Worth Knights this is the ninth occasion on which I have had the privilege and very great pleasure of addressing you at our Divisional Meeting. It is wonderful to see so many of you able to attend today.
During item 5 on the agenda, the names of those who have passed to the Grand Conclave above were read. I wish to expand on 2 of them;-
Ill Kt Andrew Schoborgh Brass. Andrew was born in Africa, brought up in Africa, spent most of his working life in Africa, and also most of his Masonic Life there as well. He was quite an amazing individual who during his working life was a special adviser to two Kings, 3 Presidents and 2 prime Ministers. His masonic activity is legendary, with Deputy District GM in the Craft, Deputy District Grand Superintendent in the Royal Arch; District Grand Master in the Mark and RAM; Inspector General in the Ancient and Accepted Rite. He will be very much missed by us all
Ill Kt John McKindlay had served this order since February 1983. 38years of continuous dedication to his Conclave, (Forest Rose Conclave No 265), and to this division and the order. Ill Kt John was made MPS of his conclave on 25th September 1992. He became Divisional Steward in 1993; Divisional Prefect in 1994; Divisional Sword Bearer in 1995; Divisional Senior General in1996. He was given the Grand Rank of Past Grand Prefect in 1997 in Grand Imperial Conclave, and promoted to Past Grand Chamberlain in 2002. He was a wonderful supporter of his Conclave and will be greatly missed by them and the rest of the Division.
I congratulate all those who will be appointed to or promoted in Grand Imperial Conclave early next month.
On Promotion
Ill Kt Steven Groeger (Dep I-G) Deputy Grand Marshall
Ill Kt Brian Wisbey P G Chamberlain
Ill Kt Trevor Gulliver P G St B (C)
On first Appointment
Ill Kt Chris Davis P G Pref
Ill Kt John Prizeman P G Pref
Ill Kt Mervyn Harkness P G WofR
These appointments and promotions are all very well-deserved and follow many years of dedicated service to the Order, and is an indication of what is expected of them in the future. Our allocation under the new system this year was 3 First Appointments and 1 Promotion. I used them as 2 first appointments and 2 promotions, and we were very fortunate to have an extra first appointment and an extra promotion of our members from MMH. I look forward to seeing you all in London for your Investiture and also I trust many of you who will no doubt be supporting them.
I congratulate all those that have been appointed to office today. It is an honour that you all deserve. I look forward to working with you during the next year. I would remind you all that you are expected to attend as many official visits as you can, that also includes those promoted to a Past Divisional Rank, as we treat you all as active for this year.
There have been a number of long standing divisional officers who have retired.
Ill Kt Stuart Taynton has served the Division faithfully for many years. His 1st office was P War of Regalia in 2004; he became the active Divisional Warden of regalia in 2007; Divisional Sword Bearer in 2008; Past Junior general in 2010; he was the assistant Divisional recorder from 2009 to 2013 and Divisional Recorder from 2013 to 2015; He then became the Divisional Eusebius from 2016 to this meeting. His activities were recognised by Grand Imperial Conclave by appointment to the rank of Past Grand Prefect in 2011 and promotion to Past Grand Standard Bearer (Labarum) in 2014. Stewart has been exceptional in all that he has done for the Division and the order. He has served his Conclaves Naval and Military No 35, and St Peter and St Paul No 45, diligently throughout his masonic Career in this order, taking a number of offices in both conclaves.
Divisional Marshal, will you please present Ill Bro Stewart to me.
Ill Kt Stuart it is with the greatest of pleasure that I am able to make this award.
Deputy Intendent-General will you please read the citation.
Many congratulations. On a more personal note may I present you with this memento of your wonderful service to me over the length of my term as Intendent-General.
V Ill Kt John Murray should have received this acknowledgment of his service at our last meeting, but he was unable to be with us. V Ill Kt John had been our Divisional Treasurer for 5 years. It is a difficult position to do well, and John has done just that. He was instrumental in our re-organisation of the Divisional Finances and also the creation of the Grand Charity Relief Chest for the Division, sometimes referred to as the I-G’s slush Fund. John despite your own medical difficulties and pressures you have served the division faithfully and well
Divisional Marshall will you please present V Ill Bro John to me.
V Ill Kt John it is with the greatest of pleasure that I am able to make this award.
Deputy Intendent-General will you please read the citation.
Many congratulations.
The membership figures in the summons reflect the year ending 31st August 2018. They show that we managed to have a very small loss of members. I am delighted to say that this year we are on course for an increase of members of about 4. This is very encouraging and I hope that we may have an increase next year as well. We have had very few resignations and also deaths. The recruitment as you all know is from the Royal Arch. The Royal Arch membership figures have dropped by about 40 this year. This makes our recruitment more difficult, as it does for the other orders using Royal Arch Membership as criteria for joining.
In the year 2018 to 2019 we have installed 12 new members to date. They are:-
Would you please stand as I call your names
W Kt Brian Adams of Naval and Military
W Kt MMichael A Daraz of Naval and Military
W Kt Jim Connolly of Naval and Military (Present)
W Kt Glenn Miller of Forest Rose
W Kt Steven J Cook of Forest Rose
W Kt Graham N. Clark of Forest Rose
W Kt Paul Medley of St Boniface (Present)
W Kt Phillip Seeley of St Boniface
W Kt Mark Gibbs of St Boniface
W Kt David c Murphy of King Aethelwulf
W Kt Edward S. Giles of King Aethelwulf (Present)
W Kt Paul Jeans of Milvian Bridge (Present)
Welcome and thank you joining us at your first Annual meeting of Divisional Conclave.
W Kt’s of the Division of Hampshire and Isle of Wight, I introduce to you 4 of our new Kts. I trust you will give them a hearty welcome whenever you see them, and provide them with help, guidance and companionship in this wonderful Order — They are our future.
Recruitment and retention are our major preoccupation for the coming year again. You are all well aware that the best method of recruitment is for each member to make approaches to individuals about joining us. I would remind Sovereigns and Viceroys that they should be trying to bring in an individual each in their years of office. But this does not mean that the rest of us can stand back and watch. The Divisional recruitment presentation has been updated and improved. If you want to use it for recruitment purposes, you should contact the V Ill Bro Steve the Deputy Intendent – General, who is ably assisted by P Kt Bob Brown. I am aware that one evening is already arranged and I trust there will be others in the autumn.
My senior team have made many visits in this Division and to other Divisions. The numbers are in the Divisional recorders report. Firstly I must thank the other Divisions for their kindness and warm welcome on our visits to them. It is one of the Great Privileges of being part of the senior team to be allowed to attend other Divisional Meetings.
All the visits with in the Division have been marked by the warmth of the welcome and hospitality and the sincerity and warmth of the ceremonies we have witnessed. The visits within our own Division are enhanced by the support of the active Officers, the Divisional Guard and the many Grand Officers that attend with us. They all have my grateful thanks; their support has been wonderful.
I now wish to acknowledge the immense amount of work undertaken by my Senior Team. Ill KT Steve Groeger my deputy; Ill Kt Stuart Taynton my Venerable Divisional Eusebius; Ill Kt Kevin Todd the Divisional Marshall; Ill Kt Tony Bargrove the Divisional Recorder. Their advice and guidance continues to be in valuable to me. I also include in these thanks the Deputy Divisional Marshall Ill Kt Graham Brown and the Divisional Assistant recorder P Kt Ian Campbell, both of whom have worked tirelessly for the Division.
The Captain of the Guard – P Kt Chris Davis and Deputy Captain of the Guard W Kt Mark Gannaway, who play such a substantial role with in this Division, not only on Official Visits but on all Appendant Orders Ceremonies, have my grateful thanks for all they and the Guard do. You will have noted that both of these individuals are being promoted this year.
The Divisional Executive meeting was of great value to me in deciding on whom I would put forward for Grand Rank and Grand Promotions. Likewise we were able to decide on who would be the active officers that we have appointed today.
We also discussed in some detail our plans for the 150th in 2021. V Ill Kt Larry has been heading up our committee on the subject. We thought we might have trouble proving continuous operation of the Division, particularly, with the division changes of Name. It transpires however those records are very sketchy. There have been no financial records/annual records required for Divisions, at times as there are for Conclaves. We also note that a number of records held by MMH, were lost by them. So I am delighted to be able to announce that we have been informed Grand Imperial Conclave that they are happy to celebrate our 150th with us. Our work on this subject continues. I wish at this point to congratulate and thank John Makin for all the work he has done and is doing on the Divisional and Conclave Histories. It is an immense task that requires the help and assistance of Conclave Historians. This work is of very high importance for the celebration of our 150th .
The Divisional General Purposes Committee meeting was attended by approximately 34. Apart from the information that I am able to make known to those present, the Divisional Marshall, Recorder and Treasurer are able to meet with their counterparts in each of the Conclaves. We also receive reports from each of the Conclaves updating us with their progress and any problems they may have.
The Ladies’ evening at Winchester was an exceptional event. It was commented on by virtually all the Ladies as to how much they enjoyed it. Our keyboard player organised another competition. It was sad that our numbers are slowly dropping, and we will be looking to see what improvements we can make, to encourage more to attend.
The Christian Orders Church Service, organised by us on behalf of the Christian Orders, took place at St Cross Church on the 9th June 2019. It was a wonderful event, with the Service put together by Trevor Gulliver, and conducted by our Divisional Prelate. Approximately 93 people attended and enjoyed the Afternoon Tea that followed.
You are all aware that the collection today will go to our Divisional Relief Chest.
We are building up the Divisional Relief Chest to be able to make donations to a number of charities in the future, particularly the Grand Sovereigns Fund for Children in our 150th Year. I also would like to thank the Conclaves who, have made contributions to the Relief Chest during the last Masonic Year. We have this year made a £500 donation to the Royal Arch Prostate cancer appeal. It has in the year raised over £50,000.
Worthy Knights, the last year as your Intendant-General, has been stimulating, encouraging, challenging and above all, most enjoyable. You are all well aware that we are a truly Christian Order and it should be emphasised throughout our sojourn as a member of this Order. In fact we should emphasise it in our recruitment so that no candidate should ever arrive at his installation in any doubt as to the relationship between the Order and his Christian beliefs. I have taken to using the Gaelic Blessing, that Andrew Brass asked me to read at his Memorial Service, at the end of my comments on Official Visits. It was also used by the Intendent-General for Essex at his recent Divisional Meeting.
Worthy Knights may I thank you all for attending today. My thanks go to Tony Ian, Kevin and Graham for organising today; and the staff at Botley for the meal to come. I look forward to working with you in the next year and we part with the watchwords of our wonderful Order:
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we met again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand
May God Bless you all
And I finish with the watch words of this wonderful order
FAITH UNITY and ZEAL
Rt. Ill. Kt. Roger Bricknell
June 2019