Worthy Knights, it gives me great pleasure to stand here this morning and address you for the 5th time as your Intendant General. Where do the years go?
I thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to join us. I have already greeted our official guests individually but I would like to especially thank them for their kindness and friendship when we attend their Divisional Conclave meetings. We always enjoy your meetings and I am glad to reciprocate today and hope you are having an enjoyable day here so far.
It has also been an honour for me to be invited to represent the Red Cross of Constantine at the Annual Meetings of many of the other Orders within the Province, for which I thank them all for their hospitality.
May I first pay tribute to the members of this Division that were mentioned in our requiem earlier. They were all well known to us, and they all served this Order faithfully and diligently for a considerable number of years. They will be sorely missed by us all.
On a happier note, I would now like to congratulate all those members of the Division that will be promoted or appointed at Grand Imperial Conclave in a few days time.
To be promoted:
- Ill. Kt. Roy Rowe to Past Grand Chamberlain
And a first Appointment for:
- P.Kt. Peter Gilham as Past Grand Warden of Regalia
- P.Kt. Jim Morgan Jnr. as Past Grand Vice Chamberlain
These appointments and promotions are all well-deserved and follow many years of dedicated service to the Order. I look forward to seeing them in London for their Investiture and I trust many of the W.Kts of the Division will also be attending to support them.
I have made many changes to the Divisional team today and I would like to thank those Divisional officers that have stood down from office today, in particular V. Ill. Kt. Kevin Todd (DIG), Ill. Kt. Spike Bromley (Treasurer), Ill.Kt. Mike Goody (Almoner) and P. Kt. Peter Gilham (Warden of Regalia). They have all served the Division for many years. I thank them all for their service and wish them well in their future endeavours.
I now congratulate all those those that have been appointed to or promoted in office today. It is an honour that is well deserved by you all. 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.
Looking at the Divisional statistics in our order of business you can see that up to 31st August 2024 we had a loss of 9 memberships in the Division. We are looking healthier this year as we have installed 13 new members into the Order and we have more knights to be installed later this year. This is excellent but we need to continue recruiting to enable us to outweigh the losses that occur each year from deaths and resignations.
I would like to set a challenge to the Conclaves for this coming year, which is for each Conclave to bring in at least two new knights into the Order. We are all recruitment officers for this wonderful Order, as well as for the Craft and Royal Arch, as without members joining those orders we will not have any candidates for our Order. I know all the companion orders are trying to get the same brethren into their Orders and it is tough but please put some effort into recruiting into this Order. I and my executive team are here to help if talks, recruitment presentations etc are needed, so please just call on us.
This year we have changed from performing the Appendant Orders ceremonies in each of our Conclaves to performing them in only a couple of Conclaves, with a team of experienced Knights taking office. They have been held at St Peter and St Paul Conclave in February and two days ago at King Aethelwulf Conclave where respectively 3 Kts and then 9 Kts received their Appendant Orders. Both meetings were very well attended and the ceremony was performed in an excellent manner. This has proved to be a very popular change and we have several Conclaves offering to hold the ceremony at their conclave over the next couple of years. If you wish to take part at the next KHS in Feb 2026 at St Peter and St Paul Conclave then please contact the Divisional Recorder.
I officially visited all of the Conclaves, with the Divisional Team, once in the past year and I was pleased to renew past acquaintances and meet the new Knights. Wherever the Divisional Team went, we were entertained with warmth and friendship, and I am most appreciative of the support given to me by the Grand and Divisional Officers, Sovereigns and Past Sovereigns of Conclaves, and of course the members of the Divisional Guard, who play such a substantial role within this Division, not only on Official Visits but at the Appendant Orders Ceremonies.
The Combined Christian Orders Ladies’ evening will hopefully be held at Winchester Masonic Centre on Friday 1st August. This is always a wonderful evening but numbers are limited, so if you wish to attend then please ensure you book in early.
The collection today will go to our Divisional Relief Chest. I would like to thank all the W.Kts and the Conclaves who have made contributions to the Relief Chest during the last Masonic Year.
In an earlier agenda item we agreed to make a couple of charitable donations, one to a local charity, George’s Rockstars, and the other to the Mark 2026 Festival. Divisional Marshal, please could you conduct Ill. Kt. George Deacon, the Provincial Grand Master of the Mark, to me please. Ill. Kt George your Order is currently in festival which is ending in 2026 and I hope you are making great progress towards your desired total. Earlier this year we made an online donation to your festival and would now like to add to that with a further donation. It therefore gives me great pleasure to present a further donation of £300 from the W.Kt’s of this Division to your festival. Don’t be disappointed when you open the envelope and don’t find a cheque, this is only symbolic, as the funds will again be transferred electronically. I and the Kt’s of the Division wish you all the best with your Festival and look forward to being with you in 2026 at your festival celebrations.
Worthy Knights may I thank you all for attending today. My thanks go to Robert, Roger and James 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:
FAITH UNITY and ZEAL
God bless you all
R.Ill.Kt. Steven Groeger
28th June 2025