W.Bro. Ian R. Johnson PAGDC was installed as the 127th Master of the Lodge of Research No.2429 on Monday 26th November 2018 at Freemasons’ Hall in Leicester. At the meeting, the lodge was delighted to welcome the Provincial Junior Grand Warden, W.Bro. Geoffrey Searson as the representative of the Provincial Grand Master.
After the installation ceremony, the new Master delivered his Inaugural Address “Past Provincial Grand Treasurers of the Province of Leicestershire & Rutland”.
As a former Provincial Grand Treasurer and member of Lodge Semper Eadem No.3091 he has a particular and understandable interest in his forerunners and whilst he was aware that his immediate predecessor, W.Bro. Chris Packham, is also a member and Past Master of Lodge Semper Eadem it was only when he began his researches more thoroughly that he discovered that this connection with his Mother Lodge was a recurring theme throughout the history of the twentieth century.
The paper explored a trend in the evolution of the Provincial Grand Treasurer where the first appointees were noted and respected leading businessmen reflecting the wealth, success and upward social mobility of late Victorian Leicester. Following World War Two, there was a succession of military men taking on the role of managing the Province’s finances before eventually the finance professional, predominantly chartered accountants, took centre stage.
The Master selected several examples of Provincial Grand Treasures in the various categories of Business, Military and Professional men:
- W.Bro. Henry Grace (Provincial Grand Treasurer from 1914 to 1931)
- W.Bro. James Pickard (Provincial Grand Treasurer from 1932-1940)
- R.W.Bro. Cecil Morley C.B.E., T.D., A.D.C., D.L. (Provincial Grand Treasurer between 1949 and 1953)
- W.Bro. Sidney Brown T.D., D.L., J.P., (Provincial Grand Treasurer from 1959 to 1966)
- W.Bro. John Castleman (Provincial Grand Treasurer from 1990 to 1996)
- W.Bro. Alan Jinks (Provincial Grand Treasurer from 1997 until 2002)
The full lecture will be printed in the lodge’s Transactions which will be published in the Autumn of next year.
After the meeting, the lodge and correspondence circle members together with the visitors enjoyed the Conversazione including a buffet.