Say “ I DO” to Freemasonry! · Carlton Stephen OD, JP (Phoenix 914) PAGDC Promotions Justice Patrick Brooks CD (Coll Fab 1836) to PGSwdB Harding Watler JP (Cayman 8153) to PAGSoj

VOLUME XXIV JULY 2015 NO. 2

Something Old: University Lodge50 Year Celebrants 2012

SOMETHING BORROWED: Former Grand Secretary W. Bro. Jim Daniel(C) at George Washington Memorial 2011

SOMETHING NEW: Newest offspring of our DGM!SOMETHING BLUE: District Grand Lodge

Mentor’s Workshop 2014

Say “ I DO” to Freemasonry!Published by:

The District Grand Lodge of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands45-47 Barbados Avenue, Kingston 5, Jamaica, W.I.Phone: (876) 926-6018 Fax: (876) 960-7776

E-mail: [email protected]

JULY NEWSLETTER 2015_Layout 1 7/23/2015 1:54 PM Page 2



This issue of the News forthe Freemason marks a newbeginning in many respects.After innumerable years aseditor, W. Bro. WinstonWright PDistJGW haspassed the baton of “editor-ship” to W. Bro. Dr. WadeA. Morgan DGOrator;PDGSupWks.

W. Bro. Wright is so modestthat he has resisted all ef-forts of gathering sufficientdata about himself so as topay him suitable honours.Be that as it may, the Dis-trict Grand Lodge of Ja-maica and the CaymanIslands is most grateful forhis many years of dedicatedservice as Editor.

It also sees a hopefully successful change in façade in an effort tomodernize its look. Although Freemasonry has existed and persisted“since time immemorial” it has had no doubt to bend with the windsof time. Several steps have been taken to increase retentionamong our initiates and even long standingmembers and in this regard, the “newlook” Newsletter adds to thoseefforts. Bear in mind however, that thesuccess of ANY newsletter dependson its contents, and I take this op-portunity of reminding Brethrento submit articles they deem of import.These need not ALL be ascholarly dissertation(although those are welcomedtoo) but may be one or two paragraphsthat show YOU, a proud EnglishFreemason, in interaction with family, friends, work,Lodge or community in some positive way. Accompanying pictures are highly recommended.

Please send those articles, as well as your feedback re this “new look”to [email protected]. Future issues may include them in a “letterto the editor” section!

Thanks for your kind attention and please enjoy the effort we havemade in providing a medium that we think is relevant and up to date.

FREEMASON’S NEWS 1

CONTENTS

Winning Inukshuk

New Master MasonNew Installed MastersObituaries

Child Abuse Rally

Atholl Lodges

New Star

Jamaican Freemasonsand World War II

Why Freemasonry

Crafty Ladies

My Masonic Journey

2014 MembershipAnalysis

News From Cayman

New Rulers

02

04

05

06

09

11

15

17

18

19

20

21

CreditsAdministration: W.Bro. Robert Forbes PAGDC, DistGSec.

Proof Reading:W.Bro. S. LeRoi Lorde PDist SGW

Printing:Phoenix Printery Ltd.Editorial Committee: W.Bro. Dr. W. ‘Freddie” Clarke, PAGDC, P Dist. BGP W.Bro. Robert Forbes PAGDC, DistGSec.Editor:W. Bro. Dr. Wade A. MorganDGOrator; PDGSupWks. EDITORIAL

by W. Bro. Dr. Wade A. MorganDGOrator; PDGSupWks.


2 FREEMASON’S NEWS

The winning Inukshuk is?(Hamilton Lodge and Doric Lodge visits continue after 28 years)

Brief History of this Tradition

The brethren of Hamilton Lodge insummer 2014 continued a traditiondating back to 1987. In 1985 when W.Bro. Douglas Emanuel (PM) mi-grated to Canada, one of his per-ceived shortcomings in the sociallandscape of his newly adoptedhome was the manner in which heand his wife were “accepted” in theirnew environment. Having been aFreemason in Jamaica for over thirtyyears, W. Bro Emanuel decided thathe would, as it were, put Freema-sonry to the test and apply for mem-bership in a Canadian Lodge. As heput it, “he sought a friend and founda Brother”.

Having established his bona-fides asa senior member of the Craft in Ja-maica, he was readily accepted as amember of the Doric Lodge Number424 GRC (Grand Registry of Canada)and his first impression of life in hisnew home changed. He was so de-lighted at the manner in which heand Nellie were received, that hepledged that he could only recipro-cate by inviting members of his newLodge to visit his mother Lodge in Ja-maica as house guests of Jamaicans,specifically Hamilton LodgeBrethren. Needless to say the ideafound favour with the Brethren of theHamilton Lodge and it only took himtwo years to encourage seven of hisDoric Lodge brethren and theirspouses to thaw out in the Jamaican“winter”. The first visit began in thefirst week of February 1987 and sincethen there have been 12 exchanges in-volving families of the brethren backand forth between Jamaica andCanada.

Activities and Recent VisitsOur fraternal visits have been a mix-ture of fun and masonic work, with

more fun than work. In February2012 when Doric last visited us in Ja-maica the activities included, achurch service at Spanish Town An-glican Church, beach trips to San Sanbeach in Portland and Fort ClarenceBeach, and tours which included TwoSisters Cave and Port Royal. Thiswas in addition to attendance at theregular meeting of the HamiltonLodge at which the Doric Brethrendid an exemplification of the first de-gree and a visit to the True CraftsmanLodge No. 921 (IC).

Last summer (2014) a delegation offive Brethren, accompanied by theirspouses were hosted by the brethrenof Doric and their families. Led byWM Bro Herbert Hylton the delega-tion enjoyed seven days of fellowshipwith the Doric Lodge Brethren. Thedelegation interestingly included twobrothers who reside in Toronto area,Bro. Robert Neita who resides inPickering and is also a member of theDoric Lodge and W Bro. Trevor Bai-ley and his spouse Ula who travelledfrom Toronto. The programme in-

cluded, a church service, a day visitto the Cottage country some 200-miles north of Pickering, several bar-b-ques at the homes of DoricBrethren, visits to the Canoe and Pe-terborough Museums and a dancecum dinner on Friday 11, July. Inter-estingly the Peterborough Museumhad a special section on the history ofFreemasonry in Canada. The soledownside during the visit was the 7-1 thrashing of Brazil by Germanywhich, by and large, put an end to theJamaican delegation’s scramble to seesome of the World Cup Games.

On Thursday the 10th of July Hamil-ton Brethren did an exemplificationof the second degree work at a Spe-cial Meeting of the Doric Lodge as itis normally on vacation in July andAugust. It was a full house, withover eighty brethren from the sur-rounding lodges, who having heardof the visits came to share the night.Of interest was the number of Ja-maican masons residing in Canada,who were in attendance. The leaderof the team was WM Herbert Hylton,

Brethren in front row from left to right: Robert Neita, Bill Houston, AndrewMcDonald, Herbert Hylton, Terrance Doyle, Walter Drane, Wayne Nicolson,Christopher Burgess. Brethren in the 2nd row (l-r): David Eberhardt, JohnHoughton, Rob Rick, Rob Lyon, Keith Larocque, Michael Williams. Brethrenin the back row (l-r): Geoffery Lee, Steve Hudson, Terry Spalding-Martin, TrevorBailey, Ian Roxburgh and Corey Rick. Brethren from Hamilton Lodge in bold.



W. Bro. Trevor Bailey (Almoner andDC), Bro. Robert Neita (Tyler), W.Bro. Michael Williams (JW, secretsand charge after), W. Bro ChristopherBurgess (SW and tracing board) andW. Bro. Ian Roxburgh (JD).

The visit to Cottage Country, wherecity dwellers retreat on weekends, isworth mentioning. The Brethren hadan opportunity to appreciate therural Canadian life style and activi-ties on the numerous lakes. TheBrethren enjoyed immensely the ca-maraderie at this family based gath-ering which included kayaking,boating and log shoots. Regrettablynone of the Brethren or their spousesdemonstrated the island skill of

swimming despite the best efforts ofthe Doric folks; the water never un-derstood that it was summer.

On the cultural side the Brethren andLadies were divided into two teamsto see who could build a better Inuk-shuk(see plate 2). Inukshuk, the sin-gular of inuksuit, means “in thelikeness of a human” in the Inuit lan-guage. They are monuments made ofunworked stones strategically placedby the Inuit and other natives of theArctic lands to communicate withsubsequent travelers and was crucialto their survival. The Inukshuk mayhave been used for navigation, amarker for travel routes, fishingplaces, camps, hunting grounds,

places of veneration, drift fences usedin hunting or to mark a food cache.The traditional meaning of the inuk-shuk is “Someone was here” or “Youare on the right path”.

Next Visit

In February 2017 it will be HamiltonLodge’s turn to play host to thebrethren of Doric Lodge again andwe look forward to the brethren fromthe districts joining us in the activi-ties. A major focus of both lodgeswill be to immerse their young mem-bers into the tradition, to forge newpersonal friendships and expand onthe average size of the recent delega-tions.

Hamilton Lodge 1440 (EC) and Doric Lodge 424 (GRC) Inuksuit at the 2014 visit at Lake Kushog Lake, Canada. Notethat on the right includes modern technology, a red stripe beer bottle, complements of Trevor, a clear and unmistak-able sign that a Jamaican was here.


NEWLY INSTALLED MASTERSJanuary 2015 – July 2015

NAME LODGE INSTALLATION DATEW.Bro. Dr. Ronald Robinson Kingston 1933 February 4th 2015W. Bro. Brett Wong Friendly 239 February 10th 2015W.Bro. Donovan Summers University 7128 February 13th 2015W. Bro. Horace Lawrence Ewing 3258 February 28th 2015W. Bro. Errol Campbell Portland 7740 March 7th 2015W.Bro. Ray Jerry Johnson Jamaica College 7254 March 9th 2015W. Bro. Devon Smith Phoenix 914 March 17th 2015W. Bro. Ryan Jarrett Jamaica College 7254 March 31st 2015W. Bro. Derrick Hendricks Adair 8146 April 11th 2015W. Bro Richard Clarke Harmony 3603 April 18th 2015W.Bro. Dr. Jimoh Lasisi Royal 207 May 4th 2015W. Bro Christopher Burgess Hamilton 1440 May 7th 2015W. Bro. Michael Gentles Collegium Fabrorum 1836 June 11th 2015W.Bro. Joel Jefferson The Brac 9470 June 12th 2015

WELCOME! - NEW MASTER MASONSJanuary 2015 – July 2015

NAME CRAFT LODGEJohn Paul White Royal 207Jordan McClure Friendly 239Brian Richardson Friendly 239Maj. Carlington Reid Friendly 239Dr. Patrick Monthrope Friendly 383Aceion Cunningham Friendly 383Patrick Peterkin Hamilton 1440Steven Hanna Kingston 1933Robert Morris Hope 2813Jermain Campbell Ewing 3258David Ffrench University 7128Marck Carey University 7128Sharif Small Jamaica College 7254Hon Alden McLaughlin Cayman 8153Daniel Tathum Cayman 8153Delroy Beckford Sussex 354

OBITUARIESJanuary 2015 – July 2015

NAME CRAFT LODGEW.Bro. William Richardson Jamaica College 7254W.Bro Dr. Donald Christian University / F.H.B. 7128 / 9238W.Bro Dr. Keith Peart Collegium Fabrorum 1836W.Bro James Bodden Cayman 8153W.Bro Nick Hardy Kingston College 9469W.Bro Tommy Hurlson Cayman 8153W Bro Leonard Saunders St. Thomas 4338

Those who received Past GrandRank last April were:

Craft1st AppointmentsAlbert Anderson (Cayman 8153) PAGDCStephen Shelton Q.C. (Coll Fab 1836) PAGDC

PromotionsRev. Fr. Melvin Carey (University 7128) toPGChapNoel Levy (Friendly 239) to PJGD

Holy Royal Arch1st AppointmentsPeter Crosswell JP (Friendly 239) PGStBCarlton Stephen OD, JP (Phoenix 914) PAGDC

PromotionsJustice Patrick Brooks CD (Coll Fab 1836) to PGSwdBHarding Watler JP (Cayman 8153) to PAGSoj

THE MANY ROOMS OF FREEMASONRY



The Rally mentioned in the articlebelow was spearheaded by BroRayon Simpson of the Hope Lodgein Westmoreland Jamaica, and wasfeatured in the Observer and is herereproduced with their permission.

Jamaicans turned out for Westmore-land mass rally showing support forthe fight against child abuse.

Hundreds of Jamaicans turned outfor a mass rally in Westmorelandtoday to voice their support for thefight against child abuse.

In celebration of international chil-dren’s day, droves of people from

across western Jamaica, joined in amarch against child abuse in Savan-nah-La-Mar, Westmoreland todayMay 15, 2015.

Students from across the parish,churches, service clubs, and businessgroups, all turned-out in solidarityfor the march. Some marched withplacards, and banners, which read:“stop abusing children.” Supportersof the march who spoke with IRIEFM , say the role of the community isvital in advancing the initiative. Oth-ers say, they are fed-up with the con-tinued child abuse, especially sincethe brutal murder of 14-year-old San-

toya Campbell, in the parish earlierthis year.

The march saw people walking fromWhite House, Grange Hill, NegrilRound-about, Darliston and Peters-field Squares and Downtown Savan-nah-La-Mar to Independence Park inthe parish.

The initiative dubbed respect andprotect our children, was organizedby principal of the Belmont Academyin Westmoreland, Rayon Simpson.Mr Simpson said he was pleased withthe support and hopes to sustain theinitiative. Youth Minister, Lisa Hannawas also present at today’s march.

Rally ReChild Abuseby Sasha-Gay Lobban May


If you are reading this as an E.C.Freemason, you would be quite fa-miliar with the historical fact that'The Atholls' was one of the twoGrand Lodges of England (GLE)which formed the United GrandLodge of England (UGLE).

This Union means that the GLE of theAtholls no longer exists as a separateand/or independent authority. Butdo you know the origins and ration-ale for its formation in the eighteenthcentury? And did you know thatthere exists today, an Association ofAtholl Lodges (AAL), established,among its other aims and objectives,to preserve the Heritage of the AthollLodges?

The GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND(GLE) was formed in 1717 (as a resultof a meeting in Apple Tree Tavern(Pub) to exercise constitutional juris-diction over the existing and futurelodges which elected to operateunder its purview. However, lodgestook with them some measure of dis-satisfaction in, and between lodges,into their new Institution. This dissat-isfaction grew rapidly into estrange-ment and on July 17, 1751,approximately 80 (mainly Irish) Ma-sons from 6 lodges, largely fromwithin the GLE - but quite possibly

including one or two of the still inde-pendent lodges, and wary of beingunder the umbrella of this new dis-pensation - who were disillusionedby the way in which (they perceived)Freemasonry was becoming “mod-ernized”, formed a Committee tolook into this.

The meeting was soon followed bythe founding of the “Grand Lodge ofEngland According to the Old Insti-tutions” (GLE –AOI) – or GrandLodge of the Antients. Hence thestart of the incongruity of the “older”(premier) GLE being known as the“moderns” and the “younger” (morerecent) GLE – AOI as the “antients”.Their differences are illustrated insome of the accusations of “modern-ization” made by the –AOI againstthe premier GLE. But it should beborne in mind that the differencesdid not distinguish all “antients”from all “moderns”. In fact, therewere “shades” of differences evenwithin the Craft of Grand Lodges,which sometimes crossed the bound-aries between GLs themselves. Fur-thermore, some of the accusations areunproved and some may even havebeen without foundation.

Some of these main accusations were,inter alia, that the “moderns”, i.e., theoriginal or premier GLE:1. Transposed the modes of recogni-tion in the First and Second Degrees2. Omitted certain Prayers3. De-Christianized the Rituals

(Anderson’s “Constitutions” of 1725 is offered as proof)

4. Ignored and neglected the Saints’ Days – especially St John’s Day (but then Royal #207, an Atholl lodge has been seen to be in breach re the St. John’s Day protocol!)

5. Omitted, in certain cases to prepare candidates in the customary way

6. Abbreviated the Ritual (e.g. omitted Lectures, etc)

7. Ceased to recite the Antient

Charges at Initiation8. Introduced austerity into the

Ceremonies (e.g. excluded the wearing of swords)

9. Allowed the esoteric ceremony at Installation to fall into disuse

10. Departed from the antient method of arranging the lodge

11. Ignored the Deacons (“modern” lodges usually had no Deacons and until about 1809 their work was done by Stewards)

12. Did not recognize the Royal Arch as a “Fourth” Degree.

In fact, with regard to item 12 above,it should be noted that the premierGLE did not recognize the RoyalArch as part of Craft Freemasonry.They had no objection so long as itwas considered separate from CraftFreemasonry. But the GLE-AOI re-garded it as (a) Fourth Degree. Thiswas resolved rather artificially in theArticles of the Union (UGLE) of 1813,now incorporated as the PreliminaryDeclaration of the Book of Constitu-tions “..pure and Ancient Masonryconsist of three degrees and no more,namely the Entered Apprentice, theFellow Craft and the Master Mason,including the Supreme Order of theHoly Royal Arch”. The Royal Arch isnow considered an integral part ofEnglish Freemasonry directly con-nected to the Craft but may be differ-ent in other Constitutions, e.g.Scottish Constitution where the twoOrders are run on an entirely sepa-rate basis as the Grand Lodge of Scot-land on the one hand and theSupreme Grand Chapter of RoyalArch Freemasons of Scotland on theother. Of course, they co-exist in amutually amicable relationship.

The -AOI, on its formation in 1751,was fortunate to have as its Secretary,Laurence Dermott, a successful Jour-neyman Painter, who had learned hisfreemasonry in Ireland (RWM Lodge#26 I.C in 1746.). One of his notableaccomplishments was the writing of

AthollLodges-A Historyup to nowBy W. Bro. L.L.(Laurie) VentourDistGMentor; PDistGSupWks



a Constitution for the -AOI whichtoday still forms the basis of manyGL Constitutions including those ofNorth Carolina, South Carolina,Maryland, Georgia, Pennsylvania,Virginia, New York, Canadian GrandLodge of Nova Scotia, etc.

Dermott was perceptive enough torealize that he needed persons ofhigh social standing to give the -AOIstatus – much the same as the pre-mier GLE was enjoying. Amongthose he persuaded were the 3rd and4th Dukes of Atholl who were toserve the -AOI long, faithfully andwell. John, the 3rd Duke was installedas GM in 1771 and when he waselected Grand Master Mason of Scot-land on 11/30/1773, he had the dis-tinct honour of holding 2 GrandMasterships in the same year. It wasthis influential position that broughtabout the soubriquet of “ATHOLL”Masons.

John’s death in 1774 caused greatconsternation as it would not be easyto replace so illustrious a GM. Fortu-nately, he left an heir who inheritedhis title in 1775 in the capacity of 4thDuke of Atholl. He was 19 years old,but not yet a freemason, so when hisapplication was received by theGrandmasters’ Lodge #1, he was ini-tiated there on 25/02/1775 when the2nd and 3rd Degrees were then con-secutively conferred on him. At thesame meeting he was installed asMaster of the Lodge. At the nextmeeting of Grand Masters’ Lodge hewas proposed as Grand Master of -AOI and Installed as such on25/03/1775. This undoubtedly re-mains the most meteoric rise everrecorded in the history of the Craft!!Over the next many years, freema-sons on both sides of the 2 GLsworked tirelessly to remove the mis-understanding and enmity between

the rivals. This was augmented in nosmall manner by the noble influenceof both the 3rd and the 4th Dukes ofAtholl.

But arguably one of the most impor-tant elements which worked to bringthe two GLs conclusively togetherwas the happy circumstance that tworoyal blood brothers occupied thepost of GM in each - The Duke of Sus-sex for the Moderns (the 'older' GL)and the Duke of Kent (father ofQueen Victoria) for the Antients('younger' GL). They worked tire-lessly to ensure that the schism washealed. All of whose efforts happilyended in the union, being the UnitedGrand Lodge of England (UGLE) of1813. Sussex became the first GM ofthe UGLE.

Fast forward now from the Union(UGLE) of the 19th century (1813) tothe beginning of the 21st century and



we have the commencement of workto establish an Association of AthollLodges, with the aims and objectives“..to provide a focus for the commoninterest of the surviving Lodgeswhich were warranted by the GLE –AOI (the Atholl Grand Lodge 1751-1813) … and to preserve the Athollheritage by fostering and promotingfraternal links between all AthollLodges, and other interested parties”.It will be seen immediately that nolodge with a post-July 1813 Warrantof Formation can qualify for FullMembership. In fact, the last 3 areDuke of Normandy #245 (C.I.29/04/1813), Union #247 (Guyana28/07/1813) and Royal Union #246(Gloucester 29/07/1813). Also it willbe noted that at best Full Member-ship eligibility will be static and atworse, diminishing. At worst, thewhole thing could fail. By my lastcount, 124 lodges are eligible for FullMembership - including our Royal#207 but excluding one which surren-dered its Warrant and one whichmerged with another, both in 2005).The only other Atholl Lodge (apartfrom our Royal) in Jamaica isFriendly #239, here in Kingston.

There are 3 classes of Membership

available, viz:1. Atholl Lodges – Full Membershipfor Atholl Lodges of unbroken roots– Stg£ 15.00 per annum2. Lodges with Atholl connections –Associate Membership for links withAtholls – Stg£ 15.00 p.a.3. (a) Lodges with interest in Atholls– Affiliate Membership for co-opera-tion – Stg£ 10.00 p.a.(b) Individuals with interest inAtholls – Affiliate Membership forResearch – Stg£ 5.00 p.a.

Fees indicated above are guaranteedfor the next immediate 2 years. Andit would appear that both Masonsand non-Masons may obtain mem-bership under 3 (b) above. Propo-nents hail the advent of theAssociation as a great way to recog-nize our heritage and obtain the pres-tige of this. Critics fear that theAssociation may herald the start of aschism which may take EnglishFreemasonry back to the pre-1813conflicts. I remain ambivalent, but onfine balance would opt for RL’sMembership of the Association.

Our (then; now PDGM – ed. note)DGM, R.W. Bro. Afeef Lazarus (anHonorary Member of Royal Lodge) is

listed as one of the (2) Vice Presidentsof the Association. I respectfully andfraternally congratulate him on hispreferment in this regard and I amsure that you would associate withme in expressing this sentiment. (Ialso thank him most sincerely for hisinsights and guidance in crafting thisPaper. - LLV).

UPDATE: THE ASSOCIATION OFATHOLL LODGES (AAL) after abrisk start, had gone through someslowdown in outreach and activitiesafter a few years. Happily, these ac-tivities are being energetically re-vived and I understand that plans arebeing set afoot for a possible visit toJamaica in February 2016. Should itmaterialize, the visit will be wel-comed.

As indicated above, Royal Lodge#207 and Friendly Lodge #239 are theonly Atholl Lodges in Jamaica. Theyremain Full Members of the AAL atthe time of writing.

This is a Paper, researched and deliv-ered by W. Bro. L.L.(Laurie) Ventourto the Royal Lodge No. 207, on 6thMarch, 2006. Updated 24th June,2015 by LLV.



On Monday June 29th 2015, a consecrating teamof Grand Officers, led by the M.E. Grand Su-perintendent Walter H. Scott Q.C. consecrated

and installed a new Royal Arch Chapter, the DistrictGrand Stewards Chapter of Jamaica and the CaymanIslands No. 9795. This took place at the Masonic Build-ing 45-47 Barbados Avenue, Kingston 5, Jamaica com-mencing at 6:00 p.m. This new Chapter is charged withbeing a Chapter of Demonstration; supervising and im-plementing the physical arrangements for the Convo-cations of the District Grand Chapter; working with theother Chapters in the District to improve their ritualwork;, and itself can be called upon to assist in carryingout ritual work.

The M.E.G.S. was assisted by:

There was a Deputation from the Scottish Constitutionheaded by the Depute Grand Superintendent, ExcellentCompanion Douglas Murray while the Irish Constitu-

tion was represented ExcellentCompanion Rear Admiral HardleyLewin the Grand Superintendent ofIrish Royal Arch Masonry for Ja-maica.

The large number ofCompanions present rep-resented all the differentChapters under the Eng-lish Constitution, andwere treated to a finedemonstration of ritualwork performed by theHigh Rulers! The Banquetwhich followed was morethan fitting for the occa-sion. It can most as-suredly be said that agood time was had by all.

The Founders are:

E. Comp. Dr. Philip Stafford Anthony Baker University 7128E. Comp. Donovan Matthew Chen-See Collegium Fabrorum 1836E. Comp. Owen Winston Roxborough Francis Phoenix 914E. Comp. Richard William Harris Cayman 8153E. Comp. David Afeef Lazarus Friendly 239E. Comp. Dr. Wade Anthony Morgan Sussex 35E. Comp. Rev. Prof. Veront Milton Satchell Arawak 6902E. Comp. Thomas Charles Smith Friendly 239 E. Comp. Roydell St. Aubyn Williams Ewing 3258E. Comp. Ossel George Campbell Sussex 354 E. Comp. Kirkland Seymour Todd Douglas Hamilton 1440E. Comp. Errol Richard Kingsley Gage Royal 207E. Comp. Lawton Croswell Heywood Sussex 354E. Comp. S. LeRoi Lorde University 7128E. Comp. Ian Ronald Alastair Roxburgh Hamilton 1440

E. Comp. Neville Anthony Scott, Snr. Cayman 8153E. Comp. Frank Fitzmorris Whylie Royal 207

NEWEST STAR UNDER THEMASONIC FIRMAMENT

E. Comp. James R. Bain BEM, JP, M.E.G.S (BAHAMAS & TURKS) HaggaiE. Comp. Afeef A. Lazarus PGSupt. JoshuaE. Comp. Robert N. Forbes JP, PGStB Scribe EzraE. Comp. Harding O. Watler JP, PAGSoj Scribe NehemiahE. Comp. Maj-Gen. Rudolph R.G. Green CD, JP, PAGSoj Director of CeremoniesComp. Everton Clarke Organist

E. Comp. Justicce Patrick A. Brooks CD, PGSwdB Deputy Dir. Of CeremoniesE. Comp. S. LeRoi Lorde JP, PGStB Janitor


(L-R): E. Comp James R Bain, E. Comp.. Walter H. Scott



The First Officers are:

E. Comp. Lawton Croswell Heywood Immediate Past ZerubbabelE. Comp. Ian Ronald Alastair Roxburgh, PAGDC Most Excellent ZerubbabelE. Comp. Rev. Prof. Veront Milton Satchell, PZ Principal HaggaiE. Comp. Dr. Philip Stafford Anthony Baker, PZ Principal JoshuaE. Comp. Kirkland Seymour Todd Douglas, PDGPSoj Scribe EzraE. Comp. Ossel George Campbell, PD1stAsstSoj Scribe NehemiahE. Comp. Owen Winston Roxborough Francis, PZ TreasurerE. Comp. Donovan Matthew Chen-See, PDGPSoj Director of CeremoniesE. Comp. Roydell St. Aubyn Williams, PDAGDC AlmonerE. Comp. David Afeef Lazarus, PZ Principal SojournerE. Comp. Thomas Charles Smith, PDAGDC 1st Assistant Sojourner E. Comp. Frank Fitzmorris Whylie, JP, DAGSE 2nd Assistant SojournerE. Comp. Errol Richard Kingsley Gage, PD2ndAsstSoj Asst. Dir. of CerE. Comp. Richard William Harris, PZ Assistant Scribe EzraE. Comp. Neville Anthony Scott, Snr, PDGPSoj StewardE. Comp. Dr. Wade Anthony Morgan, DGPSoj StewardE. Comp. S. LeRoi Lorde, JP, PGStB Janitor

(L-R) E. Comp. Philip Baker (J of the newChapter), E. Comp Afeef Lazarus, E. Comp.Maj-Gen Rudolph Green


The recent visit of President Barack

Obama, the 44th President of theUnited States (POTUS) highlightedthe role that Jamaica has long had inthe affairs of the world. President

Obama took time to lay a wreath atthe Cenotaph, the monument at Na-tional Heroes Park that honours thethousands of men and women whofought and died in both World Wars.At that ceremony, he met briefly withtwo of the surviving veterans of WWII and presented each with a souvenircoin featuring the Presidential Seal onone side and an image of the WhiteHouse on the other. Both those veter-ans are Freemasons of some vintageand distinction and we look at theirrespective Masonic and military ca-reers, in a guided interview at thehome of Bro. Maj. Victor Beek.

World War II (WWII or WW2), alsoknown as the Second World War wasa global war that lasted from 1939 to1945. It involved the vast majority of

the world's nations—including all ofthe great powers—eventually formingtwo opposing military alliances:—theAllies (the United Kingdom andFrance at first in Europe, China inAsia since 1937, followed in 1941 bythe Soviet Union, the United States);and the Axis powers consisting ofGermany, Italy and Japan. During theWorld War II, United States, UnitedKingdom, and Soviet Union con-trolled the Allied policy and emergedas the "Big Three". The Republic ofChina and the Big Three were referredas a "trusteeship of the powerful" andwere recognized as the Allied "BigFour" in Declaration by United Na-tions in 1942. These four countrieswere referred as the "Four Policemen"of the Allies and considered as the pri-mary victors of World War II. It wasthe most widespread war in history,and directly involved more than 100million people from over 30 countriesand resulted in an estimated 50 mil-lion to 85 million fatalities.

Although both W. Bro. Beckford andBro. Beek enlisted near to the end ofthe war (obviously not knowing itwould soon come to an end), wepresent here a redaction of some oftheir recollections.

W. Brother Earle Barrington BeckfordLAC (Leading Air Craftsman) whowas born on the 13th of October 1925in the North Street area of Kingston,was initiated into Lodge CollegiumFabrorum No. 1836 on the roll of the

United Grand Lodge of England, onthe 12th of October 1972, passingthrough the ranks before being in-stalled as its Master on the 12th ofJune 1980. He subsequently became afounder member of the Francis Had-don Bowen Lodge No. 9238 whichwas consecrated on the 30th April1987, although he subsequently re-signed from that Lodge in 1999. Hewas exalted into the Sussex Chapter ofthe Holy Royal Arch and againshowed leadership by being a sub-scribing founder member of the Col-legium Fabrorum Chapter of theRoyal Arch on the 30th April 1987where he ultimately became Most Ex-cellent Zerubbabel on the 4th July1991. W. Bro Beckford served the Dis-trict Grand Lodge of Jamaica and theCayman Islands and is currently theholder of the rank of Past District Sen-ior Grand Warden (PDistSGW) in theCraft and Past District Grand So-journer (PDistGSoj) in the Royal Arch.

Barry, as he is affectionately called,relates the journey from Jamaica toEngland as follows: He answered theadvertisements for volunteers to jointhe Royal Air Force and signed up in1944. The Norman Manley Interna-tional Airport at Palisadoes, was orig-inally a Naval Air Station at that timeand recruits awaiting being shippedoff were housed/stationed there. Inorder to pass the time they were sub-jected to drilling. The more adventur-ous of the lot though, would sneakout of camp and find their way intoKingston to entertain themselves!


JamaicanFreemasons& WorldWar II

Beckford, Beek and POTUS (L-R)-Courtesy The Observer©

W. Bro. Earl Barry Beckford (L) andBro. Victor Beek (R) -Courtesy The Ob-server©

Newly wed Barry Beckford


Kingston to entertain themselves! Onone occasion he was emboldened tojoin the mottled crew and some se-cured transport to Kingston in a po-lice car! Because they were inuniform they managed to spin someconvincing tale. On the return jour-ney, they endeavoured to acquire theservices of some 4 or so rowboats thatwere stationed at the bottom of Para-dise Street in now Rae Town, but thenight was so windy that 2 of the fish-ermen refused to take on the roughjourney and so the number of themthat were there had to climb into 2rowboats for the treacherous journey.It seems the temporary desertion hadbeen detected because at muster thenext morning, the officer in com-mand, strutted around shouting atthem that “We don’t want people likeyou in our Air Force”!! but it turnedout to be just bluster as they eventu-ally were shipped out, leaving in theS.S. Cuba. (The SS Cuba (reg. no.171463) 11,300 tons gross, was built in1923 by Swan Hunter for the Frenchline CGT to be used on the StNazaire-West Indies-Vera Cruz route.She was intercepted by a British war-ship in 1940, and used as a transportunder Cunard management.)

Factoid: the war evacuees fromGibraltar were housed in woodenbarracks where the University of theWest Indies campus now lies. In factthere is a reminder in the name of oneof the roads there; Gibraltar CampRoad!

The next stop on the journey wasNewport News in the state of Vir-ginia, USA. Barry recalls that thejourney took five days and the condi-tions of the “heads” (bathrooms toyou landlubbers) were so atrociousthat he and many others didn’t bathefor the entirety of the trip. On disem-barking they were subjected to themost grossly dehumanizing treat-ment imaginable: they were strippeddown stark naked and thoroughlysprayed with some unknown liq-uid!!! They were however then al-lowed to shower, which they did forwhat seemed like an interminableamount of time. The new recruitswere then trucked to Camp PatrickHenry in Virginia. At this point Victorinterjected that he remembered thatwhen his ship was docking at New-port News, the trip had taken almosta week and a half. The volunteersspied some females on the dock andthey all ran to one side of the ship tofeast their eyes but the weight of themen on one side caused the ship tolist to that side almost to the point ofcapsizing! At Camp Patrick HenryBarry observed that the Black-Amer-ican soldiers there were separated bybarbed-wire fences from the whiteAmericans, but the Jamaicans, beingrepresentatives of Her Majesty’sRoyal Air Force, were accorded allthe privileges enjoyable at that camp.From there, a train took them to NewYork city, and all were amazed tocatch sight of the Statue of Liberty.They then left in ships that travelledin convoys towards England. Thispart of the journey was consideredhazardous both from the constant

presence of fog and the threat that theGerman U-Boats presented. A lesserhazard is reported as the quality of thefood on board ship! Noting that it wasnothing they were accustomed to,being very bland. They howeverstocked up on the K-Rations providedand this was to prove fortuitous.

Finally, the ships arrived in Liver-pool, England and the Jamaicanswere mistaken for Black-Americansas they were greeted with shouts of“hey yanks” or “any gum chum” insolicitation of chewing gum! The

Brits by then, having suffered greatprivations because of the bombingsand the rationing, considered itemssuch as pats of butter to be as good asgold and would often dive into thedark and murky waters of Liverpoolbay when these were thrown over-board to provide entertainment to theship crew. Then on to their final des-tination, Filey camp in Yorkshire. AtFiley, one strong memory was the al-most inadequacy of the food! Thebread for sandwiches were trimmedof their crust and the crust kept inlarge containers and was available toall for consumption. It was thereforenot unusual to see queues of traineeswaiting their turn to dip into the crustbins, especially after a particularly ar-duous bout of training. Thereafter,an aptitude test suited him for therole of Radar Fitter (Technician) andhe was transferred to Glasgow, Scot-land to the Royal Technical College(now University of Strathclyde) forsix months. Then on to the RAFYatesbury Radar School in Wiltshire,England. There students weren’t al-


Construction of the camp buildings inJamaica

Service men


lowed to take their books (text ornote) outside of the classroom asradar technology was consideredclassified and secret material! Afterdoing a brief practical stint at a campin Coxford, Norfolk County, Barrywas ready to do final exams. By thenthe war had ended so he had variousplacements working on air craft thattraveled to the Far East as transportcommands. Of the war itself, one ofhis notable recollections, is that on avisit to Westminster Abbey a Nazi V1bomb fell nearby and everyonethought the whole Abbey was com-ing down! W. Bro. Beckford wasawarded a scholarship to study CivilEngineering at South West EssexTechnical College and School of Art(later Waltham Forest Technical Col-lege and School of Art). After gradu-ation he worked for Babcock andWilcox, the largest boiler maker inthe world at the time, before return-ing to Jamaica in 1958 to take up em-ployment as an Executive Engineerwith the Ministry of the PublicWorks.

Bro. Major Victor Beek was born onthe 19th of august 1923 on FranklynAvenue in Franklyn Town to BandSergeant Major William Ernest Beekof the West India Regiment, and Ellennee Stuart who originally hailed fromSierra Leone.

Victor first saw the light in LodgeSemper Fidelis No. 1530 in 1967 and

currently holds the rank of HonoraryDistrict Junior Grand Warden in theDistrict Grand Lodge of Jamaica (SC).He is also affiliated to the St. ThomasLodge No. 4338 (EC). In 2008 he wasmade an Honorary Member of theSouth Carolina Lodge No. 390 (IC) adistinction previously only offered tocurrent and past District Grand Mas-ters.

Victor reports that Lodge Semper Fi-delis was or is known as the “FamilyLodge” as it boasts 2 sets of threegenerations in the Minotts (7 mem-bers) and the Beeks (6 members).There were at various times 18 fa-thers and sons and 16 brothers in theLodge!!! It has produced two DistrictGrand Masters in the persons of Prof.Hugh Hastings Wynter, Past DistrictGrand Master of Jamaica and Dr.Hugh Barrington Roberts Past Dis-trict Grand Master of Barbados.

Victor boasts the distinction of beingthe first initiate when the Lodgesmoved to the new Masonic Buildingat McGregor Square! He ascended tothe chair of Right Worshipful Masterin 1985.

Victor volunteered like a lot of otherWest Indians and served in the RoyalAir Forced between 1944 and 1949.He claims to have been inspired byimages of the brave fighter pilots seenon news footage of the Battle ofBritain. On his return to Jamaica hejoined the newly created (by ex-RAFofficer Hon. Dudley Thompson)RAFA (Royal Air Force Association)

Jamaica branch, which original met atthe YMCA building in downtownKingston, and later moved to Vine-yard Road, Vineyard Town where acaravan was stationed for sellingpoppies.

As Victor tells it, he was instrumentalin securing the premises where thecurrent RAFA and Jamaica Legionare headquartered at Curphey Place,in Swallowfield Kingston. (The Le-gion maintains the Curphey Home inSouth Manchester for ex-servicemenwho have no home or no one to take

care of them at home. It was namedafter the late Colonel Sir AldingtonCurphey, one of the founders of theJamaica Legion and the first four ex-servicemen moved in to the home on1 January 1957). He somehow man-aged to “beg” the parcel of landwhich is the current site at CurpheyPlace, for which they were able to se-cure a 99 year lease on at the princelysum of 1 shilling sterling per annum!This was in 1958 and construction(where most of the material andlabour were also “begged”) took twoyears. W. Bro. Barry Beckfordworked the structural design of thebuilding and supervised its construc-tion.

Victor’s recollection is that he wasstationed variously in Eastern andSouthern England and that he was inYorkshire when V-day occurred,where he was awaiting to be trans-ferred to Canada for air crew train-ing. He subsequently obtained ascholarship to the University of Lon-don to study Quantity Surveying.


Beek Generations

Parents of Bro. Maj. Victor Beek

Victor’s Medals


Upon completion he returned to hisbeloved homeland where he was em-ployed at the Ministry of the PublicWorks. Some notable historical high-lights after returning home were:

1960- He travelled to England on“home leave” and bought a red Mer-cedes Benz 220 S motor car. At thattime there were only about 6 in Ja-maica and all owned by expatriates!!!He entered the “Merc” in rallies suchas the Shell All Island 500 and in hillclimbs to Newcastle!!! In all he hasowned 22 Mercedes in his lifetime!He subsequently SWAPPED this red“merc” for an airplane (shownbelow) and another car!!

1961- He was invited to start the AirWing section of the Jamaica Com-bined Cadet Force (JCCF). He pro-ceeded to “beg” aircraft to assist withthe training and managed to securepromises from then Air Jamaica anda private pilot for two Cessna aircraft.Unfortunately for some reason the of-fers were never taken up to acquirethem.

1963- The United States Governmenthad donated 4 fixed wing Cessna air-craft to Jamaica. Victor was invited totake command of the newly formedAir Wing of the Jamaica DefenceForce. Between July – September1963, he was the first and ONLYmember of the fledgling Air Wingwhich was consequently known as“Busta’s (The Hon. Sir AlexanderBustamante, Prime Minister of Ja-maica at the time) One Man AirForce!”. The first assignment of theAir Wing was to hold a fly past in cel-ebration of Jamaica’s 1st Anniversaryof Independence, and Victor man-aged to muster 27 light aircraft (frommembers of flying clubs and privateowners of aircraft) for this momen-tous occasion!

At the beginning of the interview thatled to this article, both veterans (butmostly Victor! ) were a little dis-mayed about an article that appearedin the previous newsletter that alsoaddressed issues relating to the RAF.Their disquiet (putting it mildly) hadto do with what they considered in-accuracies and/or mischaracteriza-tions, particularly with reference to:

• “Jamaicans leaving barefoot and ragged”,

• “..poor, backward, country boys…”,

• “those who had no shoes…..suffered frostbite, losing toes and skin”,

• “…boys who could not read, (who were in the vast majority)…”

• “worked as what may best be described as a labourer….”

• “…never given the opportunityto fly nor work on aircraft.”

Both war veterans opined that maybethe recollections were faulty or mis-understood or perhaps spoke of anentirely different time, to wit the FirstGreat or World War! Even thoughthey advanced the notion that as farback as World War One, before theformation of the Royal Flying Corps

RFC (precursor to the Royal Air Forcewhich was formed when the RFCwas merged with the Royal Navy AirService 1st April 1918 ) a Jamaican,Robbie Clark had a flying license andeventually became a member of theRAF. They listed the following (thatthey could remember offhand) out ofa very large number of Jamaicanswho were Royal Air Force members:

Both Barry and Victor expressedpride in having served their countryand nation and that they derived thegreatest amount of satisfaction in theknowledge that they came back to Ja-maica as well trained professionalswho eagerly and enthusiasticallytook on the task of nation-buildingwith their new found skills.

We salute them!


Aircraft secured from swapping a redMercedes Benz 220 S

1960 Mercedes Benz 220S MASONICWilliam “Richie” RichardsonOliver MarshallHon. Dudley ThompsonJohn BurkeWilliam “Bill” HaughtonErnest MignottFrank SmithE. K. Powell

NON-MASONICArthur WintHon. Michael ManleyMaurice FaceyErnest PeartEli Matalon


WM and brethren, let me begin bythanking the lodge for the opportu-nity to make this presentation thisevening. The invitation by the WMwas one that I was far from hesitantto accept. I hope that this evening’spresentation will offer a new perspec-tive of opinion on Freemasonry. Asyou are all well aware I am theyoungest brother by age, on the rollof Phoenix No. 914 , a position I amtruly thankful to hold, not only for as-sisting to keep our average age in arespectable range; but because thePhoenix brethren and in particularmy proposer and seconder wouldhave at the time seen in me the poten-tial for a Phoenix Mason. I can onlyhope that in my progress so far, Ihave not disappointed them.

I have been asked this evening topresent on the topic, or possibly an-swer the question; “Why Freema-sonry?” A simple query this mayseem to be, but in the past few weeksit is one that has taken up a rathervast amount of my arguably limitedthinking capacity. Why did I join aFreemasons lodge? Why do I con-tinue to participate in Freemasonry,and how do I expand my involve-ment and impact to assist the growthof this lodge and Freemasonry inGeneral? These are a few questionsthat my preparation for this eveningimbued.

Many of the brethren here presentwill know that the concept ofFreemasonry would have been intro-duced to me by my father W. Bro.Paul Burgess. I will be quick to pointout that it was no more than an intro-duction of the concept, which I cansay is far from an actual introductionto Freemasonry. However I nowknow, and can more than appreciatethe way in which Freemasonry wasintroduced to me. The many visits ofbrethren to our family home, the in-

sistence that I be present at lodgefamily fun-days, watching my fatherprepare sandwiches for the PortRoyal treat (and a few drinks), hadshown me Freemasonry in action. Ina way that I am more grateful fornow, than I would have understoodto be then. For in this manner it wasillustrated to me, without a need toask, what Freemasonry was all about.

Now at the time, I may still have beenof the mind that, Freemasonry isprobably not for me as yet, as barelya gray hair had started to sprout onmy head. However I can recall a con-versation with a friend at the timeand now Brother, who had at thetime been recently initiated into theLiguanea Lodge SC. Bro James who Ihad met at the University of the WestIndies, and who I had introduced tothe Rotaract Club, shared with meone day that Freemasonry in theshort time he has been a part, has im-parted to him an entirely new under-standing and outlook on life. So ofcourse my question was..."what demdo to yu?" The important part of theresponse he gave was that he had notchanged, but had found, unlike inany previous organization, private orsocial; a structure, principles andfoundation that he had up to thatpoint only wished still existed. Hewent on to encourage me to fill theapplication, which he knew had beenpresented to me, as he knew I wouldfind in Freemasonry a home I neverknew existed.

And so brethren began my journey tothe door of the lodge, and to the lightof Freemasonry. I can't recall a defi-nite feeling of fear prior to joining theCraft, no more than a natural ques-tioning of the unknown. However Iremember being more anxious toknow what Freemasonry was about.I had many friends and acquain-tances who had joined before me,

and indeed in each of them I wouldhave found no reason to question ifFreemasonry was a good thing. Andso my anxiety I suppose would havepeaked on learning that I had beenaccepted, as for me, that process ofbeing accepted alone, was instructive.As it was during the wait for confir-mation that I came to realize howmany more Freemasons I knew, andagain in all those who congratulatedme on my application I saw nonewho would have had me question ifthis was a correct step to be making.From this early interaction before be-coming a freemason, what I hadgathered was greater assurance thatin lodge I would have found a frater-nity of men, interested in the well-being of each other, what I would nothave known at the time, was thebinding principles of the Craft.

Brethren, a discourse on whyFreemasonry, will necessarily pro-pose the query; what is Freema-sonry? I shall not here delve into arecital of the ritual; but this being anopinion based discourse, I will re-phrase the question as, what doesFreemasonry mean to me?

I recall the evening of my initiation, aceremony which I saw and continueto see in its practice, as a great equal-izer of men. The ceremony of initia-tion, which all brethren would haveexperienced, had brought for me a re-alization that in this place, all areequal and as we meet as brethren,each one is entitled to the same levelof respect, and value. Herein, despite

WHY FREEMASONRY?By Bro. Randolph Burgess


(L-R) Bro. Randolph Burgess, Mrs.Veronica Burgess, W. Bro. PaulBurgess


the necessities of rank in any organ-ization, the immediate bond which iscreated through that ceremony of ini-tiation, assures the initiate of his com-mensurate place among brethren.Still at that time, and as it remainstoday I realized that Freemasonry isa journey, a constant education in an-cient principles and a system of liv-ing, that with continuous progress,will enlighten the beneficiary.

That continuous edification brethrenwould be the continuous highlight ofmy progress. Progress in Freema-sonry, has been much more than, at-tending ceremonies and being passedor raised to a higher degree. I viewmy progress in Freemasonry, as awillingness and increasing ability tolearn and understand the teachingsin the ritual, with a knowledge that,though ancient in their origins the ap-plication of the teachings of Freema-sonry to life outside the lodge hall,will improve my life and that of thosewho I interact with. My progress inFreemasonry therefore, brethren, isless marked by the apron or jewelworn in the lodge, than by how mycontinued improvement in this lodgereflects on me outside the lodge.

So what is Freemasonry? If I maytake a stab at a simple definition...Asociety of men, who meet as equals toseek continued improvement, so thatthey may impact their life and thelives of others in a more positive and

a more meaningful manner.

Let us refocus then to the initialquestion...why Freemasonry?

The answer lies in much of what Ihave already said. However in allthat has been said, I hope I have re-flected the importance of preservingthis institution, and in so doing en-suring that our expansion is a con-centrated effort of the lodge. I wasrecently in a conversation with somesenior brethren, who pointed to theperseverance of the Craft. Specificallyhow, through many centuries ofchanges Freemasonry has endured;the rise and fall of empires, both po-litical and religious.

Through persecution and condemna-tion, Freemasonry has always sur-vived. And survived it has, becauseof the indomitable spirit of its beingand the impervious truth of its teach-ing. Why Freemasonry? because thisinstitution is as essential to the func-tion of society as any political, eco-nomic or religious power. That iswhy we can boast of the best of menhaving been and continuing to bemembers of our Craft.

Brethren it seems the challenge facingus now is modernity. More specifi-cally how our ancient craft will con-tinue to hold significance in a worlddefined by media, practiced on real-ity tv, and communicating on Face-

book. I submit humbly, that we haveno choice but to embrace the chang-ing world, for as we must in our pri-vate lives, it is relevant to assimilateour practices in Freemasonry to themodern forms of communication andpublic relations which exist. Brethrenas most of us know a simple googlesearch on the word Freemasonry,presents a myriad of information,most false but a lot which is accurate.Brethren much of the information isthere, however as we all know, forthe most part, to the uninitiated evena read through of a ritual book willhave little meaning. So brethren mysuggestion is not to necessarily jointhe thousands of web postings onFreemasonry, nor to attempt to de-fend Freemasonry in any publicsphere. What I am suggesting is thatas Freemasons, we must live and letit be known that within these wallsexist an enlightening that when em-braced outshines all that has been,can be, and may continue to be said.Through our interaction in allspheres of life, our charity towardour brethren and fellow man, andour pursuit of a just and upright so-ciety, we will inevitably attract to thelight of Freemasonry, those withwhom we can entrust the future ofthe Craft. Let us not fear moderniza-tion, but ensure that we use thesesources to reflect the true purpose ofFreemasonry.


With the

Compliments

of


Crafty Ladies consist of a group ofspouses/significant others of mem-bers of a Masonic WhatsApp group –The Craft. The Craft is a group of ma-sons from all three constitutions whobuilt a bond of fellowship throughvisiting. They will travel near and farto visit each other, and have formeda strong group. It is from this ideathat our group was formed. While at-tending one of the socials the Craftplanned, in which we (significantothers) were invited, we sparked asimilar interest. I mean, we all havethe same set up, at least once a monthour partners would go to a meetingand then in between maybe a com-mittee meeting or some other visit.We realized that with our otherfriends, we had to be limited in ourdiscussions compared to the CraftyLadies, we can joke about the colourof the Scottish apron vs the English,etc., things that we would not feelvery comfortable talking to otherfriends about, because they justwouldn’t understand.

We decided we could form our owngroup to keep in touch in betweenthe socials and simply be there foreach other.

What makes the bond strong

We share a common ground. Wehave masonic connections, and weappreciate and admire the Fraternity.We ladies meet on the same wave-length, and joke about masons. Moreimportantly, we help to plan socials,because they don’t always execute itwell until a lady is involved. Themain aim of the group is to create amedium for communication betweenthe significant others which are im-portant to help maintain a bond offellowship. Helping in organizinggatherings and attending Installationbanquets together - feeling comfort-able while the noises are next door orupstairs.

Sometimes it is as simple as checkingin on each other daily, sending moti-vational quotes or seeing if a memberneeds support in any way. The grouphas extended the line of communica-tion between a brother and his signif-icant other. For example, on one of

their recent trips out of town, abrother’s cellphone battery died andhe simply asked his brother to send amessage that they reached safely. Themessage being delivered and peaceof mind gained.

The group is six months old, withmembers spread over long distances.We decided to not let the link be-tween us stop with our partners.

The formation of both groups I thinkcan change the perception of Freema-sonry in the public and also for othersignificant others who are not a partof the group, in meeting them we canhelp them realize that Freemasonry isnot just about the masons, it is aboutthe family.

I used to hear that in the past, masonsused to have committee meetings ata mason’s home with wives in an-other room talking or cooking, gener-ally bonding. These are the signs thatshowed us we are not the first to dothis and I hope we won’t be the last.We know many significant othersmay feel excluded but through meet-ing these ladies we show the only ex-clusion we have is that of attending ameeting in a suit.

Interviewer: Bro Chadwick Paul MMInterviewee: Jodi-Anne McBean


An Interview withA Crafty Lady

Who/What are Crafty Ladies?


Iwanted to become a Freemasonbecause my love of readingspurred in me a love of knowl-

edge. The idea of going through cer-emonies which conveyed morallessons had a particular appeal due towhat I thought would be a practical,rather than purely theoretical ap-proach to the acquisition of knowl-edge.

My Masonic journey which startedon November 8th 2013 with my initi-ation into the University Lodge of theWest Indies 7128, has exceeded myexpectations. I got the moral lessonsI had hoped for, and my appreciationof the ceremonies grew each time Isaw them. I enjoy degree work somuch that I have visited over 24lodges (and counting) within thethree Constitutions, to witness theworkings of the three degrees. It hasbecome clear to me that each Consti-tution and each lodge has somethingunique to offer. And through visiting,one’s Masonic education maybedeeply enhanced.

Masonry aims to make good menbetter and I can attest to that. Sincebecoming a Mason I have found my-self to be more charitable to myneighbours, more willing to assist thepoor and to lend moral support to afriend. Masonry also helped me toquit smoking, while meditating on aworking tool of the first degree whichencourages us to ‘knock off super-fluities’ I thought to myself thatsmoking was a superfluity which Ishould knock off, it was hard, but Iemployed my working tool and havebeen cigarette free since. I am health-ier as a result, and the time and re-sources I spent on cigarettes can nowbe more productively employed. Ma-sonry has also drawn me closer to myreligion, while Masonry does notprofess any particular religion, its

teachings made me want to get closerto my creator, this inspired me to re-sume attending church.

Since my initiation I’ve forged many

friendships with Masons within mymother lodge as well as with Brothersfrom other lodges though my visits.Fellowship with Brethren haveproven to be both fun and educa-tional. It always warms my heartwhen the senior brethren assist usyounger Masons in understandingthe meaning of the ritual, the tradi-tions of both our mother lodge andour Constitution. Their guidance inappreciating the differences betweenthe Constitutions is also particularlyhelpful. As is said in Psalm 133:1 “Be-hold, how good and how pleasant itis for brethren to dwell together inunity.” My Masonic journey so farhas brought these words to life.


MY MASONIC JOURNEY SO FARby Dane A. Malcolm-Buchanan


In 2014 the Strategic Plan Imple-mentation Committee (SPIC) con-ducted an analysis on

membership change, between 2003and 2013 in the District. During pre-sentations to every Lodge in the Dis-trict the message of retention wasemphasised and a promise was madeto update the statistics each year. InApril 2015 the statistics were updatedwith the changes for 2014 and a sum-mary of those results are presentedhere.

As one swallow does not a summermake, so one year's outcome cannotbe considered a trend.

However the improvement in reten-tion was so healthy that it would ap-pear the message of retention washeard. The preventable losses of res-

ignation and cessation improved by60% from 50 losses in 2013 to just 20in 2014. The SPIC congratulates eachindividual Lodge for its efforts. Thisyear, in alignment with the directivesof Grand Lodge (UGLE), each Lodgewill use a Policy document to betterplan for future Membership Growthand Retention activities.

Many reasons can be posited for the20% decline in initiating new mem-bers; 38 in 2014 from 47 in 2013.Whichever reason is true, what mustbe true is that in 2015 we need tofocus on communicating to worthymen the personal growth we haveeach experienced as Freemasons.

Overall the total number of membersdeclined by only one, which is a great

improvement over 2013 with a de-cline of 14. We are on the path to im-provement and the 2016 update willreflect the efforts of each Lodge inbringing to bear all the tools and re-sources at our disposal. Please en-courage and assist your Lodge togive the Membership Growth andRetention Plan document thoughtfulconsideration and serious implemen-tation.

The individual Lodge results havebeen distributed to Masters andLodge Secretaries, along with theoverall performance of the District.As always, the SPIC is at your serviceto discuss and review the findings,whether in open Lodge or as an itemon your Lodge Committee agenda.


2014 Membership Changes AnalysisBy Bro G.Michael Fisher

With Compliments

LEE CLARKE CHANGChartered Accountants

9 Cargill AvenueKingston 10Telephone: (876) 926-4546

(876) 926-6310(876) 929-8013



NEWS FROM CAYMAN-W Bro Lennie Hew Receiving BEM

The award of the British Empire Medal to W. Bro.Leonard (Lennie) A. Hew, JP, Past Master of BracLodge No 9470, was a highlight of the Queen’s

Birthday Parade and awards ceremony on Saturday13th June 2015. Said award was previously announcedduring the Queen’s Birthday ceremony in June 2014.

W. Bro. Hew was recognised for his service to the de-velopment of sport and to the Cayman Islands commu-nity in general.

Governor Helen Kilpatrick presents the British EmpireMedal to Leonard Hew at the steps of the Legislative

Assembly.

The annual joint ladies evening be-tween Cayman Lodge No. 8153 andBrac Lodge No. 9470 took place on13th June 2015, the evening follow-ing the Brac Lodge Installation. Theevent took place at the GeorgeTown Yacht Club in Grand Caymanand was attended by 45 brethren,their wives, family and friends.Honorary guests of the two Lodgeswere widows of brethren who havepassed on to the Grand Lodgeabove. The evening consisted ofpre-dinner cocktails, a three coursemeal, after dinner toasts to ourladies, drinks and a humorous in-terlude presented by Bro. MorganDaCosta.

The event was planned and exe-cuted by W. Bro. Geoffrey Schole-field, Bro. Morgan DaCosta and Bro.Brad Watts. The feedback was ex-tremely positive from the brethren and theirladies and the stage is set for nextyears’ event."

- In Other News


At the Communication Meeting ofthe District Grand Lodge of Jamaicaand the Cayman Islands, held Janu-ary 24, 2015, the District Grand Mas-ter, R.W. Walter H. Scott Q.C., in hisaddress announced that W. Bro. theRev. Fr. Melvin Carey had been ap-pointed as the new Deputy DistrictGrand Master.

The Reverend Fr. Melvin ElineCarey, a Clerk in Holy Orders, firstsaw the light of Freemasonry on the13th January 1984 in the UniversityLodge of the West Indies No. 7128where he was raised on the 11th Oc-tober 1985, and installed as Worship-ful Master on 10th February 1995. In1990 he affiliated to the Francis Had-don Bowen Lodge No. 9238. W. Bro.Carey was exalted into the RoyalArch (University Chapter of theWest Indies No. 7128) on the 26thJune 1991 and became Most Excel-lent Zerubbabel on the 26th Septem-ber 2002. He currently holds theGrand Rank of Past Grand Chaplainin the Craft, and District GrandChapter rank of Third District GrandPrincipal in the Royal Arch.

At the Convocation of District GrandChapter of Jamaica and the CaymanIslands, holden on the 24th January2015, the Most Excellent Grand Su-perintendent, Walter H. Scott Q.C.,appointed E. Comp. The Hon. Jus-tice Patrick Brooks CD as DeputyGrand Superintendent of and overthe District and although the MEGSspoke of the impeccable masonic cre-dentials speaking for themselves, werelate a synopsis of his masonic ca-reer.

Patrick Anthony Brooks CD, AppealCourt Judge, was initiated intoLodge Collegium Fabrorum No.1836 on the 13th March 1986 and re-ceived his Master Mason’s degree onthe 12th February 1987 and becamean exaltee of the Coll Fab Royal ArchChapter No. 1836 on the 3rd January1991. V.W. Bro. Brooks became Mas-ter of his Lodge on the 9th June 1994and First Principal of his Chapter onthe 3rd July 1997. His current GrandRank is that of Past Grand SwordBearer in BOTH THE CRAFT ANDTHE ROYAL ARCH.

W. Bro. Dr. K.O.E. Barrow CD, CCH, JP, PJGD, PDistGDC

“Gone but NOT Forgotten”

NEW RULERSFREEMASON’S NEWS 21

UGLE Great Queen Street, Lon-don, England


Documents

Say “ I DO” to Freemasonry! · Carlton Stephen OD, JP (Phoenix 914) PAGDC Promotions Justice Patrick Brooks CD (Coll Fab 1836) to PGSwdB Harding Watler JP (Cayman 8153) to PAGSoj