The History of the Provincial Grand Lodge of East Lancashire

Province Of East Lancashire

The History of the Provincial Grand Lodge of East Lancashire
1826 - 2008

On 3rd November 1899, Lord Stanley MP and later to become the 17 th Earl of Derby was installed as Provincial Grand Master in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester.

Lord Derby presided over the Province for a magnificent 49 years - until 1948 - and a record for the Province, during which time the number of Lodges increased from 113 to 303 and the number of members from 4,829 to 19,000.

Notable events during Lord Derby's tenure were: -

• The opening of the East Lancashire Masonic Temple by HRH the Prince of Wales on 8 th November 1929.

• The division of the Province into 'districts', and the allocation of Lodges into these districts.

• The appointment of 'Representatives' at Lodge Installations.

• The convening of a Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester in 1935.

• The celebration of the Boys' Festival at Belle Vue, Manchester in 1946.

• The appointment of Assistant Provincial Grand Masters.

• The opening of Walshaw Hall in July 1947.

Lord Derby's successor was Lieutenant Colonel Sir Alan Sykes Bt . Sir Alan was appointed Deputy Provincial Grand Master by Lord Derby on 25 th April 1919 and his length of service in that office is a record for the Province.

Sir Alan became Deputy PGM exactly 50 years after his initiation at Oxford , whilst he was an undergraduate there.

Lord Derby's public offices - Cabinet Minister, Ambassador, Lord Lieutenant inevitably involved his Deputies more closely in the administration of the Province, and it was thus that Sir Alan established a record by consecrating more than 100 Lodges whilst he was Deputy Provincial Grand Master.

Sir Alan Sykes, Chairman of the Bleachers Association, MP for Knutsford, and the fourth generation of his family to occupy the office of Mayor of Stockport was Provincial Grand Master for only two years.

In 1950 aged 80 Sir Edward Rhodes became the next Provincial Grand Master, after being appointed Deputy PGM two years earlier in 1948. He was appointed to the office of APGM in 1929, being the fourth holder of that honour. The first APGM was appointed in 1921.

Sir Edward decided that Lodge Jubilees, centenaries, sequi-centenaries and other noteworthy anniversaries should be accorded recognition by the Province through the visits of official deputations to such events.

The Right Honourable the Earl of Derby MC succeeded Sir Edward Rhodes in 1960. On the death of the 17 th Earl of Derby, who was Provincial Grand Master from 1899 until 1948, the title was inherited by his grandson, who thus became the 18th Earl.

Lord Derby was awarded the Military Cross during the Second World War. He previously occupied the position of Deputy Grand Master and became Provincial Grand Master in 1960, a post he held until 1971.

On 18th November 1971 at Belle Vue, Manchester the Right Honourable the Lord Hewlett, Kt, CBE became Provincial Grand Master of this Province, being installed into that high office by The Most Worshipful Pro Grand Master, the Right Honourable the Earl of Cadogan.

Lord Hewlett was elevated to the Peerage in 1972, and so in 1971 he was formally installed under the style and title of the RW Bro Sir Clyde Hewlett Kt, CBE.

During the period 1967 to 1971 Lord Hewlett served the Province as APGM, thereby emulating the example of his father the late W Bro T H Hewlett APGM 1935 to 1950.

In 1972 Lord Hewlett presided over the 184 th Anniversary Festival of the RMIG when the record sum of £1,129,544 was announced. He was Chairman of the Appeal for the Re-development and Modernisation of the Royal Masonic Hospital , and of the General Appeals Committee of the Hospital.

As Provincial Grand Master Lord Hewlett was President of the ELMBI that led to the establishment of the New Walshaw Appeal - our own Hewlett Court at Holcombe Brook, near Ramsbottom which still provides sheltered accommodation for freemasons and their near relatives. He left office in 1979.

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