Border Conclave No. 168

At the annual meeting of Divisional Grand Conclave of Hampshire, held on 24th June 1925, V.Ill.Kt. Sir John Apsey KBE, Intendant-General, expressed the wish that a new Conclave be formed in the Division (which then comprised Naval & Military Conclave No 35) “and so foster a spirit of friendly rivalry in working the Ritual, thus leading to a better performance of the Ceremonies of the Red Cross and Knights of the Holy Sepulchre degrees”.

The next meeting of Naval & Military Conclave No 35, held on 12th October 1925, resolved to progress the Intendant-General’s request and 27 members of Naval & Military Conclave petitioned Grand Conclave to form ‘The Farnborough Conclave’, to meet on the 4th Saturday in the months of April, May, June and September, at the Tumbledown Dick Hotel, Farnborough (now a drive-through burger restaurant).

The petition was granted and the Rt.Ill. Grand Viceroy Charles Herbert Perram, MD, G.C.C., assisted by members of Grand Conclave, consecrated the Farnborough Conclave and Sanctuary No 168, at the Masonic Club, 79 Commercial Road, Landport, Portsmouth, on Saturday 30th October 1926. He then enthroned Ill.Kt. Harold Francis Green as the first Sovereign and consecrated Em.Kt. George Weeks as the first Viceroy. (The Ceremony of Consecration was originally planned for 22nd May but was delayed due to disruptions caused by the 1926 General Strike.) The fee for Installation as a Kt. of the Red Cross was initially set at 1 Guinea (£1.05) and the fee for Installation in KHS was   Guinea (52 p). The annual subscription was 8 Shillings (40p), being raised to 1/2 Guinea (52 p) in 1930. The cost of membership then remained stable for the next 20 years, until 1950, when the RCC fee doubled to 2 Guineas (£2.10), the Appendant Orders fee increased to £1, and the annual subscription was raised to 15 Shillings (75p). However, in 1932, honour fees had been introduced, meaning that the MPS had to pay 7/6 (37 p), the Viceroy 5/- (25p) and the Senior and Junior Generals a Half Crown (12 p) upon assuming their offices. In 1932, a bank account was also opened for the Conclave. In 1949, it was decided that an Alms Dish should be circulated at every meeting and the first alms collection, in March, raised 13/6 (67 p).

The Conclave took some time to establish itself in the north of Hampshire and never met at the Tumbledown Dick Hotel. The first four meetings alternated between Aldershot and Portsmouth, before settling on the Masonic Hall, Farnborough, as a regular meeting place
in May 1928. The meeting place changed to the Scarborough Rooms, Aldershot in 1952, although the proposed change of name to ‘The Farnborough and Aldershot Conclave’ did not go through at the same time.

In the early years, an average of 2 candidates were installed into the Red Cross each year. During WWI, this slowed to 1 per year and in 1933, 1936 and 1939, there were no candidates. From April 1927 until January 1953, a total of 42 candidates were installed, and in 1952 the membership stood at 27.

Many of the founding members served the Division and Grand Conclave with honour. Foremost amongst these was the Primus Sovereign, V.Ill.Kt. Harold Francis Green, who was made an honorary member of the Conclave in 1930 and was the Intendant-General for the Division of Hampshire (latterly, Hampshire & Sussex) from 1946 to 1951. Another Founder, Reverend Walter Harding, was appointed Grand High Prelate in 1932.

Em.Kt. Claude Ragan, who had been installed as a Knight of the Red Cross on 18th September 1943, was deputed by the Grand Sovereign, M.Ill.Kt. C.H. Perram, MD, G.C.C., to assist him in the Annual Assembly of the Grand Conclave held at the Caf  Royal, on Monday 12th February 1951, by working the second Point of the degree while installing 28 candidates as Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Order of St John the Evangelist. The duty was discharged with credit and the occasion was unique, being the first known instance in Grand Conclave that a Knight had assisted the Grand Sovereign before having attained Grand Rank. Em.Kt. Ragan, who was Conclave Recorder at the time, was subsequently appointed Assistant Grand Marshal and eventually achieved the rank of Past Grand High Chancellor.

By 1953, the Conclave was still meeting in Aldershot, but on the 3rd Thursday in the months of January, March, September (Enthronement) and November. In 1954, the Installation fee for the two degrees increased to 5 Guineas (£5.25), and the annual subscription was raised to 30/- (£1.50), with Country Members over 25 miles from Aldershot paying 15/- (75p).

On 20th January 1955, in an attempt to counter low attendance, a motion was passed:

• changing the name to Border Conclave and Trinity Sanctuary “with a view to widening the scope of activities in Aldershot”,
• changing the dates of meetings to the 2nd Thursday in the months of March, May, September (Enthronement) and November, as being “more suitable and convenient ones, particularly for Farnham members and prospective members”, and 
• granting honorary membership to the Most Puissant Sovereign, Viceroy, Treasurer and Recorder, for the time being, of Naval & Military Conclave No 35 and Rose of Sussex Conclave No 196.

At the end of 1955, the membership of Border Conclave stood at 31 subscribing members and 11 honorary members. 

On 10th May 1956, Companion John Batt Dingle, Warrant Officer, HM Army, of Mons Barracks Aldershot, a Cornish Freemason who had been raised in Meridian Lodge No 893 and exalted in Eliot Chapter No 1164, was installed as a Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine in a ceremony involving four candidates. At the next meeting, on 8th November 1956, he was installed as a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre and Order of St John the Evangelist, in a ceremony involving six candidates.

Having been a member of Border Conclave for more than half a century, V.Ill.Kt. Major John Batt Dingle, Past Grand Senior General, was presented with a 50 Year Jewel by the Intendant-General, R.Ill.Kt. Lt Col Gerry Southwell, K.C.C., on 5th October 2006. Ten years later, Batt was made an honorary member of the Conclave and, in May 2016, the Intendant-General, R.Ill.Kt. Roger Charles Bricknell, was able to visit Batt at home and present him with his 60 Year Certificate and Jewel. Sadly, Batt passed to the Grand Lodge above on 17th June 2016 and a Requiem for a Departed Knight was held at the next Conclave meeting on 6th October 2016. Batt’s Certificate and 60th Jewel is on open
display at Alton Masonic Hall.

By the early years of the 21st Century, the Conclave had 24 members and held three meetings a year at the Masonic Centre in Alton, on the 1st Thursday in the months of March, May (Enthronement) and October, which are the current meeting place and days. In 2014, our Standard of Constantine was showing the signs of age and Ill.Kt. G. Lee Robinson, Past Grand Warden of Regalia, set about to produce a new Standard for the Conclave. His efforts were rewarded later that year when the Intendant-General, R.Ill.Kt. Roger Charles Bricknell, performed a dedication ceremony for our new standard, at our meeting on 2nd October 2014.

In the course of 92 years, the Border Conclave and Trinity Sanctuary No 168 has changed its name, moved its meeting place several times and amended the days on which it meets to fit in with changing circumstances. However, one thing has remained constant: the desire of the members to practice Faith, Unity and Zeal and to strive to live up to the founding ethos by performing ceremonies to the best of our ability