitive,’ he explains.

Jack Gilliland is one of three generations at his lodge, which he attends alongside his father and grandfather, and believes this mix of ages is one of the appeals of Freemasonry. ‘There aren’t many other places where people in their 20s and their 80s can discuss life experiences,’ he says. ‘I’ve never had that outside family and Freemasonry.’

MORE THAN A CLUB

Rodney Bass, Provincial Grand Master for Essex, appreciates the way the Cornerstone Club has enriched masonic life in his Province. ‘It’s clear by the significant number of young Freemasons who have signed up to the club just how enthusiastic our younger members are about Freemasonry, and this bodes well for the future,’ he says.

The club is active on social media and Elliott is excited by the potential of technology to build a national or international network of young Freemasons. It uses Facebook to give younger masons a private support system, so they can discuss masonic principles without fear of embarrassing themselves in front of older masons or non-masonic friends.

Elliott is now considering the creation of a Cornerstone Lodge, as a way of maintaining friendships for those who have become too old to attend the club itself; at 41, he is already anticipating his own retirement.

‘Wouldn’t it be great to create a Cornerstone Lodge; a way for people to stay connected to the club for life?’ he says. ‘The club is all about connecting with people – creating an extended family. Before the club existed you had to hope you’d make a connection with somebody or, if you were lucky, find there was somebody of a similar age in your lodge already. Now people can make an instant connection with others around their own age while also expanding their masonic knowledge. That could help somebody stay in Freemasonry for 50 or 60 years.’

FIND OUT MORE: Read more about the club at www.essexcornerstone.com

Sixty young Essex Cornerstone Club masons gathered at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, where more than 1,000 people took part in a 5K Bubble Rush fun run in support of four London and Essex-based hospices, including Haven House Children’s Hospice

The young Freemasons acted as stewards, wearing Essex Cornerstone Club T-shirts.

There were many words of thanks, and a keen interest in Freemasonry following this year’s Sky 1 documentary series Inside The Freemasons, as well as discussions about the recent masonic hall open days across the Province.

Find out what else the Essex Cornerstone Club gets up to.

Essex Freemasons and their families made the most of a once in a lifetime opportunity to help the Province celebrate the United Grand Lodge of England's Tercentenary in real style with  a glittering Last Night of the Proms spectacular

Featuring the British Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the concert was attended by nearly 3,000 people on Saturday 8th July 2017 at Freemasons' Hall.

There was also a champagne reception hosted by the Provincial Grand Master Rodney Lister Bass and his Executive.

The event was the latest in many such occasions to mark the Tercentenary, which includes a number of Open Days held at Masonic Centres across Essex. Many more are planned for 2017, where Freemasons will be on site to answer questions from the public alongside exhibits of historical masonic regalia, literature and photographs.

Please scroll through the gallery at the top to view photos from the concert

Rodney Bass, former Essex County Councillor and the current Provincial Grand Master for Essex Freemasons, has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in recognition of his service to Local Government in Essex.

Coincidentally, Mr Bass, who was a member of Maldon District Council for 40 years between 1967 and 2007 and an Essex County Councillor from 1997, first heard about the award in May this year, on his last working day for the local authority.

“I am really delighted and very honoured to have been made an OBE,” said Mr Bass, aged 71 and married to wife Margaret. “It is wonderful for me personally, but I also see it as recognition for all my former colleagues in Local Government who have supported me over the last 50 years and I thank them for all their help.”

“I hope to continue serving the local community through Freemasonry in Essex and the charitable giving associated with our Fraternity and will also continue membership of my local Parish Council.”

A graduate in economics and accountancy, Mr Bass spent 35 years working in the banking industry becoming a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in 1980. He used this specialist knowledge in his Local Government career dealing with finance, constitutional law and more recently highways and transportation.

During his long period of service he was made Chairman of Maldon District Council and became Chairman of Essex County Council for two years and from 2010 to 2012 was Chairman of Essex County Council. He was recently elected an honorary Alderman of Essex.

A peruvian adventure

Emily Lane, 17, contacted a number of north Essex lodges for assistance in raising £5,000 to join an expedition to the Peruvian rainforest with the British Exploring Society. Vic Hodson, Charity Steward for Blackwater Lodge, No. 1977, heard Emily’s pleas. The lodge agreed to help, adding an extra £50 if she would tell them of her experience afterwards. Her stories included spiders as big as dinner plates, eight-foot snakes and eating insects.

A microbrewery has helped ‎Freemasons‬ in Essex ‪create a ‪special Remembrance beer to raise money for military charities

Wibblers Brewery lent their expertise to create the Lest we Forget beer for members of Thorpe Bay Lodge at their annual Lodge Poppy evening on November 11.

Wibblers, which has just opened a new brewery in Southminster, helped create the Lest we Forget beer.

The bitter was the idea of members of Thorpe Bay Lodge who created the beer to keep the members happy at their annual Lodge Poppy evening on November 11.

'Wibblers were fantastic but the beer has been so well received that there is real talk that it could qualify for a CAMRA award and we are now thinking that we could offer it to Freemasons across Essex with all profits going to local charities and other good causes.'

Read the full article here: http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/13923895.Microbrewery_helps_create_beer_to_raise_money_for_military_charities/ 

Essex charity champions

In just one weekend Essex Freemasons raised £130,000 for eight local charities, bringing the total raised for 700 Essex charities to more than £1 million in a year. Dozens of events took place over the three-day 8Aid event, from sponsored bike rides and abseiling to a whole host of social functions. The eight charities – which included Essex Air Ambulance, Helen Rollason Cancer Charity, Lifelites and the Teddies for Loving Care Appeal – each received £16,250. The cheques were presented by Provincial Grand Master John Webb at a special ceremony in Saxon Hall, Southend.