The Masonic and Military Order

of

Red Cross of Constantine

and the

Orders of the Holy Sepulchre and Saint John the Evangelist

A celebration of 100 meetings of the West Yorkshire Division Foreword​

A previous Grand Sovereign once commented that the West Yorkshire Division was the oldest within the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine being constituted in the year 1875.

Initially the White Rose of York Conclave No. 120 was the only conclave operating in West Yorkshire, that is until the Loidis Conclave No.157 was Consecrated in 1899.

Thereafter, Divisional Meetings began to be held, firstly on a bi-annual basis and later annually. In addition a small number of Special Divisional Meetings were convened specifically to Install Intendants General or for rare but very welcome visits of the Grand Sovereign.

It is therefore difficult to establish the exact number of “normal” Divisional Meetings that we have had over the last one hundred and thirty-six years but we can be certain that the meeting scheduled to be held in 2011 is about the 100th.

For a number of years I have seen the need for an accurate and authoritative History of the West Yorkshire Division and this booklet will hopefully fulfil that requirement.

Illustrious Knight Frederick G. Cooper had compiled a wonderful history of the Masonic Knight Templar Province of West Yorkshire for the Sesquicentenary celebrations in 2010 and I inveigled him to prepare this history for our Division. He has spent many hours researching the records of Conclaves, the Division and the backgrounds of our past Intendants General and is to be heartily thanked by the whole Division for his dedication and commitment to his task. If there are any errors or omissions it is not for any want of effort on his part.

I therefore commend this History to all members of the West Yorkshire Division both present and future. It will enable you to consider and appreciate how our wonderful Christian Order has developed and flourished over the years

In Faith, Unity and Zeal

Tony Llewellyn Intendant General

Acknowledgements

Writing a Divisional History for the Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine over a relatively short time span has been a steep learning curve and a great personal pleasure for the author, but nothing would have been achieved without the help and support of many individual friends and colleagues.

Firstly I must express my gratitude to our Intendant General, Right Illustrious Knight Anthony W. Llewellyn, for entrusting me with this significant task and his ongoing encouragement throughout the entire project.

My sincere thanks go to our Divisional Recorder, Illustrious Knight Stephen Priestley, who was kind enough to entrust the whole Divisional Archive to my care and his ready response for additional information when asked for.

Also the many individual conclave recorders past and present who have kept minutes of meetings that were not only readable but also informative.

Special thanks must be given to Worshipful Brother Jack Thompson, librarian at Tapton Hall, Sheffield, who responded so generously to my requests for information and illustrations.

Worshipful Brother Martin W. Stray, in his capacity as archivist at Spring Bank Place, Bradford, was also a mine of information in respect of past Intendants General.

I must also record my very sincere thanks to my wife, Hilary, for her unfailing patience and understanding whilst I was once again absorbed in the compilation and writing of a masonic history.

If I have missed anyone out, or if there are any mistakes in what I have put together, I can only apologise in advance.

Fred G. Cooper Loidis Conclave No. 157

WEST YORKSHIRE DIVISION

THE MASONIC AND MILITARY ORDER OF THE RED CROSS OF CONSTANTINE

On the 25th day of July in the year of Our Lord 306, Constantius I Chlorus, Augustus of the Western Empire under the terms of the Tetrarchy which had been established by the Roman Emperor Diocletian, died of a fever in the head-quarters building at the newly enlarged fortress on the banks of the River Ouse at Eboracum ( now known as York ) in what was then the Roman Province of Brittania.

Following a tradition that had been practiced many times before the five and a half thousand men of the Sixth Victris Legion, which for two hundred years had been charged with defending this remote area of the Empire, immediately proclaimed that his son, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, should assume command of the Army and adopt the title and rank of Augustus Constantine.

This was a man who had seen military action as a cavalry officer in the wars against the Sarmatians in the plains around the River Danube , had fought against the Persians in Mesopotamia and had served as a personal Aide de Camp to the Emperor Diocletian in North Africa. He was therefore not only an experienced and respected soldier but also an acknowledged leader of men and a shrewd strategist.

With several other strong contenders for the title of Augustus well established in Rome, this particular proclamation was to set in motion that chain of events that was ultimately to lead to the total re-unification of the whole Roman Empire under the control of one man, the adoption of the Trinitarian Christian Faith as the official state religion and the designation of this remarkable man as Constantine the Great.

In Roman terms the fortress at Eboracum was an insignificant outpost, far removed from the centre of political power, although for many centuries the island of Britannia had been a major supplier of grain and live-stock and other raw materials including timber, iron-ore, tin and even some gold to the expanding Empire. Indeed it was the increasing importance of these commodities, which had caused firstly Julius Caesar (unsuccessfully) and then the Emperor Claudius to invade and bring the indigenous peoples under the control of Rome.

It was to protect these particularly productive lands from marauding Celts and Picts that the Sixth Legion had built the wall that is now named in honour of the Emperor Hadrian and which they had garrisoned for many years. The fact that the northern part of Brittania was crossed by so many rivers, which were navigable to galleys and trading ships, made access to the hinterland relatively easy and the export of the produce of the land was greatly facilitated.

These self same geographic features which made these lands so desirable to the Romans would tempt successive bands of plunderers and settlers to cross the North Sea in their long-ships as soon as the Armies of Rome were compelled to withdraw and those left behind were told to fend for themselves.

In that period of time which we now refer to as the Dark Ages, Angles from Northern Germany and then Norsemen from Denmark and Southern Norway made their way to these shores and rowed up the rivers, firstly in search of plunder and then later for land on which to settle. They were quick to recognise the advantage of using established defensive positions in places that had previously been occupied by their predecessors.

Amongst these was that settlement on the banks of the Ouse which the Vikings named Jorvik and which was to become the ruling centre of all those lands from the Humber to the Tees and as far westward as the Pennine Chain thus founding the English County now known as Yorkshire. Being ever practical they were quick to realise that the control and administration of so large an area would be difficult for one chieftain so they split the task between three subsidiary chiefs ruling over a Thirding or the more familiar Riding.

It was these enterprising and self-reliant people who brought over their hardy sheep whose meat and wool was to provide such an important part of the economy of this area for centuries to come. They fiercely resisted incursions from the North and South and were happy to receive tribute from the Saxons in the South in the form of Danegeld to minimise costly wars and territorial disputes.

It should have been no surprise to William, Duke of Normandy, that these northern people did not take kindly to being invaded and they strongly resisted his advances into their homeland. He had to face two serious rebellions north of the Humber one in 1068 and the other a year later, which resulted in a full scale assault by Norman troops carried out with such ferocity that it became known as ‘The Harrying of the North’. Over half of the fifteen hundred villages in Yorkshire were totally destroyed and the remainder were left grossly under-populated. A high proportion of all live- stock was either killed or driven off and the means of scraping a living off the land was devastated. The surveyors compiling the Domesday Book just a few years later could only describe much of the area as wasteland fit only for hunting.

Some considered the area to be a virtual desert where those living there faced considerable hardships and a very uncertain future. Saint Bernard, the Abbot of Clairveaux, thought that this was the perfect land into which Monks of the Cistercian Order could establish their Abbeys and commune with God in almost total isolation.

Having sought permission from King Henry the First and with the help of Walter Espec, the Lord of Helmsley, twelve Cistercian monks arrived in Yorkshire in March 1132 and began to build on land close by Helmsley Castle and called it Rievaulx Abbey. Such was the appeal and reputation of these saintly men that they attracted further recruits and gained gifts of further lands from local lords so that they were able to build additional Yorkshire Abbeys at Byland, Jervaulx, Roche, Meaux and Kirkstall.

Being absolute masters of self sufficiency and operating a system of outlying Granges, often managed by a lay-brother recruited from the local community, these industrious and innovative monks not only produced enough food for themselves and the local community but became exporters of wool, grain and even iron work.

When as the result of wars and pestilence labour became short and men were reluctant to commit themselves to monastic vows, even as lay-brothers, the monks would rent out some of their lands to tenant farmers with the Abbey taking a share of the produce in proportion to the value of the land.

Without doubt it was the Cistercian monks who turned wasteland into productive farmland and who laid the foundations for the development of heavy industry, steel manufacture, wool and cloth production and a great deal of commercial activity. The quality of the goods produced in Yorkshire was at such a level that a regular export trade developed together with that careful, pragmatic strength of character, which has often been said to be the defining quality of the Yorkshireman.

All of that strength, tenacity and shrewdness has been tested many times over the centuries as repeated dynastic wars, plague and famine brought near disaster to many Yorkshire families. The so called Pilgrimage of Grace and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, carried out so ruthlessly by the agents of King Henry the Eighth in 1536 and 1539 threw many artisans and craftsmen out of work and caused much distress.

Worshipful Brother, the Reverend Neville Barker-Cryer, speaking in 2002, has suggested that it was this event which gave the impetus to the development of those groups of men keen to support those less fortunate than themselves but at the same time exercising considerable discretion to avoid incurring the wrath of the King and his Commissioners.

There is reasonably acceptable evidence to show that a Lodge of Freemasons was operating in the City of York in 1705 and was known as the Antient Grand Lodge of York. Whether or not there was any direct link between this body and those charitable and unemployed masons of the sixteenth century will probably never be known.

The York Antiquarian, Mr Francis Drake, writing in 1726, claimed a history of organised masonry within the city going back to the time of Edwin, the first Christian King of Northumbria. Another ancient Masonic link with the City of York has been claimed, in the writings of Mr. Laurence Dermont, who in 1756 stated that all Anglian Masons had been called to a Convocation held in York in the year 926 A.D. that was to be presided over by King Athelstan.

Obviously, without documentary evidence, which is highly unlikely ever to be found, all such claims have to be regarded as pure conjecture, or perhaps just wishful thinking by a group of Masonic brethren who had set up what they considered to be the Grand Lodge of All England at York with stated precedence over any other Grand Lodge. In spite of numerous social and political difficulties this body continued to be in operation until 1796 when it was then exercising jurisdiction over ten sub-ordinate lodges, which were mostly situated north of the River Trent.

A very detailed history of the Grand Lodge of York and its sub-ordinate Lodges was written in 1940-41 by Worshipful Brother G.Y.Johnson, P.A.G.D.C., and published in AQO Volumes LII AND LIII. This narrates the long running dispute between the Grand Lodge of York and the Grand lodge of London regarding their respective seniority. York claiming that it had evidence to show that it was established and working in the year1705, that is some twelve years before the foundation of the London Grand Lodge in 1717.

The dispute between London and York rumbled on for well over twenty years, a situation no doubt exacerbated by the considerable difficulties of communication in those days. It was then at least a three day journey by stage coach to reach London from York always assuming that the roads were passable, changes of horses were available and that armed highwaymen were not at large and if one could afford the high cost.

In typical Yorkshire fashion individual freemasons decided to regularise the situation by obtaining their own Warrants directly from London. This is perhaps best illustrated by the granting of a Warrant issued under the signature of the then Grand Master, the Marquis of Caernarvon, authorising Brother John Senior of Halifax to hold a Lodge at the Bulls Head Inn and that this was to be called the Lodge of Probity, thus creating what is now the oldest regular lodge meeting in the West Yorkshire Province.

Many others followed this example within the boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire and the significance and influence of the Grand Lodge of York gradually waned until it ceased to exist sometime in the mid 1790s. Interestingly, some of the rituals that were established and practiced in York can still be observed in several of the regular lodges working across the County as a whole.

Once freemasonry had become established it was not long before brethren began to seek further knowledge and enlightenment. This was to lead to the extension and development of the degree system particularly as arguments were still going on between those who were practicing ‘Modern’ freemasonry and the ‘Antients’. Once again there is evidence to prove that a form of Royal Arch Masonry was being practised by the Grand Lodge of York throughout the eighteenth century, and that four members of the Punch Bowl Lodge, which had been formed in 1761, had gone on to form a Royal Arch Lodge. By 1778 there is a reference in a recorded minute to the ‘Most Sublime or Royal Arch Chapter’ meeting in the crypt of York Minister.

There is also ample recorded proof to show that a ritual for the Royal Arch Degree was being worked in many private lodges across the country as early as the 1750s. On Sunday the 7th of February 1762, four brethren were raised in York to the fourth degree in masonry, commonly called the Most Sublime or Royal Arch Degree. The first Grand Chapter was founded in 1762 under Lord Blayney, as the ‘Grand and Royal Chapter’, in 1795 this became the ‘Grand Lodge of Royal Arch Masons’ and then in 1801 it was again altered to the ‘Supreme Grand Chapter’.

In Yorkshire the minute books of the Lodge of Probity for January 1765 shows a resolution to form a Chapter for the purposes of working the Royal Arch Degree. On August 30th 1766 the Lodge of Unanimity met at the George & Crown Inn in Halifax to practice a Royal Arch Night. It was to be another fifty-one years before The Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England in 1813 was formed under the Duke of Sussex and some of the variations and anomalies were begun to be resolved.

Masonic brethren who had attended lodge meetings in Scotland, on the continent of Europe or even in the Americas as the result of military, naval, diplomatic or commercial activity, would no doubt have been aware of the plethora of chivalric and esoteric degrees that had being practiced since Jacobean times and indeed were to remain popular throughout the eighteenth century. As there was often no official ritual for many of these so called higher degrees, other than the occasional exposure written purely for commercial gain, brethren would practice them within the Lodge structure as a means of stimulating interest or as a reward for particularly worthy brothers.

A form of the Knight Templar Degree was regularly worked as a fifth degree within a lodge, to which only the most conscientious members could aspire, and was therefore highly regarded. Other degrees, particularly those associated with the Red Cross and Rosecrucianism, were being worked, often on an ad hoc basis, in a few lodges by well-travelled brethren who had gained some understanding of the necessary ritual.

Attempts to standardise and regulate these higher degrees are exemplified by the work of Thomas Dunkerley, who, by invitation of brethren in Bristol, established control over the Masonic Knight Templar Degree in 1792. Others would claim that it was the influence of Princes of the Blood Royal, who were regularly invited to act as patrons of particular Orders, who brought some semblance of regularity to the higher degrees.

A considerable proportion of the early history of the Masonic Order of the Red Cross of Constantine is based upon a series of articles written by Brother Robert Wentworth Little and published in the Freemasons Magazine and Masonic Mirror during 1868. He claimed that this particular Order was first organised in Shropshire about 1780 by a Major Charles Sherriff after he had returned from military service during the American War of Independence and that it was re-organised by Brother Waller Rodwell Wright at Freemasons Hall in London in 1804. A lawyer who had served as British Consul in the Ionian Islands, Rodwell Wright was a very distinguished freemason who had close links with the Duke of Kent and his brother the Duke of Sussex. It was the Duke of Kent who installed as Grand Master of the Order of the Temple in April 1807.

Brother Little was working in the office of the Grand Secretary at the time that he wrote these articles and he claimed access to many old documents being stored in the archives at Freemasons Hall. Unfortunately many subsequent researchers have been unable to unearth these documents and until proven otherwise his claims have to be regarded with some suspicion.

What is without doubt, is that a ritual for the Degree of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine was being offered for sale, by a Mr William Finch, Journalist, in the year 1812 for the then considerable sum of five shillings. Equally in 1825 Mr Richard Carlisle gave a very detailed description of the Degree in his ‘Manual of Freemasonry’ published in London by the printer William Reeves.

Hence it is fair and reasonable to conclude that the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine was being worked, albeit unofficially, in the early part of the nineteenth century in a manner directly comparable to modern ritual. However, it was only in May 1865 that a Grand Council was re-established with Sir Knight William Henry White being elected to the office of Grand Sovereign that the Order became regularly active in the form that we would recognise today.

After overcoming some early scepticism the Order of Rome and the Red Cross of Constantine began to attract many distinguished and highly regarded members of the Masonic fraternity and between 1866 and 1874 over one hundred Conclaves were consecrated in England, Wales and in the Dominions all acting under the authority of the Grand Imperial Conclave.

Amongst the active freemasons within the Municipal Borough of Sheffield in the mid nineteenth century the name of Worshipful Brother William Henry Brittain is significant. Born at Sheffield on the 2nd April 1835, he was Initiated into the Brittania Lodge No. 139 on the 10th March 1864 and was Installed as Worshipful Master in 1869. He joined the Royal Brunswick Lodge No. 269 and was Worshipful Master in that Lodge in 1868. He was recognised by the West Yorkshire Province in 1872 when he was appointed to the rank of Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies. Three years later in 1875 he was promoted to Provincial Junior Grand Warden. In 1887 he became the first Sheffield Freemason to attain Grand Rank when he was appointed as Past Grand Standard Bearer.

Brother Brittain was Exalted into the Paradise Chapter No.139 in August 1865, joined the Loyalty Chapter No.296 becoming its First Principal in 1872. He was appointed Provincial Grand Sojourner in 1874 and served as Provincial Grand Haggai through 1884 and 1885. He was also a member of the Talbot Chapter No. 16 Rose Croix in which he later distinguished himself by being raised to the 33rd Degree in February 1883 when he was appointed to the office of Inspector General of the North Eastern District in the Ancient and Accepted Rite a position he was to hold for the next twenty years. By profession he was the Chairman and Managing Director of a company manufacturing high quality steel tools, which were in demand across the country and abroad, consequently he was a regular traveller on the new efficient steam train service between Sheffield and London.

This was a time of developing social awareness with considerable efforts being made to alleviate the lot of the destitute in the slums of the major cities. Doctor Thomas Barnado had just opened his first refuge for abandoned children at Stepney Causeway in the east end of London, William Booth was formulating his ideas for an Army of Salvationists to combat the results of alcohol and loose living and Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was working to improve the condition of the poor by means of his Artisans’ Dwelling Act and Public Health Act, both being passed by Parliament in 1875. Queen Victoria, in the thirty-ninth year of her reign was taking a particularly close interest in the development of the church and Sunday schools, and the American Evangelists, Dwight Moody and Ira D. Sankey were in the midst of their revivalist crusade.

Brother William Brittain had the opportunity to make a considerable number of Masonic friends as the result of his many business trips to London and he was clearly held in high regard by a number of the senior officers at Freemasons Hall. His interest in the newly reconstituted Order of the Red Cross of Constantine and his reputation as an active freemason in Sheffield was obviously sufficient for him to be singled out as a potential leader of this fast developing Order.

Consequently in February 1875 he was invited to a meeting of Grand Conclave at Freemasons Tavern, London, and there had conferred upon him the Degree of Knight of the Order of Rome and Red Cross of Constantine, this was immediately followed by the conferment of the degree of Knight of the Holy Sepulchre and of Saint John the Evangelist. At that same meeting he was further consecrated as a Viceroy and Eusebius, as well as being Enthroned as a Sovereign of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine and a Commander of Saint John.

Even by the accelerated standards of the time this must have been a daunting ceremony for him particularly as he was then charged with the responsibility of establishing the Order in Sheffield. He was granted discretionary plenary powers to install worthy master masons in Sheffield as Knights of the Red Cross of Constantine and to prepare a submission for the Consecration of a new Conclave.

He wasted no time in starting to exercise his newly acquired responsibilities because on the 8th March 1875 he invited Worshipful Brother Samuel Bramhall Ellis to his office at the Alma Works in Sheffield, where the degree of Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine conferred upon him and who was then asked to undertake the duties of founding Recorder of a new Conclave.

On the 17th March 1875 a further seven brethren attended a meeting in the offices of Illustrious Knight Brittain where they in turn were received into the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine followed by one further brother a week later. These Brother Knights again assembled at the Alma Works on the 5th April 1875 where it was agreed to submit a petition to Grand Imperial Conclave requesting permission to form a Conclave in Sheffield to be known as ‘The White Rose of York Conclave’, with Sir Knight William H. Brittain as the first Sovereign and Sir Knight William Roddewig as Viceroy Eusebius.

The postal service must have been particularly efficient as only two days later, on the 7th April 1875, the application was approved by Grand Imperial Conclave and a date for the Consecration ceremony was specified.

Consequently, on Saturday the 12th June 1875, Illustrious Knight Robert Wentworth Little, Past Grand Senior General, Grand Recorder, accompanied by Knights J.George Marsh; J.Lewis Thomas; Frederick Binks; C.Fitzgerald Matier; George Toller; Captain J.Wordsworth and A.K.Baines, travelled to the Freemasons Hall, Sheffield, as the consecrating team for the White Rose of York Conclave No.120.

With Illustrious Knight Wentworth Little in the Chair as consecrating officer, the meeting commenced with the reception into the Order of twelve new Brother Knights this being immediately followed by the ceremony of Consecration. After the withdrawal of unqualified knights Eminent Knight William Henry Brittain was inducted as the first Most Puissant Sovereign of the Conclave and he was immediately informed that the Grand Imperial Conclave had appointed him to be the Intendant General for West Yorkshire. He was presented with his Commission and instructed that this was to be read at the next meeting of the White Rose of York Conclave.

Sir Knight William Roddewig was re-admitted into the assembly and was then consecrated and inducted as the first Viceroy Eusebius of the Conclave.

The remaining knights were re-admitted and the Officers of the Conclave were appointed and invested as follows:- Senior General Sir Kt. Reverend E.Boteler Chalmer Junior General Sir Kt. John Frances Moss High Prelate Sir Kt. Alfred Scargill Treasurer Sir Kt. Samuel Bramhall Ellis Recorder Sir Kt. Joseph Binney Prefect Sir Kt. Simeon Hayes Standard Bearer Sir Kt. George William Hawksley Herald Sir Kt. John Nixon Aide de Camp Sir Kt. Henry Ecroyd Aide de Camp Sir Kt. Robert Arnison

In his capacity as Consecrating High Prelate and to the great pleasure of all present Sir Knight George Marsh then delivered an interesting Oration quite appropriate to the occasion.

It is interesting to note that in the by-laws approved on the day of Consecration it was specified that the annual subscription should be ten shillings and sixpence (52 ½ p) which at the time was the best part of a labourers weekly wage. The installation fee for the reception of a knight into the Order was to be three guineas until the membership of the Conclave had reached fifty after which it was to be five guineas, which would have been equal to a months wage for a skilled artisan.

The next meeting of the White Rose of York Conclave No. 120 was on Friday 15th October 1875 when, in accordance with the instruction given to him by the Grand Recorder, Illustrious Knight Brittain had his Commission read in full.

Initium Sapientiae Amor Domini “In the name of the Most Glorious Trinity in Unity”

From the East of London, a Place full of Light, Wherein reign silence and peace, but the darkness comprehendeth it not. “To whom it may concern, Greetings, and more especially to the Knights Companion of the Imperial, Ecclesiastical and Military Order of Rome and of the Red Cross of Constantine, the Invincible Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Holy Order of Saint John. Faith, Unity and Zeal” “Know ye that in consideration of the great trust and confidence we repose in our well beloved companion, William Henry Brittain, we do hereby delegate him as our representative and appoint him our Intendant General for the Division of West Yorkshire and the said Illustrious knight William Henry Brittain is hereby empowered to create and install Master Masons of good repute as members of the aforesaid Illustrious Order of the Red Cross for the purpose of forming new Conclaves, and further authorise him to inspect such Conclaves when established and to hear and decide upon all matters affecting the well-being of the Order, subject nevertheless to appeal to our supreme adjudication and determination. Provided always that the said Illustrious Knight shall transmit or cause to be transmitted to us, Thomas, Earl of Bective, Grand Sovereign, or to the Most Eminent Sir Frederick Martin Williams, Baronet, M.P. for Truro, our Grand Viceroy or Eusebius, or to the Most Illustrious Grand Sovereign or Grand Viceroy for the time being, all returns, fees and payments on behalf of the members of such Conclaves now and hereafter to be established at and in the Division of West Yorkshire as may be required by the general statutes or the Edicts of the Grand Imperial Council. Otherwise this our commission shall cease to be of any force or virtue and become absolutely null and void.”

“And we pray the Omnipotent Ruler of the Universe to have the said Illustrious Knight William Henry Brittain in His Most Holy Keeping.”

“Given at our Grand Council Chamber, Freemasons’ Tavern, London, and sealed with the seal of aforesaid Orders of the Red Cross and K.H.S, this first day of June, A.M.5879, A.D. 1875, A.O. 1562” Fred.M.Williams Grand Sovereign Fras. Burdett, Grand Viceroy, Eusebius W.Robt.Woodman, M.D., Grand Recorder.

The early records of the White Rose of York Conclave show that there was considerable local interest and support for this Order with a regular flow of candidates several of whom were admitted into the Order in the offices of Illustrious Knight Brittain at the Alma Works or at emergency meetings of the Conclave. A particular feature of these early years being outings by the members in hired landaus to places of interest and refreshment.

On Friday 16th June 1876 the Conclave was granted a dispensation to hold a meeting at Rowton Hall, Stanton-in-Peak, near Bakewell, Derbyshire, at the invitation of Brother the Reverend A.W.Hamilton, as the old Freemasons Hall in Sheffield had been demolished and a new Hall in Surrey Street was in the early stages of construction. Six new members of the Order were installed at that meeting and it was announced that in recognition of his outstanding work regarding the foundation of the Conclave, Sir Knight Samuel Bramhall Ellis, had been appointed to the rank of Intendant General Unattached. It was at that meeting that the Brother Knights of the Order made a presentation of a silver snuff box to Illustrious Knight Brittain as a mark of the respect and esteem in which he was held. This was to become one of his most prized possessions, which he was to use with pleasure for many years.

This excursion was to establish a precedent peculiar to the White Rose of York Conclave in which the members would undertake a summer outing to places of interest or of natural beauty, where they enjoyed either a picnic or the offerings of some suitable hostelry. Starting with the members riding in horse drawn carriages and progressing to day trips on the train and then to motor-cars these excursions would continue until the 1930s.

On the 27th November 1876 Illustrious Knight Brittain led a team of officers to the Masonic Hall in Kingston upon Hull where he Consecrated the De La Pole Conclave No. 132 and Enthroned Worthy Knight the Honorable W.T.Orde Powlett, who was later to become Lord Bolton, a member of the White Rose of York Conclave, as the first Most Puissant Sovereign. He was another very distinguished freemason who was shortly afterwards to be appointed as Intendant General for North and East Yorkshire.

Illustrious Knight Orde Powlett accompanied by Illustrious Knight Ellis attended a meeting in the Masonic Rooms of the Queens Hotel, Micklegate, York on Thursday 25th January 1877 where eight members of the Eboracum Lodge resolved to form a Red Cross of Constantine Conclave. A Conclave was opened and those brethren present were admitted to the Order with Sir Knight Thomas B. Whytehead being enthroned as Sovereign and Sir Knight Thomas Cooper was obligated as Viceroy. A petition, having been previously submitted to Grand Imperial Conclave, was approved and a warrant for the Eboracum Conclave No. 137 was issued on the 25th January 1877 a rapidity which suggests either clairvoyance on someone’s part or the exchange of some unrecorded correspondence.

Members of both the De La Pole and the Eboracum Conclaves were to be regular visitors to the White Rose of York Conclave for several years, indeed at one stage it was suggested that these three Conclaves should form a Division for the whole of Yorkshire although nothing was to come of that particular proposition.

The Order of the Red Cross of Constantine in Sheffield was progressing very well until the 26th May 1880 when it was discovered that the Conclave was in serious financial trouble. Illustrious Knight Samuel B. Ellis had run into considerable difficulties with his business and he had used Conclave and other Masonic Orders money for his own purposes. Bills were outstanding and a sum of eighty-nine pounds, one shilling and four pence was missing apparently with no chance of recovery. Samuel Ellis left Sheffield and was never heard of again, a very sad ending for a man who had worked extremely hard, some would say perhaps too hard, for the Masonic movement in West Yorkshire.

The effect that this news had on the Conclave could hardly have been worse, local interest in the Order waned and attendances fell to such a level that between 1886 and 1894 there were no meetings at all. However on the 18th May 1894, thanks to the considerable efforts of Illustrious Knight Brittain and few stalwart supporters the White Rose of York Conclave began to hold regular meetings again.

Probably at the suggestion of Grand Imperial Conclave and to enable worthy members of the Order to be recognised in an appropriate fashion, Illustrious Knight Brittain began to hold formal Divisional Meetings in conjunction with a regular meeting of the Conclave. On Tuesday 16th March 1897 within the White Rose of York Conclave, a Divisional Conclave was opened and Illustrious Knight Britain gave the following address:-

“Sir Knights, our Order is of no recent date. Formed in the year 314 by the Illustrious Constantine it was revived by Brethren of Eminence in Masonry, of whom the late Judge Waller Rodwell Wright was the chief, in the later part of the last Century, and who in 1806 drew up a declaration of the principles of the Order. I commend this declaration to your attention Sir Knights. The objects of this degree are therein stated briefly. 1. To draw closer the bond of Masonic Union 2. To prevent the perversions of its institutions. 3. To combat Infidelity and Treason

Our Conclave, No. 120, the first in the Province of West Yorkshire, was founded on the 7th April 1875 and continued in active work to the year 1886. During this period 56 Sir Knights were admitted members of our Order and 10 Sir Knights passed the Chair of Constantine. It was during this period that the De la pole Conclave was founded in the Ancient town of Kingston upon Hull of which Lord Bolton, formerly a member of our Conclave, became the first M.P.P. From certain causes, which it is unnecessary to refer, active work was suspended until the year 1894 when the Conclave again met. Its subsequent history is within the memory of most of the Sir Knights present. It now numbers on its muster role 40 members and has before it, I trust, a period of prosperity and usefulness. It will not be out of place for me to put on record the services of those members of this Conclave who have in various ways assisted in the resuscitation of our Conclave. I wish specially to refer to the great work undertaken and carried out so ably by Sir Knight Binney. Without his energy and untiring zeal in conducting the necessary correspondence, and undertaking all the details connected with the renewal of our work, the Conclave might have been still dormant. I must also refer to the work of Sir Knight Andrew, who, by his personal interest and liberality while in the Chair, contributed so much to make that renewal a success. To each of these Sir Knights it is my highest pleasure to tender the best thanks of the Conclave. The services of Sir Knight Andrew were recognised by G.I.C, who have conferred upon him the office of Grand Vice Chancellor in G.I.C. I have, in recognition of Sir Knight Binney’s services and with the approval of G.I.C. appointed him my Deputy in this Province, an appointment which will, I am sure, meet with your approval. I have also, Sir Knights, to communicate to you another matter materially affecting the prosperity of the Order in this Province. Acting upon the authority conferred upon me as Intendant General of West Yorkshire I have decided to form a Divisional Conclave and I shall invest the Divisional Officers today. I trust one effect of the Divisional Conclave will be the formation of at least one new Conclave in a sister city, of which a worthy and highly esteemed Sir Knight would make a most excellent sovereign. In connection with the formation of the Divisional Conclave it is only my duty to refer to the valuable services rendered to the Order by Sir Knight Holmes. He was the first to be admitted a member of our Conclave after what I may style the interregnum. He has taken an active interest in its prosperity. As Recorder he has carefully examined and indexed our records from the commencement. He has also most ably carried out all the matter of detail connected with the formation of the Divisional Conclave. I am told that Sir Knight Holmes engagements prevent him serving in the various offices which would have fallen to his lot and have led to his occupying the Chair of Constantine, so I shall ask you to pass a resolution recommending Sir Knight Holmes to G.I.C., for the rank of Past Sovereign which the council has the power to confer for such services. Finally Sir Knights let me remind you that, to use the impressive words used at the dedication of a new Conclave, our ensign is the banner of the Cross, the highest and the holiest ever lifted up for man to follow and revere. The principles which are taught, and the objects which are desired to be attained by all who have sincerely entered our Christian Order are Faith, Unity and Zeal Faith in the Omnipotent Ruler of the Universe Unity by which we as brethren are bound together Zeal, which animates our labours Let us then Brethren Guard the vestibule of our Temple and let none to pass its sacred threshold but Brethren faithful and true.”

After delivering this stirring address and having the warrant authorising the formation of a Divisional Conclave read to the assembly, Illustrious Knight Brittain went on to appoint and invest the first team of Divisional Officers for the West Yorkshire Division as follows:-

Viceroy Sir Kt. H.H.Andrew Senior General Sir Kt. J.T.Moss Junior General Sir Kt. Harold Thomas High Prelate Sir Kt. Reverend J.G.Williams Treasurer Sir Kt. Charles Letch Mason Recorder Sir Kt. A.T.E.Holmes Chamberlain Sir Kt. John Barker Marshal Sir Kt. J.E.Darling Prefect Sir Kt. H.W.Dawson Insp. of Regalia Sir Kt. F.Cleeves 1st Standard Bearer Sir Kt. Jonus Shaw 2nd Standard Bearer Sir Kt. Robert Davidson Sword Bearer Sir Kt. C.F.Brindley Organist Sir Kt. Joshuah Mellows 1st Herald Sir Kt. F.G.Cornie 2nd Herald Sir Kt. V.G.S.Dearden Director of Ceremonies Sir Kt. W.E.Gray

Illustrious Knight Brittain repeated this procedure for appointing Divisional Officers on the 22nd February 1899, the 28th February 1900 and the 26th February 1902

The predicted expansion of the West Yorkshire Division actually began right at the end of the nineteenth century when Sir Knight Charles Letch Mason, a Past Master of the Philanthropic Lodge No. 304, founder of the Leeds Educational and Benevolent Institution, a renowned lecturer and ritualist, and a Red Cross of Constantine Mason in the White Rose of York Conclave, was appointed to the rank of Intendant General Unattached, with a remit to form a new Conclave in the City of Leeds. He was to be very ably assisted by Sir Knight John Barker, another member of the White Rose of York Conclave and who was later to be a highly respected Provincial Prior in the Masonic Order of the Temple.

On the 14th March 1899 a circular was issued under the names of C.L.Mason and J.Barker, stating that, if a sufficient number were agreeable, arrangements could be made to open a Conclave of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine in Leeds by dispensation and to confer the Degree so as to enable such brethren to be present at the Consecration of the new Conclave. The circular went on to say that the proposed annual subscription was to be ten shillings and sixpence. (A rate that was to remain operative for the next fifty years)

Eight days later on the 22nd March 1899, a further circular was issued under the names of Worthy Knights Charles Letch Mason, John Barker and Jeremiah Leach Allerton, who, at the time, held the position of Senior General in the Eboracum Conclave at York. This notice called a meeting to be held at the Masonic Rooms, 90 Albion Street, Leeds for the purpose of conferring the Degree of the Red Cross of Constantine and to sign the petition for the new Conclave. Eleven Master Masons attended that meeting and in due course a warrant was issued.

This was dated the 14th April1899 and named the new Conclave as the Loidis Conclave No.157 and further stated that arrangements for a Consecration ceremony of the new Conclave were in hand..

On Saturday 27th May 1899, the Grand Sovereign, The Right Honourable the Earl of Euston, G.C.T., G.C.C., accompanied by Sir Knight C.F.Matier, Intendant General of Lancashire and a past member of the White Rose of York Conclave, Sir Knight Charles Belton, Intendant General of Berkshire, Sir Knight Major C.W.Carrel, Grand Junior General, Sir Knight Rev. C.E.L.Wright, Grand High Prelate, and Sir Knight Doctor C.S.Brewer, Grand Marshall, attended at the Masonic Hall, Carlton Hill, Leeds, to Consecrate the new Conclave.

The Deputy Intendant General for West Yorkshire, Sir Knight Joseph Binney and Sir Knight Harold Thomas, Grand Almoner, both from the White Rose of York Conclave No. 120 were in attendance.

After the Consecration ceremony the Grand High Prelate delivered a beautifully phrased Oration, in which he referred to the reason why the name of the Conclave had been chosen. He stated that the name of the city had been derived from a Dark Ages Chieftain named Leod and at various times the place had been called Leodiensis or Loidis. He quoted an article from 1713 which stated, “ Loidis, two miles lower than Christall Abbey on the River Aire, is a praty market town having one paroche chirche, reasonably well builded, and as large as Bradeford, but not as quick as it. The town standith most by clothing”. He then went on to compare the quaint spellings and phraseology with the city as it then stood having a population of over 400.000 with 180 places of worship being a centre of heavy engineering and clothing manufacture which he said bode well for the future of the new Conclave.

The first officers of the Loidis Conclave were appointed and invested as:-

Sovereign Sir Kt. Charles Letch Mason. Int. Gen. Un Viceroy Sir Kt. John Barker. Past G.Hist. First General Sir Kt .Jeremiah Leach Atherton Second General Sir Kt. William Edward Smithies High Prelate Sir Kt. Robert John Smith Treasurer Sir Kt. Benjamin Sykes Bailey Recorder Sir Kt. Joseph Masterman Prefect Sir Kt. Hugh Sugden Holdsworth Standard Bearer Sir Kt. Richard Hodgson Herald Sir Kt. William Hugo Rendell First Aide de Camp Sir Kt. Thomas Gaukroger Howell Second Aide de Camp Sir Kt. George Whittaker Sentinel Sir Kt. Thomas Frederick Wheeler.

At the conclusion of the Consecration ceremony a further eight worthy master masons were admitted to the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine.

After luncheon eighteen Brother Knights were received into the Orders of the Holy Sepulchre and of Saint John the Evangalist in a ceremony conducted in an exemplary manner by the Grand Marshal, Sir Knight Doctor C.S.Brewer ably assisted by Sir Knight R.J.Voisey.

It is worth remembering that in 1899 a skilled craftsman would have been paid between twenty-two and thirty shillings a week but many young women were employed in sweat shops for six shillings a week and they could be fined two pence a day if they were a minute late. On the other hand Mr Williams, a tailor on Briggate, Leeds, could sell to the aspiring executive a top quality business suit for sixty-three shillings and it is also worth noting (perhaps with some envy) that the duty on wine was one shilling and sixpence a gallon.

Over the next three years the Loidis Conclave was to grow quite considerably with candidates being admitted at every meeting. Perhaps this was because a supper in the Carlton Hill Masonic Rooms followed these meetings for which the members paid the sum of one shilling and sixpence.

At the regular meeting held in November 1903 Loidis Conclave received visitors for the first time when Eminent Knight W.H.Brittain, the Intendant General, and Eminent Knight Joseph Binney, Deputy Intendant General, attended. The meeting was called off at 7.00 p.m. and a Divisional Grand Conclave was opened. Divisional business was conducted including the appointment of officers. The Intendant General reported that in terms of membership the White Rose of York Conclave was second and the Loidis Conclave was third in the entire list of all the Red Cross of Constantine Conclaves in the country. After the closure of the Divisional Conclave the regular activities of the Loidis Conclave were continued.

This was to set the pattern of Divisional Conclave Meetings for the next twenty years with the White Rose of York Conclave in Sheffield and the Loidis Conclave in Leeds acting as alternate hosts at regular meetings on the 2nd November 1904 at Sheffield, on the 13th November 1906 at the newly built Masonic Hall, Great George Street, Leeds, on the 24th February 1909 at Sheffield, when Lieutenant Colonel John Walter Stead was installed as Divisional Viceroy, on the 14th February 1911 in Leeds and the 26th February 1913 at Sheffield, when Illustrious Knight Henry Peckett was appointed as Deputy Intendant General of the Division.

On the 4th August 1914 German troops invaded Belgium and in accordance with previous agreed treaties Great Britain declared war against Germany. Thirteen days later a British Expeditionary Force of 70,000 men landed in France. After the initial indecisive engagements at Mons and on the River Marne trench warfare began with all its horrors and which was to drain the manpower of Britain and the Empire for the next four years.

Although some Masonic activities continued throughout this period they were severely curtailed and Divisional Meetings were suspended whilst a state of national emergency continued and because many of our members were directly involved with military and civil duties.

After nearly fifty years of leading the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine in the West Yorkshire Division, a quite remarkable record for a man who was also a Justice of the Peace, Master Cutler of Sheffield in 1878, a Town Councillor for fifty years serving as Mayor in 1883 and 1884 as well as being Chairman of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce from 1891 to 1895 Illustrious Knight William Henry Brittain finally succumbed to age and infirmity, and he was eventually forced to relinquish the reins of authority to another very distinguished Yorkshire freemason.

In the spring of 1921 the Grand Sovereign, Colonel Charles Warren Napier-Clavering appointed the then Recorder of Loidis Conclave, Illustrious Knight Lt. Colonel John Walter Stead, as Intendant General for West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Trained as a Solicitor, J.W.Stead was the senior partner of a very successful law practice, Stead, Jobbings and Fawcett of Cookridge Street, Leeds. In the 1946 edition of Kelly’s Trade Directory, he was to be listed as Solicitor, Commissioner for Oaths and Public Prosecutor for the City of Leeds.

As a young man he had joined the Territorial Army as a Private Soldier in the Leeds Rifle Brigade. He was quickly promoted to Sergeant before being commissioned as an Officer and then progressed to eventually assume command of the 7th Battalion (Leeds Rifles) The Prince of Wales Own West Yorkshire Regiment. At the outbreak of war in August 1914, Lt. Colonel Stead was Commanding Officer of the 15th Service Battalion ( 1st Leeds ), unofficially but popularly known as the Leeds Pals Battalion, in which capacity he was responsible for the recruitment and initial training of over one thousand men for Lord Kitchener’s Volunteer Army.

Early in 1915 Lt. Colonel Stead was transferred to the command of the 11th Battalion of the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry where he continued to train those men who were then being conscripted into the army. We can hardly imagine what his feelings must have been when the news came through that 800 of his trainees had gone into action in the morning of the 1st July 1916 on the banks of the River Somme and in the space of ten minutes had been reduced to one officer and forty seven privates. Six months later replacements, also trained by Colonel Stead, had the task of recovering bodies of those who had fallen on that dreadful day.

He was a holder of the Volunteers Decoration and an expert pistol shot, winning the National Rifle Association medal for pistol shooting at Bisley in 1911. He was obviously highly regarded by those who served under him as illustrated by the fact that when the Memorial to the Leeds Pals was unveiled at Costerdale in 1935 veterans specifically asked him to officiate.

His Masonic career had begun in 1896 when he was the first Initiate of the Headingley Lodge No.2608 becoming Worshipful master in 1903. He was appointed Provincial Registrar in 1905 promoted to Past Provincial Senior Grand Warden in 1937 and Past Grand Assistant Director of Ceremonies of United Grand Lodge of England in 1938.

He was the Founder and Editor of the “Transactions of the Leeds Installed Masters Association from 1904 to 1909 and Treasurer from 1906 to 1907

John Walter Stead was also to hold high rank in several other Masonic Orders including:-

Holy Royal Arch Provincial Grand Registrar 1907 Mark Master Masons Provincial Grand Registrar 1907 Provincial Senior Warden 1911 P.A.G.D.C. Mark Grand Lodge 1931 Knights Templar Provincial Great Sword Bearer 1905 Provincial Prelate 1908 Great Herald 1930 Knight Templar Priests Grand 6th Pillar 1936 S.R.I.A. York College High Councillor 1908

In the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine Very Illustrious Knight Stead enjoyed a particularly distinguished career which, apart from being a founder of the Loidis Conclave No. 157 and progressing through all the offices, included:- Grand Sword Bearer 1908 Grand Assistant Recorder 1909 Grand Architect 1910 Grand High Almoner 1911 Grand Senior General 1912 Intendant General West Yorks & Notts 1921 Knight Grand Cross of Constantine 1928

The appointment of Colonel Stead as Intendant General marked a period of considerable growth and development for the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine and the West Yorkshire Division. On Saturday the 2nd January 1923 the Grand Sovereign, Colonel Charles Warren Napier-Clavering, accompanied by a team of Grand Officers came to the Masonic Hall, Avenue Road, Harrogate, where they conducted the ceremony of Consecration for the Saint Helena Conclave No. 165. The first Sovereign, Illustrious Knight A.W.Hinsley-Walker was Enthroned and Worthy Knight Lt.Col. Myers Wayman, O.B.E., was appointed as Viceroy, although he was not consecrated until the following meeting. Of the seventeen founding members sixteen were from the Loidis Conclave. Two years later in 1925 this new Conclave was able to host a Divisional Meeting.

Further expansion of the West Yorkshire Division occurred on the 25th January 1925 when the Intendant General, Very Illustrious Knight John W. Stead, together with his Deputy, Illustrious Knight Captain John Stokes, Illustrious Knight John Blackburn Jowett, acting as High Prelate, and the Divisional Recorder, Illustrious Knight Henry Peckitt, travelled to the Masonic Hall, Surrey Street, Sheffield where they Consecrated the Royal Standard Conclave No.167. Eminent Knight William David Forsdike was Enthroned by the Deputy Intendant General as the first M.P.S. and Eminent Knight Arthur S.Lee was consecrated as Viceroy. Of the founding members three were from the White Rose of York Conclave No. 120 and eleven were members of the Loidis Conclave No. 157.

In typical Masonic fashion all the details of Divisional Meeting held between 1921 and 1937 were lost when a Worthy Knight Jepson gathered the minute books and other documentation in his business office for the purpose of writing a history of the Division up to that time. Fate was against him as a serious fire destroyed all of the paperwork that he was then holding, consequently our direct knowledge of work and officers then within the Division is non-existent.

What is known is that on the 8th June 1928, The Intendant General, V.Ill. Knight Stead, took a team of Divisional Officers to the Freemasons Hall, St.John’s Place, Halifax, and there Consecrated the Centurion Conclave No. 170 where the first M.P.S was Very Illustrious Knight Joseph Arthur Worsnop. J.P., a Past Sovereign of the Loidis Conclave No.157. Amongst the other founding members we find V.Ill Knight Clifford Ramsden and V.Ill. Knight Sir David Wadsworth Smith both subsequently Provincial Priors for West Yorkshire in the Masonic Order of the Temple and who were to occupy the Chair of Most Puissant Sovereign in 1930 and 1931 respectively.

Just over two years later on the 6th December 1930 Colonel Stead was again leading his Divisional Officers to the Masonic Hall, Boroughgate, Otley for the Consecration of the Wharfedale Conclave No. 173. The founders included V.Ill Knight J.A.Worsnop, Ill. Knight Henry Wilson, V.Ill.Knight Clifford Ramsden, who was to be the first Sovereign, V.Ill.Knight Thomas Kirby.Kelly, V.Ill.Knight Frederick W.Hobson, Ill.Knight Arthur W.Wadsworth, V.Ill.Knight John W.Bell and Sir Knight Edward Arnold Braithewaite. The warrant, signed by the Grand Sovereign, arrived in Otley just one hour before the Consecration. At this meeting it was decided that the annual subscription should be one guinea ( £1.05 ) a rate that was to stand for many years.

On the 18th April 1934 the expansion of the West Yorkshire Division continued with the Consecration of the Roman Eagle Conclave No. 178 at Spring Bank Place, Bradford. Again the Divisional team was lead by the Intendant General, Colonel John Walter Stead. The first Most Puissant Sovereign was Very Illustrious Knight Thomas Kirby Kelly a founder and past Sovereign of the Wharfedale Conclave No.173, and was later to serve as Deputy Intendant General. Amongst the other founders we find the name of Illustrious Knight Edward Smith another Provincial Prior in the Order of the Temple.

The Division of West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire became a working reality on the 7th December 1935 when Very Illustrious Knight John Walter Stead and a number of the senior officers of the Division, travelled by train to the Masonic Hall, Goldsmith Street, Nottingham, and there Consecrated the Nottingham Conclave No. 180. The first Sovereign of the Conclave was Very Illustrious Knight, The Reverend Walter Sidney Hildersley and his Viceroy was Very Illustrious Knight Arthur Samuel Lee. The founders included Very Illustrious Knight Lt.Colonel Ralph Broughton Haywood and Illustrious Knight Albert Boswell Nutt, both past Sovereigns of the White Rose of York Conclave No. 120, who were subsequently to lead the Division as Intendant General.

On the 1st September 1939 armoured troops of the German Army invaded Poland and, in accordance with the treaty of mutual defence signed by Britain and France, the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced on Sunday the 3rd of September that this country was once again at war with Germany. Immediately many Masonic brethren were called to military or civil defence duties and meetings had to cancelled or severely limited. It would not have been appropriate or even possible to continue holding Divisional Meeting of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine but the Intendant General endeavoured to keep the members involved by appointing Divisional Officers by postal notice. There were no Divisional Meetings in 1939 and 1940, however it was felt that it would be possible to hold an Assembly at the Castle Grove Masonic Hall on Saturday 15th July 1941 under the banner of the Loidis Conclave. In the event ninety-nine Brother Knights attended including ten from Nottinghamshire, a quite remarkable effort Immediately following the Divisional Meeting a K.H.S. ceremony was worked at which nineteen Knights were admitted.

Conditions in 1942 were difficult for everyone with food, clothes and even soap severely rationed. Bombing of cities and towns was a regular occurrence and the Grand Master of the Craft, His Royal Highness, the Duke of Kent, had been killed on the 25th of August whilst flying on official duties for the Royal Air Force. Once again the Annual Divisional Meeting was cancelled and the Officers for the year were appointed by postal notice.

Although home conditions were still severe throughout the following year the Allied Forces were beginning to achieve some success. The Afrika Corps had been defeated and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s Army was in full retreat and Tunisia had been recaptured. Twenty three year old Wing Commander Guy Gibson had led a force of eighteen Lancaster Bombers to breach the Mohne, Sorpe and Eder dams using the bouncing bomb designed by Dr. Barnes Wallis whilst a combined force of British and American soldiers under General Bernard Montgomery and General George Patton had invaded Sicily.

The Intendant General called a Divisional meeting under the banner of Loidis Conclave at the Castle Grove Masonic Hall, Leeds, on Saturday 17th July 1943. On this occasion only fifty-four Brother Knights were able to attend and there was no festive board.

1944 was a momentous year with the Allies being involved in severe fighting in Italy, Burma, the Phillipines and Europe. Shortly after the D Day Landings on the 6th of June, London suffered it’s first attacks by the V 1 Flying Bomb causing another evacuation of children. Food was still strictly rationed and there were shortages of virtually all raw materials. The Divisional Meeting was again cancelled and the Officers for the Year were appointed by post.

Allied Forces achieved final victory over the German Wehrmacht with Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery accepting their unconditional surrender on the 8th of May 1945. Japan was to surrender on the 14th of August following the dropping of Atomic Bombs on the cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Peace was declared amidst great rejoicing and although rationing was still being imposed this was a time for looking forward and our Order was no exception.

In the Spring of 1945 a petition was compiled and signed by thirty-six Brother Knights requesting permission to form a new Red Cross of Constantine Conclave in Doncaster. This was approved by Grand Imperial Conclave and on Saturday the 25th August 1945 the Intendant General for West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, Very Illustrious Knight John Walter Stead, V.D., G.C.C., together with a full team of Divisional Officers, travelled to the Masonic Hall, Priory Place, Doncaster to Consecrate the Ebor Rosa Conclave No. 186. The first Sovereign, Very Illustrious Knight, Albert B.Nutt, P.G.Std.B., was Enthroned by the Intendant General and the Viceroy, Illustrious Knight Edward Boot, was Consecrated by the acting Deputy Intendant General, Very Illustrious Knight Job Holland, P.G.J.G., nothing is recorded regarding a Consecration Banquet although there is a note in the minutes of the organising committee that the expenditure of the M.P.S. should be limited to £10 10s for providing cigars, cigarettes and cocktails at his Installation Dinner.

After this very happy occasion a Divisional Meeting was called and held on the Saturday 29th September 1945 at the Masonic Hall, Surrey Street, Sheffield, under the Banners of the White Rose of York Conclave and the Royal Standard Conclave. Forty-six Brother Knights attended with a further twenty submitting apologies.

The year 1946 was a time of considerable readjustment for the entire country after the traumas of the Second World War. The Labour Government of Clement Attlee had nationalised the Coal Industry, Road Transport, Railways, Docks and Harbours, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Stafford Cripps, was operating his Austerity Budget. None the less it was possible to hold a Divisional Meeting at the Castle Grove Masonic Hall, Leeds, held under the Banner of the Loidis Conclave No.157. All nine conclaves of the Division were represented and sixty Worthy Knights were able to attend.

It was at this meeting that Very Illustrious Knight Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Boughton Haywood, Past Grand General, was appointed and invested as the Deputy Intendant General of the West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire Division. Very Illustrious Knight Herbert Britt Jobbings, Past Grand High Almoner, was elected as Treasurer of the Division. This was a particularly significant day as both these Worthy Knights were to go on to serve our Order in much higher capacities.

The Masonic community of West Yorkshire and the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine in particular suffered a most grievous loss in January 1947 with the death of John Walter Stead at the age of eighty-nine. Without doubt he was a dedicated ritualist, a very able administrator and an inspiring leader of men. His generosity was outstanding as marked by his personal gift to the Division of the Standard of Constantine that is to this very day carried at all Divisional Meetings, he also paid for the Banner of the Loidis Conclave, which is still in use, the batons carried by the Sovereigns of those Conclaves that he had Consecrated, and in his will he left a bequest for the then considerable sum of £1,000 to the Leeds Masonic Benevolent and Education Institution.

His natural successor was the man who had been appointed Deputy Intendant General at the previous Divisional Meeting. The Grand Sovereign, Dr.Charles Herbert Perram was quick to confirm this appointment, and at a Convocation of the Division he was duly Installed as the third Intendant General of West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.

Ralph Boughton Haywood had been born in June 1874, the son of William and Martha Haywood of Rotherham and the grandson of George Haywood a founding partner of the Yates and Haywood Iron Foundry, a well known manufacturer of cast iron stoves, kitchen ranges, rails and balustrades. He was to enjoy a prosperous upbringing in a household that employed a cook, a housemaid and a scullery maid.

His early training involved working for the family firm where he developed much of his technical skills and knowledge of metallurgy. He became a member of the Worshipful Company of Patternmakers, a London Livery Company, which he was to become Master of in 1933.

An interest in all aspects of technology resulted in him being commissioned as an officer in the West Yorkshire Division of the Royal Engineers Territorial Army, in which capacity he was to see active service on the Western Front in 1915, by which time he had reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was a holder of the British War Medal and the Territorial Decoration.

With the sale of the Iron Founding Company Ralph Haywood had become a gentleman of considerable private means and devoted himself to world wide travel. With his wife Mabel he was to undertake several long distance sea voyages including Bombay in 1928, Yokohama in 1930, Australia in 1936 and the West Indies in 1938

His Masonic career had begun with his Initiation into the Ivanhoe Lodge No. 1779 where he was first installed as Worshipful Master in 1915. Being called for war service severely interrupted his Lodge activities so he again went into the Chair in 1921. Membership of a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was an obvious progression for him and in 1919 he developed an interest in Christian Masonry, which resulted in him joining the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine, being Installed into the White Rose of York Conclave No 120. He became Most Puissant Sovereign in 1927 where his talents were recognised as illustrated by his appointments to Divisional and Grand Rank. In 1935 he was a founding member of the Nottingham Conclave No. 180 and in 1945 he was to be a founder of the Ebor Rosa Conclave No. 186.

The Grand Sovereign, Dr Charles Herbert Perram, G.C.C., conducted his Installation as the Intendant General of the West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire Division, which was held at the Masonic Hall, Surrey Street, Sheffield on Saturday 6th September 1947. Immediately after being Installed, his first duty was to be the appointment of his Deputy in the person of Very Illustrious Knight Thomas Kirkby Kelly.

His first official duty for the Division was to take his team of Officers to the Masonic Hall, Greenhead Road Huddersfield on Saturday 15th November 1947 for the Consecration of the Huddersfield Conclave No. 191. The first Sovereign of which was to be Puissant Knight T. Harold Senior who went on to appoint Eminent Knight James F.C.Cole as his Viceroy.

The first Divisional Meeting held under the authority of Very Illustrious Knight Haywood was on the Saturday 2nd April 1949 at the Masonic Hall, Castle Grove, Headingly, Leeds, under the joint banners of the Loidis, Wharfedale and Roman Eagle Conclaves.

Castle Grove was the location of his second Divisional Meeting, which was held on Saturday 4th March 1950 under the banner of the Huddersfield Conclave No.191, just a few weeks before petrol and soap rationing was brought to an end.

On Saturday 14th April 1951 Very Illustrious Knight Haywood called a Divisional Meeting to be held at the Masonic Hall, Goldsmith Street, Nottingham, which was to held under the banner of the Nottingham Conclave No.180. Three weeks later a great exhibition, cultural centre and fun-fair, called the Festival of Britain was opened by His Majesty King George VI on a reclaimed site in Battersea, London.

Ten months later the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine and indeed the whole Masonic Movement was greatly saddened to hear of the death, at Sandringham, of His Majesty King George V1 on the 6th February 1952, who had succumbed to lung cancer at the age of fifty-six. His eldest daughter the Princess Elizabeth was immediately proclaimed Queen. Nine weeks later on Saturday 14th April 1952 a Divisional Meeting was held at the Masonic Hall, Surrey Street, Sheffield, under the joint banners of the White Rose of York Conclave and the Royal Standard Conclave.

Very Illustrious Knight Ralph Boughton Haywood felt compelled to relinquish the office of Intendant General of West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire on the 22nd August 1952 when he wrote that the illness of his wife and his own advancing years greatly reduced his ability to fulfil his duties in the way that he would wish. As his Deputy was in a very similar situation he named Very Illustrious Knight Herbert Britt Jobbings of Loidis Conclave No. 157 as his successor.

Herbert Britt Jobbings was a relatively small man in stature but possessed of a charming and winning personality. Those who knew him said that he was a wonderfully kind man, steeped in Masonic knowledge, always generous of his time and efforts and a totally committed member of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine.

He had been Installed into the Loidis Conclave No.157 on the 11th February 1931 and progressing through the offices he was Enthroned as Sovereign in May 1937. It is clear that his character and abilities were quickly recognised because he was appointed as Divisional Grand Second Banner Bearer in October 1937 and Divisional Grand Senior General in 1938.

In December 1938 he also received his first appointment to Grand Imperial Conclave with the exceptional rank of Past Grand High Almoner.

In 1947 he was elected as the Divisional Treasurer and in 1950 he was appointed to the Executive Committee of Grand Imperial Conclave.

Following the resignation of Very Illustrious Knight Haywood, Herbert Britt Jobbings received his Warrant from Grand Imperial Conclave and he was Installed by the Grand Sovereign as Intendant General of the West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire Division at a special meeting held at the Masonic Hall, Castle Grove, Headingly, Leeds, on Saturday 29th September 1952.

Apart from regular visits to individual Conclaves Very Illustrious Knight Jobbings held Divisional Meetings at Otley in 1953, Huddersfield in 1954, Nottingham in 1955 and Sheffield in 1956, which were always well attended by the Worthy Knights of the Division.

In December 1956 he was awarded the honour of Knighthood of the Grand Cross of Constantine and early in 1957 the news that he had been appointed as the Grand Viceroy of the Order brought great pleasure to the members of his Conclave and the West Yorkshire Division as a whole. This was an appointment apparently conferred at very short notice which required him to relinquish his position as Intendant General, but he accepted the challenge and filled the office with great distinction until 1961. Due to the unexpected and untimely death of his successor he was re-appointed to this very demanding office in 1965 where he was to serve for a further twelve months.

Herbert Britt Jobbings was Initiated into Coronation Lodge No. 2922 and was a founder and Past Master of Horsford Lodge No. 5339. He was particularly active in the Holy Royal Arch being a member of the Philanthropic Chapter No.309 and also of Corona Chapter No. 2922. He was a founder of the Saint Michael’s Chapter No. 4353, which was Consecrated on the 29th October 1951. At one time he was the Provincial Joshua, served as President of the Leeds and District Royal Arch Council from 1946 to 1947 and was to receive Grand Honours as Past Grand Standard Bearer.

In his professional life Bert Jobbings was a solicitor in partnership with Colonel John Walter Stead having chambers in Cookridge Street, Leeds. He also served as a Vice- President of the Methodist Conference.

There is no doubt that he was a man of true Christian principle who was highly respected by all those who enjoyed the pleasure of knowing him. His son, Stuart, was to follow him into Freemasonry by joining and going through the Chair of Stability Lodge No. 7374 where he served as Charity Steward for many years.

The fifth Intendant General of the West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire Division was Very Illustrious Knight Albert Boswell Nutt, known to his friends as Bertie. Born on the 7th July 1898 he was educated at the King Edward VII School Sheffield and went on to read medicine at the University of Sheffield. He obtained the Degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at both Sheffield and London Universities and the Degree of Master of Science from London University. It was at Sheffield that he won the Clinical Gold Medal for Surgery.

From 1928 to 1963 he held various appointments as an ophthalmic surgeon at the Sheffield Royal Infirmary and the Sheffield Children’s Hospital, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1949 and Hunterian Professor of Surgery in 1954 as well as becoming an examiner for the Royal College. He was a Liveryman of the Society of Apothecaries and a Freeman of the City of London, he also awarded the Honarary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Sheffield University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to medical science.

Whilst still an undergraduate he became a member of University Lodge No.3911 in which he was to become Worshipful Master in 1937. He was to hold several Provincial appointments culminating in him serving as Assistant Provincial Grand Master from 1969 to 1978 whilst holding the rank of Past Senior Grand Deacon

He was exalted into the Holy Royal Arch in the Malton Chapter No. 1239 and he was a founding member of the University Chapter No.3911.

On the 22nd September 1933 he was Perfected into the De Lovetot Chapter No. 213 in the Ancient and Accepted Rite ( Rose Croix ) by his father Illustrious Brother E.S.Nutt. Bert Nutt progressed through the offices becoming Most Wise Sovereign in 1946. He was honoured three times by the Supreme Council eventually being progressed to the Thirty-second Degree, Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.

In 1930 he had been Installed in the White Rose of York Conclave No.120, becoming Most Puissant Sovereign in 1935. That same year he was to be a founding member of the Nottingham Conclave No.180 and ten years later on the 25th August 1945 he was a founder and became the first Sovereign of the Ebor Rosa Conclave No. 186

Following the resignation of Very Illustrious Knight Bert Jobbings, Albert Boswell Nutt was Installed as the fifth Intendant General of the West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire Division on Saturday 18th May 1957 by the Grand Sovereign, Major R.L.Loyd, O.B.E., M.C., G.C.C., at the Freemasons Hall, Manningham Lane, Bradford. He immediately appointed Very Illustrious Knight John Edward Pickles of Loidis Conclave No.157 as his Deputy.

Continuing with the example of his predecessors Very Illustrious Knight Nutt arranged his Divisional Meetings in as many parts of the Division as possible starting with Castle Grove, Headingly, Leeds in May 1958. This was followed by Nottingham in 1959, Huddersfield in 1960, Doncaster in 1961 and Sheffield in 1962.

The expansion of the West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire Division had continued when, on Saturday 27th May 1961, the Intendant General and his team of Divisional Officers travelled to the Masonic Hall, Nottingham Road, Mansfield, for the Consecration of the Mansfield Conclave No. 221. Puissant Knight J.Marriott was Installed as the first Sovereign and his Viceroy was Eminent Knight F.J.Roth.

On Monday 17th September 1962 a special meeting was held at the Masonic Hall, Goldsmith Street, Nottingham, where Illustrious Knight John Marriott, a member of the Nottingham Conclave No. 180 was appointed and invested as Deputy Intendant General by Very Illustrious Knight Nutt in the presence of the ninety-three members of the Division.

The May 1963 Divisional Meeting was also held in Nottingham but the 1964 Annual Meeting, held in Harrogate under the banner of the Saint Helena Conclave No. 165. This was marred by the illness of our Intendant General and his Deputy was required to officiate at very short notice. Fortunately Very Illustrious Knight Nutt had prepared his annual address in advance, and this was read for him by the Deputy. Much pleasure was expressed by the meeting when it was announced that the Grand Sovereign had been pleased to confer the honour of Knight Grand Cross of Constantine upon our Intendant General. It is worth recording that the address of welcome on this occasion was delivered by the Most Puissant Sovereign of the Saint Helena Conclave, Puissant Knight David James Welsh.

The May 1965 and 1966 Annual Divisional Meetings were held at Greenhead Road, Huddersfield and Castle Grove, Headingley, Leeds respectively.

On the 13th May 1967 the Divisional Meeting was held at the Masonic Hall, Nottingham Road, Mansfield under the banner of the Mansfield Conclave No.221. On this occasion the Division was honoured by a visit of the Grand Viceroy, Right Illustrious Knight, Brigadier C.B.S.Morley, C.B.E., T.D., D.L., G.C.C., who very graciously addressed the meeting.

A further expansion of the Division occurred on the 29th March 1968 when the Intendant General again lead his team of Officers to the Masonic Hall, Elm Avenue, Long Eaton, Nottingham for the Consecration of the Derwent Conclave No. 246. The first Sovereign to be Enthroned was Puissant Knight Captain J.Spencer, D.S.O., M.B.E., M.M., and his Viceroy was Puissant Knight Dr. R.Latham Brown.

That same year the Annual Divisional Meeting was held under the banner of the Roman Eagle Conclave at the Freemasons Hall, Manningham Lane, Bradford, where in front of ninety-six Worthy Knights the Intendant General was pleased to appoint and Invest Very Illustrious Knight Clifford Briggs Haigh as his Deputy. This was a man whose distinguished service to the this Order would earn him the very rare distinction of being appointed to the rank of Knight Commander of Constantine.

On Saturday 10th May 1969 the honour of hosting the Annual Divisional Meeting fell upon the Ebor Rosa Conclave No. 186 and this was held at the Masonic Hall, Priory Place, Doncaster. At this meeting the Intendant General referred to the very large geographical area then covered by the Division and he therefore appointed Illustrious Knight Charles M.Boak as Assistant Intendant General with particular responsibility for the southern part of the Division. The Intendant General also reported that the Grand Sovereign was reviewing the current arrangement of Divisions and that in due course this may have an effect on us.

Four months later on the 5th September 1969 at the Masonic Hall, Goldsmith Street, Nottingham, the Grand Sovereign Consecrated the Saint Mary’s Conclave No. 255 which gave rise to the formation of a new Division of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire with Very Illustrious Knight Charles M.Boak as its first Intendant General. The West Yorkshire Division was to continue under the leadership of Very Illustrious Knight Albert Boswell Nutt who assumed immediate responsibility for the nine Conclaves then remaining.

Annual Divisional Meetings of what was now the West Yorkshire Division were held at Tapton Hall, Sheffied in 1970, Castle Grove, Leeds in 1971, and Hoyle Court Baildon in 1972. At the 1972 meeting Illustrious Knight David James Welsh of Saint Helena Conclave was appointed and invested as Assistant Intendant General.

The Saint Helena Conclave No. 165 hosted the 1973 at the Masonic Hall, Station Road, Harrogate and this was followed in 1974 by a meeting at Greenhead Road, Huddersfield, under the banner of the Huddersfield Conclave No. 191. Unfortunately on this occasion the Intendant General was indisposed due to illness and the Deputy officiated for him.

A special meeting of Knights of the Division was called on Friday 27th September 1974 at the Masonic Hall, Castle Grove, Leeds, specifically to receive an address from the Grand Sovereign, Most Illustrious Knight, Brigadier C.B.S. Morley in which he reviewed the work of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine in general and the West Yorkshire Division in particular which he acknowledged to be the oldest Division in the Order and which had set the standard for others to follow.

The West Yorkshire Division held a Centenary Meeting at the Masonic Hall. Castle Grove, Leeds on Wednesday 16th April 1975 and we were honoured once again by the presence of the Grand Sovereign, this time accompanied by the Grand Marshal, Very Illustrious Knight Dr. G.L.C. Colenso-Jones G.C.C. A brief history of the Division was read by its author, Illustrious Knight Dr. L. Ward-Kay, the Divisional Viceroy.

As part of the Centenary celebrations a Church Service was held at the Parish Church, Melsham, near Huddersfield, on Sunday 14th September 1975, by permission of the Vicar, Worthy Knight Peter Spivey, Divisional High Prelate, who conducted the service, during which the Intendant General and the Deputy Intendant General both read portions of the Holy Scriptures. Afterwards the Worthy Knights of the Division and their Ladies retired to the Church Hall for refreshments, which had been prepared by parishioners, thus bringing to an end a most memorable and happy occasion.

The next annual meeting of the Division was held at the Masonic Hall, Eastwood, Todmorden under the banner of the Centurion Chapter No. 170 on Tuesday 8th May 1976. As the Intendant General was away visiting family in South Africa his Deputy very ably officiated for him.

Later that same year a special meeting was called to assemble at Tapton Hall, Sheffield on Friday 3rd September 1976 for the purpose of Consecrating a new conclave within the Division. This was the Saxa Rubra Conclave No. 308, which now meets at the Masonic Hall, Cockerham Lane, Barnesley. The ceremony of Consecration was conducted, in an exemplary manner, by the Intendant General, who was very ably assisted by a team of Divisional Officers. The first Sovereign of the new Conclave was Puissant Knight O. Wright and his Viceroy was Puissant Knight Rev.E.A.Smith.

Immediately following this ceremony the Intendant General announced that it was his intention to appoint and invest Very Illustrious Knight David James Welsh as the new Deputy Intendant General for the West Yorkshire Division. This was then done much to the pleasure of all the Worthy Knights present.

It was a great loss to all of the members of the West Yorkshire Division when it was announced that Very Illustrious Knight Albert B. Nutt, G.C.C., had died on 27th February 1978 after close on twenty-one years service as Intendant General.

David James Welsh was one of those rare individuals who it could be claimed were Masonic legends in their own lifetime. Initiated into the Doric Lodge No. 2695 in September 1953 he progressed through all of the regular offices until he was Installed as Worshipful Master in March 1961. He was a founder of the Harrogate and District Past Masters Lodge No. 8087 in 1966 and was to serve as its Worshipful Master in 1968. He was also the Founding Worshipful Master of the Linton Lodge No.9444 which was Consecrated in 1991 and even though it meant frequent trips to London he served as Worshipful Master of the Paulatim Lodge No. 4234 throughout 1995.

The Craft Province of West Yorkshire was very quick to recognise his potential by appointing him to the Acting Provincial Rank of Senior Deacon in 1971 followed by promotion to Assistant Provincial Grand Master in 1978 which in turn subsequently lead to his appointment as Provincial Grand Master in 1987 a position that he was to hold with great distinction until his retirement in 1993.

In the United Grand Lodge of England he had been appointed as Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies in 1976 and this had been followed by promotion to Past Senior Grand Deacon in 1980.

He was exalted into the Harrogate and Claro Royal Arch Chapter No. 1001 in 1955 where he served in the progressive offices until, in 1964, he became the First Principal. The West Yorkshire Province again recognised his skills by appointing him to the rank of Past Provincial Grand Sojourner in 1973. He was promoted to Past Provincial Grand Scribe Nehemiah in 1985 and was to serve as the Grand Superintendent of the Province from 1987 to 1993.

Supreme Grand Chapter appointed him to the rank of Past Grand Standard Bearer in 1977, which was followed by promotion to Past Assistant Grand Sojourner in 1985.

Because of his strong Christian faith and beliefs it was inevitable that David Welsh would be attracted to the Masonic Christian Orders. In September 1977 he was Perfected into the Harrogate Chapter No. 355 of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of the Rose Croix. Progressing through the offices he was Enthroned as the Most Wise Sovereign in 1968. He was quickly recognised by the Supreme Council by being appointed to the 30th Degree in 1969, promoted to the 31st Degree in 1982 and then to the 32nd Degree in 1988.

He was also very active in the United Religious, Masonic and Military Orders of the Temple and of Saint John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta by being Installed into the De Ros Preceptory No. 213 in April 1964, quickly progressing through the offices and becoming Eminent Preceptor in 1969. Having served on the Provincial Bodyguard he was a founder of the Cohors Praetoria Preceptory No. 587 in 1994 where he was to occupy the Chair of Eminent Preceptor in 1995.

The Knight Templar Province of West Yorkshire appointed him to the office of Provincial Almoner in 1972 and promoted him to Past Provincial 2nd Constable in 1979. Great Priory honoured him in 1986 by appointing him to the rank of Past Great Aide de Camp.

In 1994 David James Welsh was Received and Honoured into the Order of Royal and Select Masters at Bawtry in the William Henry Bound Council No. 186. He was a founder of the Council of the Three Grand Principles No. 189 at Dewsbury and was a joining member of the White Rose of York Council No. 17 at Ripon. Until ill health curtailed his activities he served as the District Grand Chaplain for this Order.

A member of the Mark Degree he was Advanced into the Knaresborough Castle Lodge No.768 in 1988 where once again he progressed through the offices until he became Worshipful Master in 1997. He was also Elevated into the Royal Ark Mariners Degree at Knaresborough in 1994,

There can be no possible doubt that the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine was very close to his heart being Installed into the Saint Helena Conclave No. 165 very early in his Masonic career in 1956. He served in the progressive offices until he became Most Puissant Sovereign of his Conclave in 1963. Becoming a joining member of the Loidis Conclave No. 157 in 1962 he undertook many roles including taking the Sovereign’s Chair in 1994. Appointed Divisional Chamberlain in 1958 he became Assistant Intendant General in 1972 and five years later in September 1977 he was promoted to Deputy Intendant General. There was considerable approval within the Division when he was appointed as the Right Illustrious Intendant General of the West Yorkshire Division in 1978.

His Installation took place on Wednesday 12th April 1978 at the Castle Grove Masonic Hall in the presence of the Grand Sovereign, Brigadier C.B.S. Morley, C.B.E., T.D.,D.L., G.C.C., and his Grand Viceroy, Right Illustrious Knight the Reverend Canon Richard Tydeman, M.A., G.C.C. and over a hundred Worthy Knights. His very first task was to appoint Very Illustrious Knight F.A.Kaye, P.G.H.Alm., of the Wharfedale Conclave as his Deputy Intendant General and Illustrious Knight Kenneth Hirst, P.G.Std.B., as his Viceroy. David Walsh was to occupy that high office with consummate skill, ability and distinction until his retirement fifteen years later in 1993.

He had been made a Grand Prefect of Grand Imperial Conclave in 1966 and he was promoted to Past Grand Chamberlain in 1973. Appointed as a Knight Commander of Constantine in 1982 he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of Constantine in 1988, At the time of his death on Wednesday 22nd April 2009 he was one of the longest serving holders of that particular distinction.

David Welsh had been born in Edinburgh but his childhood was somewhat nomadic with his early education being spread over a number of Institutions although he finally arrived at University College London where he read for the Degree of Batchelor of Science in Physics. He was called up for military service in 1940 where he was trained in the then new technology of Radar and he saw action with the Eighth Army in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. The last eighteen months of his service included a transfer to the Education Corps, which was to lead him to spend a year at the Institute of Education. Here he obtained his Teaching Diploma before taking up his post as Senior Physics Master at Ashville College in Harrogate where he was to spend thirty one very happy years teaching, the last five as Deputy Headmaster.

During his tenure of the office of Intendant General, David Welsh presided over a series of Divisional Meetings starting at Manningham Lane, Bradford in 1979 under the banner of the Roman Eagle Conclave No. 178. This was followed by meetings at Doncaster in 1980, Huddersfield in 1981 and Keighley in 1982.

On the 4th December 1982 he was to lead a Divisional Team to the Masonic Hall, Wellgate, Rotherham, where the Pillar of Light Conclave No. 370 was duly Consecrated in traditional form. The first Most Puissant Sovereign was Very Illustrious Knight Ronald Oxley, P.G.H.Alm., who subsequently appointed Puissant Knight Donald Turney as his Viceroy.

Divisional Meetings were then successively held at Barnsley in 1983, Rotherham in 1984, Sheffield in 1985, Leeds in 1986, Harrogate in 1987, Eastwood in 1988, Sheffield in 1989, Otley in 1990 and Bradford in 1991.

Right Illustrious Knight Welsh lead a team of Divisional Officers to the Masonic Hall in Goole on the 21st September 1991 where the Belgravia Conclave No. 412 was Consecrated in due and ancient form. Very Illustrious Knight Harold Whatmough, Past Grand Junior General, Past Deputy Intendant General, was Enthroned as the first Most Puissant Sovereign of the new Conclave, and Puissant Knight James F. Allsop, Past Divisional Chamberlain was appointed as the first Viceroy.

The last Divisional Meeting held under the guidance of David James Welsh took place at Tapton Hall, Sheffield on Saturday 25th April 1992 under the banner of the Ebor Rosa Conclave No. 186. This particular meeting saw the appointment of Illustrious Knight John W.Jordan as Divisional Recorder, Illustrious Knight Alexander Michael Jones as Almoner and Puissant Knight Anthony William Llewellyn as Standard Bearer Constantine,

Another educationalist and highly regarded Yorkshire Freemason was to be the next Intendant General of the West Yorkshire Division of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine, this was to be Right Illustrious Knight John Granville Clifford, a member and past Sovereign of the White Rose of York Conclave No.120.

John G. Clifford was born in Wakefield in 1928 but moved to Sheffield during the Second World War to complete his Secondary Education. In 1946 he entered the Teacher Training College, which was then affiliated to the University of Sheffield, where he obtained his Teacher’s Certificate.

Military service then intervened and he was called up to serve with the Sherwood Foresters but he was quickly transferred to the Education Corps with the rank of Sergeant Instructor.

Returning to civilian life he obtained his first teaching post at the Sharrow Lane Primary School in Sheffield. This was followed by a number of other appointments until he arrived at the Eccleshill Primary School, firstly as Deputy Head and then as Headmaster, a position that he was to hold until his early retirement in 1988.

His Masonic career had begun in January 1961 when he was Initiated into the White Rose of York Lodge No.2491 where he progressed through all of the lodge offices until his Installation into the Chair in November 1975, a position that he was to hold again in 1983/84. His talents in the Crafts were recognised by his appointment to Provincial Grand Rank, Grand Rank and finally Assistant Provincial Grand Master, a position that he was to hold for the five years 1997 to 2002.

His interest in all aspects of freemasonry would soon lead him to be Exalted into the White Rose of York Chapter No. 2491 in 1966 but due to other commitments was unable to progress until 1977 when he re-joined, went on to the officers ladder and became First Principal in 1985. Once again he was recognised by the Province of West Yorkshire being appointed firstly as Past Provincial Grand Registrar, promoted to Past Provincial Grand Scribe Nehamiah and then granted Grand Honours as Past Grand Standard Bearer.

A very keen Mark Master Mason , John Clifford joined the Lascelles Lodge No. 887 by being Advanced in 1975 where he progressed through the Chair in 1987 and again was honoured with acting Provincial Grand Rank and finally Grand Rank as Past Grand Standard Bearer.

John Granville Clifford was brought up to have a strong religious faith and this naturally resulted in him becoming interested in the Christian Orders of Freemasonry. He was Perfected into the Ancient and Accepted Rite ( Rose Croix ) in the De Lovetot Chapter No.213 in which he progressed through the Offices until he became the Most Wise Sovereign in 1987. He was also a joining member of the Hallam Chapter No.922. The Supreme Council has honoured him by raising him to the 30th Degree in 1988, the 31st Degree in 1997 and the 32nd Degree in 2005.

The Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine has always held a particularly important part of his affections. In March 1979 he was Installed into the Royal Standard Conclave No. 167 but, because at that time the membership was particularly strong and progress was slow, he became a founder of the Pillar of Light Conclave No. 370 in Rotherham. It was here that he progressed through the Chair in 1986.followed almost immediately by his appointment as Divisional Chamberlain. and shortly afterwards as Past Grand Prefect.

On Saturday 24th April 1993 he became the seventh Intendant General of the West Yorkshire Division when the Grand Sovereign, Most Illustrious Knight the Reverend Canon Richard Tydeman M.A., G.C.C. assisted by officers of Grand Imperial Conclave conducted the meeting, which was held at the Masonic Hall, Greenhead Road, Huddersfield. This was an office that he was to hold with considerable distinction as was recognised by Grand Imperial Conclave by his appointment as a Knight Commander of Constantine upon his retirement in 2003.

When he retired from his professional duties John Clifford went to live in the village of Eyam in Derbyshire and, because of its history and his own researches, he has become an authority on the bubonic plague and its effects upon communities. He has regularly appeared on television and still gives talks and guided tours to visitors to that part of the country.

If that were not enough, at the time of writing, he is a member and past president of the Sheffield Masonic Study Group, President of the Sheffield Royal Arch Council and Vice President of the Sheffield Past Masters Association. He manages all of this in spite of the onset of various ailments that were supposed to slow him down.

There can be no denying that John G. Clifford is one of those individuals who gives freely of his time, knowledge and friendship and who has served freemasonry and his community very well indeed. He continued the practice of holding annual Divisional Meetings the first of which was at Cockerham Lane, Barnsley on the 23rd April 1994 under the banner of the Saxa Rubra Conclave No. 308.

This was followed by meetings at Rotherham in 1995, Goole in 1996, Sheffield 1997 and Leeds 1998, which happened to be the occasion at which Illustrious Knight A.Michael Jones was appointed and invested as Deputy Intendant General of the West Yorkshire Division.

Rather fortuitously the 1999 Divisional Meeting coincided with a particularly significant event for Red Cross Masonry in West Yorkshire. On Saturday 24th April 1999 the Grand Sovereign, Most Illustrious Knight Commander Ronald A.Champion, R.N., G.C.C., accompanied by the Grand Recorder and the Grand Marshal, attended the Centenary Celebration of the Loidis Conclave No.157, at the Masonic Hall, Castle Grove, Leeds. On this occasion a History of the Conclave had been prepared by Puissant Knight Frederick G.Cooper who went on to deliver a short summary to those present. Right Illustrious Knight Clifford conducted the Divisional Meeting immediately afterwards.

Five months later on the 25th September 1999 our Intendant General was leading a team of Divisional Officers to the Masonic Hall, Zetland Street, Wakefield where he Consecrated the Millennium Conclave No. 461. The first Sovereign, Illustrious Knight Alan Houston was Installed and he in turn appointed and invested his Viceroy, Eminent Knight George Alderson.

Due to problems with car parking and catering it was decided that it would be appropriate and certainly more convenient to henceforth, alternate Divisional Meetings between Tapton Hall, Sheffield and Castle Grove, Leeds. Consequently the 2000 Meeting was held at Tapton Hall, 2001 at Castle Grove and back to Tapton Hall for 2002.

On Saturday 8th February 2003 the Grand Sovereign, Most Illustrious Knight, Commander Ronald A.Champion, R.N., G.C.C., once again travelled north to Tapton Hall, Sheffield to join the Intendant General and a team of Divisional Officers for the Consecration of the Saint Margaret’s Conclave No. 475. The home of this new Conclave was to be the Swinton Masonic Hall, a venue which was thought to be too small for such a large gathering. The first Sovereign was Illustrious Knight N.E.Franklin, Past Grand Warden of Regalia, Divisional Junior General, and his Viceroy was Illustrious Knight A.A.Aldam, Past Grand Chamberlain.

The Grand Sovereign was again in West Yorkshire on Saturday 24th April 2004 at Tapton Hall, Sheffield for the Installation of another quite remarkable Yorkshire Freemason as our next Intendant General.

Alexander Michael Jones was born in Morley during August 1935. He was educated at the Leeds Grammar School and the University of London where he obtained the Degree of Bachelor of Pharmacy in 1956. Returning home he took over the business which had been established by his father in Kirkstall, Leeds and here practised as a Pharmaceutical Chemist until his retirement.

The Masonic career of A. Michael Jones had begun by his being Initiated into the Horsford Lodge No. 5339 in February 1965. Progressing through all of the regular lodge offices he was Installed as the Worshipful Master in April 1975, a position that he was to occupy again in 1996.

His talents were recognised by the West Yorkshire Province and he was appointed to the Acting Office of Provincial Grand Steward in 1985, promoted to Past Provincial Deputy Grand Registrar in 1986 and Past Provincial Junior Grand Warden in 1995. He was further honoured by being appointed to the office of Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies in 2001.

He was attracted to the Holy Royal Arch early in his career being Exalted into the Philanthropic Chapter No.304 in 1968. Serving in all the progressive offices he became the 1st Principal of the Chapter in 1978. Appointments to Provincial Grand Chapter followed being Provincial Grand Sojourner in 1985 and promoted to Past Provincial Grand Scribe Nehemiah in 1994. Four years later in 1998 he was appointed to the rank of Past Grand Standard Bearer in Supreme Grand Chapter.

His strong Christian faith lead him quite naturally to the Christian orders of Freemasonry starting with his entry into the Military and Masonic Order of the Temple in 1970 when he joined the Wharfedale Preceptory No. 216. He progressed to become Eminent Preceptor in 1978. This was followed by appointment to Past Provincial Standard Bearer ( V.B. ) in 1981 and Acting Provincial Deputy Marshal from 1983 to 1986. Promotion to Past Provincial Second Constable was awarded in 1986 followed by recognition by Great Priory in 1988 as Past Great Warden of Regalia and then as Past Great Standard Bearer Beauceant in 2001.

The Order of the Red Cross of Constantine has always been very close to his heart since he was Installed into the Loidis Conclave 157 in October 1973. He enjoyed serving in all of the progressive offices until he became Most Puissant Sovereign in May 1982. His bearing and charisma was quickly noted and he was appointed Divisional Standard Bearer ( C ) in 1985 and Divisional Almoner in 1987. Grand Rank was conferred upon him in 1990 when he was appointed as Past Grand Vice Chamberlain. He was to serve as Divisional Junior General in 1991, Divisional Viceroy in 1996 and Deputy Intendant General from 1998 to 2003.

It was a very happy occasion when Right Illustrious Knight Alexander Michael Jones became the Intendant General for the West Yorkshire Division in April 2003 and he appointed Very Illustrious Knight William J.Ayres, P.G.H.Alm. as his Deputy. He continued the practice of alternating his Divisional Meetings between Sheffield and Leeds and was supported by Illustrious Knight Marshal Swann, who served as Deputy Intendant General from 2004 to 2008 and Illustrious Knight Anthony Llewellyn, who was appointed as Deputy in April 2008.

After five very happy and successful years of leading the Division it was of particular delight to all the Worthy Knights of West Yorkshire when it was announced that the newly Installed Grand Sovereign, Most Illustrious Knight Richard Victor Wallis, J.P., G.C.C., had appointed our Intendant General, A. Michael Jones, as the Deputy Grand Sovereign of the Order, with the Rank of Knight Grand Cross of Constantine.

In the Ancient and Accepted Rite ( Rose Croix ) he was Perfected into the Chevin Chapter No. 751 in 1979, here he progressed through the regular offices becoming Most Wise Sovereign in1986. He was raised to the 30th Degree in 1987, 31st Degree in 1998 and the 32nd Degree in 2003.

Alexander Michael Jones was admitted into the White Rose Tabernacle No.24 in the Order of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests in 1985 and he became High Priest of his Tabernacle in 1994. He was appointed Past Grand Third Pillar in 1997, Past Grand Fifth Pillar in 2000, the same year that he was appointed as the Grand Superintendent for West Yorkshire.

The year 2000 also saw him become a member of the Order of the Secret Monitor in the White Rose Conclave No.449 and also the Commemorative Order of Saint Thomas of Acon in the Leodis Chapel No. 20, in which he has already passed the Chair and has been awarded Provincial Rank.

That same year he travelled up to Scotland to become a Mark Master Mason under the Scottish Constitution, which he followed up by joining the Lord Bolton Lodge in Hull. This was followed up in the year 2010 by his reception into the Morley Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners.

He is also a member of the Order of Royal and Select Masters, the Allied Masonic Degrees and is a Knight Beneficent of the Holy City.

If all this was not enough and despite undergoing serious heart surgery in 1981, he has also served for twenty-five years as a Magistrate on the Leeds City Bench including many years as Chairman of the Licensing Committee. He has the distinction of being the only West Yorkshire Intendant General to have got married whilst in office, an occasion when a strong contingent of the Divisional Bodyguard arrived unannounced at Adel Church, Leeds, and provided an Arch of Steel for the happy couple to pass under as they left the church.

The year 2008 was particularly eventful in a whole variety of ways. In January stock markets around the world crashed amidst fears of a global recession. In February the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced the nationalisation of the Northern Rock Building Society precipitating the first run on a British bank in over seventy years. In August the Olympic Games were opened in spectacular fashion in Bejing. During the first week of November the United States of America elected Barak Obama to the Presidency, the first Afro-American to hold that office and, on the 20th November in a splendid ceremony at the Huddersfield Masonic Hall, the West Yorkshire Division welcomed a new Intendant General when Very Illustrious Knight Anthony William Llewellyn was invested by the Grand Sovereign.

Tony Llewellyn was born in 1948 in Darlington, County Durham, and was to be the eldest of five siblings. Leaving school at sixteen with three General Certificates of Education he became a Police Cadet and went on to serve as a Police Constable in the Durham County Constabulary.

Whilst at the Police Training College he met Patricia, another serving police officer, who became his wife in 1970, where upon he transferred to the Leeds City Police Force, being promoted to Sergeant in 1975. Active in the Police Federation he was Secretary of the Sergeants Branch Board and later Vice-Chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Federation.

Shortly after moving to Leeds, Tony enrolled with the Open University and after seven years of part-time study he was awarded the Degree of Batchelor of Arts in Social Sciences. Whilst studying he became involved in the Students Association serving as Vice-Chairman having responsibility for Welfare including fund raising and the organisation of educational trips for disabled students.

A singer since his school days he was a choirboy at his local church and has been a member of the Yeadon and District Male Voice Choir for over twenty years. He was also a very keen Morris Dancer, an activity that no doubt resulted in his particular interest in real ale and his membership of CAMRA for in excess of thirty years.

Never one to neglect the interests of those less fortunate than himself Tony gives up two mornings every week to drive the local Charity Bus which takes elderly and disabled people on outings, to luncheon clubs and shopping trips.

A devoted family man Tony has been blessed with a daughter, who is a Senior Radiographer for the Leeds Hospitals, and a son, who is a qualified electrician. Two grandsons and a granddaughter occupy much of his time.

The Masonic career of Anthony William Llewellyn can only be described as truly remarkable. Initiated into St. Michael’s Lodge No. 4353 on the 24th April 1978 he progressed through all of the regular offices becoming Worshipful Master in January 1990, an office that he was to hold again in 1996. He was quickly recognised by the West Yorkshire Province being appointed to acting rank in 1997 as Provincial Grand Pursuivant. The following year he was promoted to Past Deputy Grand Superintendent of Works and, as a result of his work for the Leeds Masonic Benevolent Fund he was appointed Past Provincial Junior Grand Warden in 2002 and Past Provincial Senior Grand Warden in 2004. Three years later, in 2007, he was honoured by Grand Lodge with the rank of Past Grand Assistant Director of Ceremonies.

For five years Tony was a member of the Provincial Grand Master’s Installation Panel and he acts as a Liaison Officer for two lodges in the Leeds area as well as being active in the West Yorkshire Grand Officer’s Mess.

Brother Tony Llewellyn became a member of the Holy Royal Arch on the 1st December 1980 when he was Exalted into St. Michael’s Chapter No. 4353. Progressing through the offices he became First Principal in October 1994 an office that he was to hold again three years later. He served as his Chapter’s Scribe E. for four years and Director of Ceremonies for three years.

He was again recognised by the West Yorkshire Province by being appointed Past Provincial Standard Bearer in November 2000 and Past Provincial Grand Scribe Nehamiah in 2005, the same year that he became a member of the Grand Superintendent’s Installation Panel. Tony had joined the Leeds and District Royal Arch Council in 2001, becoming Vice President in 2007 and President in 2008.

In October 1997 he was a founder of the Criterion Chapter of Past First Principals No. 6220 and in April 2010 he was honoured by Supreme Grand Chapter with the rank of Past Grand Standard Bearer.

Considering his early commitment to the Church in County Durham it was a natural progression for Tony to become involved with Christian Freemasonry. On the 10th November 1982 he was Installed into the Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine in the Loidis Conclave No. 157 at Castle Grove, Leeds and he received the Appendant Orders the following February. He served as Viceroy in 1988 and became Sovereign in 1989, being quickly recognised by the West Yorkshire Division by being appointed as Standard Bearer ( Constantine ) in 1992.

In April 1996 he took on the very demanding job of Divisional Recorder, a post that he was to hold for nine years until his appointment as Divisional Viceroy in 2005 followed by his elevation to Deputy Intendant General in April 2008.

In addition to his outstanding work in his own Conclave and the West Yorkshire Division, Tony was a founder of the Belgravia Conclave No.412 in 1991 where he served as Sovereign in 1994. He is a joining member of the Via Crucis Conclave No.263 and the Divisional Recorder’s Conclave No. 474.

Having being honoured by Grand Imperial Conclave in 1994 with the rank of Past Grand Herald, promoted to Past Grand Standard Bearer ( Labarum ) in 1999 and to Past Grand High Almoner in 2005 and in view of his considerable services to the Division it gave considerable pleasure to his friends and colleagues when it was announced that the Grand Sovereign had appointed Very Illustrious Knight Anthony William Llewellyn to be the ninth Intendant General of the West Yorkshire Division.

His interest in Christian Masonry was further developed in September 1988 when he became a member of King George V Preceptory No.199 in the Masonic and Military Order of the Temple. He served as Eminent Preceptor through 1992 and 1993 and then became Treasurer, a post that he still holds. He was honoured by the Templar Province of West Yorkshire in 1996 with the rank of Provincial Aide de Camp and promoted to Provincial Second Constable in 2003. Great Priory conferred upon him the rank of Past Great Aide de Camp in 2005.

On the 15th April 1993 he was Perfected into the Chevin Chapter No. 751 in the Ancient and Accepted Rite of the Rose Croix. Progressing through the offices he became Most Wise Sovereign in February 2001 and in October 2002 he attended Supreme Council in London where he was raised to the 30th Degree.

The Order of Holy Royal Arch Knights Templar Priest was the next aspect of Christian Masonry that he explored. He became a member of the Royal York Tabernacle No. 2 at Barnsley on the 5th September 1998 becoming High Priest in April 2004. Three years later he was raised to Grand Rank as Past Grand 3rd Pillar and in June 2010 he was appointed as Acting Grand 5th Pillar. To further his interest in this thought provoking Order he became a joining member of the Seven Pillars Tabernacle No. 225 at Goole in May 2006 and also the Harry Becket Raylor Tabernacle No. 185 at York in June 2008.

In December 1995 Tony took the Mark Master Mason’s Degree in the Journeyman Masons Chapter No. 417 under the Scottish Constitution where he was admitted to the Royal Ark Mariners Degree in 2007. He became a joining member of the Lord Bolton Lodge No.785 in October 2007 and was Installed as Worshipful Master in 2009.

As a follow up to his Royal Arch and Mark interests Tony became a member of the Three Grand Principles Council No. 189 in the Order of Royal and Select Masters on the 11th September 1996 and reached the Chair of Thrice Illustrious Master in 2003. He was a founder of the Lakeland Council No. 207 where he served as Thrice Illustrious Master in 1999. Honoured with District Rank by both West Yorkshire and Cumberland and Westmorland he was appointed to Grand Rank in 2004 as Past Grand Manciple and promoted to Past Grand Conductor of the Council in 2007.

For many years Tony has been interested in the more esoteric aspect of freemasonry and to that end he was received into the Thomas B.Whytehead College in the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, joined the Garuda Temple No.1 in the August Order of Light, became a member of both the Daleth Temple No.4 and the Vav Temple No.6 in the Order of the Unknown Philosophers – Elus Cohen and progressed into the Hermetic Order of Martinists. In all of these Orders the work that Tony has undertaken has resulted in promotion to high rank.

If all of this was not enough Tony is also a member of the Royal Order of Scotland at York, the Allied Masonic Degrees, Pilgrim Preceptors at York and holds the rank of C.B.C.S in the Scottish Rectified Rite under the Grand Priory of Belgium.

He was also very heavily involved in the development of the Commemorative Order of Saint Thomas of Acon in which he became Grand Preceptor for Yorkshire and the East Midlands in December 2006. Due to the rapid expansion of this Order his area of responsibility was modified to being that of Grand Preceptor for Yorkshire and North East Counties in October 2009.

By any standards this has to be regarded as a truly exceptional Masonic C.V. and in spite of all of the demands upon his time and the vast mileage that he covers in attending meetings he remains supportive and active in all of the Orders in which he holds membership.

Right Illustrious Knight Llewellyn held his first Divisional Meeting of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine at Castle Grove, Leeds on Saturday 25th April 2009 under the banner of the Millenium Conclave No. 461. This was to be followed by a meeting at Tapton Hall, Sheffield on Saturday 24th April 2010, both of which were very well attended by visiting dignitaries and the knights of the Division

It is worth recording that the year 2010 was quite remarkable in that it started with extremely cold weather and snow falls and finished in the same way with temperatures falling to record lows and meetings being cancelled because brethren could not leave their homes due to the icy conditions. A General Election was held in May, which resulted in no particular political party having a clear majority and hence the need for the formation of a Coalition Government of Conservative and Liberal Democrats. Floods in Bangladesh and Queensland added to the worries that people have about global warming and an earthquake in Haiti brought much misery, loss of life and homelessness.

The West Yorkshire Division of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine was particularly delighted on Saturday 16th October 2010 when members assisted in the stewarding of the Commemorative Service at York Minster. Every Division was represented as the Intendants General paraded their respective banners down the nave to music played by Illustrious Knight Andrew Clark the Divisional Organist. Some seven hundred Knights and their families were present.

As we approach the one hundreth occasion when the West Yorkshire Division has held a formal Divisional Meeting it is only appropriate for us to look back with thanksgiving to all those Worthy Knights who have devoted their time, energy and talents to the development and continuance of this delightful Order of Christian Masonry and to perhaps look forward to what we hope will be a prosperous future.

There can be no doubt that those Masonic stalwarts of the late nineteenth century could have had no concept of the social, technical and medical developments that have occurred since 1875. Life expectancy and particularly child mortality have improved dramatically with the introduction of antibiotics and surgical procedures that would have been unimaginable to our predecessors. Horseless carriages, flying machines and rockets were still in the realms of science fiction and nuclear power was not even being discussed as a theorem and computing was something that was still being done with pencil and paper. Safe within the world-wide boundaries of the British Empire it would have been impossible for them to contemplate the wars, revolutions, political and social upheavals of the twentieth century.

None-the-less throughout this time the members of our Order have met and coped with the multitude of changes that have been thrust upon us and no doubt the Worthy Knights of the future will face many changes that we cannot yet imagine. We can only hope that they will continue to prosper and look back on our contributions to the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine with the same appreciation and thankfulness that we have for those who have gone before.

As we celebrate the one hundred occasions that we have met as members of the West Yorkshire Division let us salute the Worthy Knights of the past and entrust our hopes and ambitions to the hands of those who are yet to enjoy the joys and pleasures of this band of true Christian Freemasons.

May God Bless and keep them all.

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