A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LGRA

At the March 1887 Quarterly Communication Of Grand Lodge a young London Past Master, James Stephens, had the temerity (some would say courage!) to rise in Grand Lodge and propose that London Lodges be divided into four groups similar to Provinces. As he so rightly pointed out, unlike the Provinces where Provincial honours were available, merit amongst London Past Masters could only be recognised by their being appointed to Grand Rank. His proposal was seconded by a brother from Manchester but fell on deaf ears. It was to be a little over twenty years before Brother Stephens’ idea of a London honours system became a reality with the introduction in 1908 of London Rank, the centenary of which we celebrated in 2008.

As with all Masonic honours, a fee of honour was levied, initially some two guineas, which was to go into Grand Lodge’s Fund of Benevolence. There were immediate objections to the destination of the fees, London lodges arguing that as fees of honour to Provincial Grand Ranks were paid into a provincial benevolent fund, a similar arrangement should be made for London with the setting up of a London Benevolent Fund. The first Chairman was the same Brother James Stephens who had first suggested London Honours in 1887. By 1908 when the Fund was set up he had been a Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies and elected member of Grand Lodge’s Board Of Benevolence (forerunner of the Grand Charity) of which he was to be President from 1909 to 1929. It was out of the London Rank Fund of Benevolence that this Association was born.

Until 1933 there was no formal investiture for recipients of London Rank. They simply received a rather nice certificate of appointment, decorated with a representation of the jewel. On 29 April 1909 a dinner for the London Rank Fund of Benevolence was held at which it was decided to form an association the purpose of which would be the promotion of social intercourse amongst

(a) those brethren who have been appointed to London Rank by establishing a London Rank Association which will meet after every Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge, and

(b) dealing in a fraternal manner with any matters that may arise from time to time affecting London Masons.

The Association duly met each quarter and additionally once a year held a dinner. At that time there were two weekly Masonic newspapers (on public sale) – The Freemason and The Freemasons’ Chronicle – both of which carried reports of the meetings and dinners of the Association, as well as publishing the annual list of new appointments to London Rank.

In 1933 the then Pro Grand Master, Lord Ampthill, decided that there should be a formal investiture for London Rank. On 15 February 1933 the Grand Stewards Lodge held an emergency meeting during which the investiture took place. It was followed by the annual dinner of the London Rank Association, which became a Festival. That was to be the annual pattern until the consecration of the Metropolitan Grand Lodge.

When the first Assistant Grand Master was appointed in 1937, with special responsibility for London, he took over the annual investiture of London Rank. In 1939 the new Grand Master, HRH George, Duke Of Kent (father of our present Grand Master), changed London Rank to London Grand Rank to demonstrate that, whilst there were no gradations within it, London Grand Rank was the equivalent of Provincial Grand Ranks.

In the early 1990s when the subject of the management of London Masonry came on to the agenda again with the setting up of the Assistant Grand Master’s Working Party (under the Earl of Eglinton and Winton) the LGRA was to play a major part in both providing evidence to the Committee and in reporting to London Lodges the various stages of its deliberations.

By the 1990s the LGRA had become a major player in London Freemasonry, acting both as a focus point for London members and as a major communications channel operating in both directions between Grand Lodge and London Masonry. It was with a certain trepidation that the LGRA and its members viewed the move towards a more independent and centralised authority for London Freemasonry. There were many who wondered if the LGRA would continue to have a role or any relevance if London were formed into a Metropolitan area with its own leader and executive. There were many who thought that such a transition could only lead to the demise of the LGRA with its functions being taken over by the new body. Happily events have proved them wrong! The LGRA survives and continues to be a focus for London and a major channel of communication on London affairs. Long may it continue to do so!

The LGRA now has its own website www.lgra.co.uk . The Bulletin is now sent our by email although some members still like to receive a printed copy. This can be done by paying an additional periodic subscription. The LGRA now coordinates the offer of regalia on behalf of the Shop at Freemasons’ Hall by designing the order forms sent out by Metropolitan Gand Lodge when Brethren or Companions receive offers of appointment to LR, LGR and SLGR for the Craft and LCR, LGCR and SLGCR for the Royal Arch. The London Grand Rank Heritage and Educational Trust(Charity no. 287720) was set up in 1983 to mark the 75th Anniversary of the London Grand Rank Association with Sir James Stubbs (Grand Secretary), Major General Denis Beckett, Sir Lindsay Roberts Ring and Sir John Welch as Trustees; Lord Eglinton was added a little later in place of Sir Lindsay. Of the current Trustees, two of them are very well known lo LGRA members. namely David Kenneth Williamson.

PAGM, and Russell Race, 2nd Grand Principal and PMetGM.

The Trust was originally set up to purchase masonic memorabilia, books, and works of art that come up for sale from time to time, in order to preserve them for the future. The purchases are donated or placed on loan with the Library and Museum or other (UGLE) approved museums.

The LGRA has ten Area Groups which meet locally and the details of these Area Groups are published on the back page of the Bulletin. Some of the Area Groups regularly send in the minutes of their meetings and these are published in the ABulletin.