E Comp Richard Stainton SANDBACH PGSupt, OSM

Companions all, 

Nearly a week has now passed since we received the sad news that our Past Grand Superintendent, E Comp Richard Sandbach, had passed peacefully away last Saturday morning at the RMBI Residential Home at Devonshire Court and where he and his late wife, Wendy, had spent their last few years together. E Comp Richard was in his 100th year.

We have already written to the family to convey our sincere condolences and to assure them that our thoughts and prayers are with them at this sad time. We understand that a memorial service will be held to commemorate his life in due course.

E Comp Richard was the ME Grand Superintendent of this Province from 1978 to 1990 – he was appointed some six years before being installed as our Provincial Grand Master in 1984. Having been initiated in 1949, he was later exalted into our St Peter’s Chapter No: 442 in 1952. There followed a very distinguished and illustrious Masonic career, not only in this Province of Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire but also in London and in other Orders of Freemasonry in which he held high office and in which he was greatly respected and held in the highest regard.

In March 2006, he was awarded the Grand Master’s Order of Service to Masonry (OSM) – an accolade afforded to just a privileged few. He was greatly influential in the revision of our Royal Arch ritual in 2004 when recommendations and amendments were accepted and approved by Supreme Grand Chapter in November of that year.

Indeed, we have a great deal for which to be grateful and for which we are indebted to our Past Grand Superintendent. He will be sorely missed by all those that were privileged to have known him but through our amended Royal Arch ritual, his memory will continue to live on. He certainly lived respected and he truly died regretted.

Wayne E Williams ME Grand Superintendent
Royal Arch Province of Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire.

The ME Grand Superintendent, E Comp Wayne Williams, delivered a moving eulogy for the very well respected E Comp Bob Meanwell PAGSoj, CofM at Northampton Chapter recently and would like to share this edited version

E Comp Bob Meanwell passed to the Grand Chapter above on the 20th October. He was close to 89 years of age, having been born in November 1925 and initially educated at Northampton’s Bective School until leaving at the tender age of 14. He had passed the Entrance Examination for the Town’s Grammar School but father determined that he should start working immediately. E Comp Bob, rather surprisingly, started his working life as a hairdresser. On the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, he was desperate to volunteer but, again, father held Bob’s aspirations in check until achieving the age of consent, he then immediately enlisted for the Royal Air Force.

E Comp Bob commenced his training in North America to become a fighter pilot but unfortunately for him yet perhaps fortunately for us, hostilities ceased before Bob had completed his training. He returned to Northampton, still determined to qualify as a pilot and continued his training at Sywell before qualifying for his licence. By this time, he had met his future wife, Chris, who was then working at Northampton General Hospital. To impress her on a couple of occasions, Bob took it upon himself to buzz the Hospital in a borrowed Tiger Moth, much to her embarrassment and the annoyance of the local authorities. Bob and Chris were married in 1946.

E Comp Bob was determined to go further; on returning to Northampton, he continued his studies at night school, completed successfully the then equivalent to O and A levels and qualified to attend Shoreditch College, then assessed as one of the best handicraft colleges in the country. E Comp Bob was destined for a teaching career. He was subsequently offered a teaching post at the prestigious Oundle School. However, he tactfully declined as Saturday teaching commitments would have prevented his regular attendance at Franklins Gardens and his support of Northampton Saints.Instead, his teaching career took off at the Cliftonville Secondary Modern School here in Northampton. 

A passion for Freemasonry soon took hold in 1970 when E Comp Bob was initiated into Dr Field Lodge No: 8158 and amongst other memberships, he became a Founder of the Lodge of Harmony No: 9048 in 1982. He was exalted into Northampton Chapter No: 360 in May 1972 and a glittering Royal Arch career was set to follow. He progressed through the Chapter Offices – Director of Ceremonies on no less than three occasions – and rising to PrGDC in 1995 and promoted in Supreme Grand Chapter to PAGSoj in 2004. He was awarded the Grand Superintendents Certificate of Meritorius Service in 2002 for his devoted commitment to the Holy Royal Arch in general and to this Province in particular. He was a senior Royal Arch Companion in every aspect and was elected to Honorary Member status of Northampton Chapter in May 2011.

Yet somehow amongst all his Masonic commitments, he was a devoted family man – his son, Bob (Junior), was born in 1948 and has since become a successful Architect. Two Granddaughters, Kathryn and Ellie, came along in 1998 and 1991 respectively and upon whom E Comp Bob and his wife, Chris, have doted.

E Comp Bob dedicated himself to being his wife Chris' permanent carer as she developed Alzheimers , yet at a time when his own health was beginning to fail. No longer could he regularly attend his Lodges and Chapters – we saw of him less and less but knew that in spirit he was still in attendance. He was a true “mentor” to so many – to his family, to his students, to his friends and to his Brethren and Companions. In Freemasonry, he was a Mentor before his time and to the many who he willingly took under his wing, they learnt so much from him. 

He was a great man, a great Mason and a truly great friend. No truer words were spoken when we say he lived respected and died regretted.

The Most Excellent Grand Superintendent, E Comp Wayne Williams was pleased to attend the convocation of the Hertfordshire First Principals’ Chapter on 27 October 2014 at Cheshunt.

After the Hertfordshire Provincial Team had been received into the Chapter three Most Excellent Grand Superintendents, all good friends of E Comp Ilott were admitted as late arrivals - to his utter surprise.

The following is a personal message from the Most Excellent Grand Superintendent, EComp Wayne Williams at the start of the new Masonic season.

 

The new season 2014/2015 is with us and Province is already up and running again. From the Royal Arch perspective, Companions, it is important that we now embrace the new season with renewed vigour and enthusiasm, with batteries fully re-charged after a well-earned summer break.

 

Now well into the autumn months, we can only afford a brief glance back on the success of 2013 after the hugely successful fund raising Appeal which marked our Bicentenary. But as I have already stated, year 2013 has long since passed; it is time to draw a line under it as those happy memories gradually fade into the mists of time. It is time therefore to refocus once more on “the day job”  -  raising the profile of the Royal Arch to even greater heights and attracting good Master Masons for exaltation into worthy Royal Arch Companions.

 

Each and every one of us has to be seen as an ambassador for the Royal Arch; there’s no room for complacency just sitting on the sidelines in the mistaken belief that one has already made his contribution. Far from it; the responsibility for raising the profile and reputation of the Royal Arch is down to us all - to enlighten those of our Craft colleagues whose journey through Pure Antient Masonry remains incomplete until they have engaged that fourth stage - the Supreme Degree - as so clearly defined in the Preliminary Declaration of 1813, found on Page 1 of their Book of Constitutions.

 

That Declaration reminds us that we were all initiated into Pure Antient Masonry from the very outset – a journey of enlightenment and discovery through three stages of Craft Masonry to include the spiritual reawakening as revealed in the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch. Check it out for yourself - we have all embarked on a fascinating journey from “Initiation to Exaltation” and that is precisely the commitment we made from the very beginning.

 

We should make so much more of this at the very time a potential candidate for initiation is introduced to the Brethren of his Lodge at interview. It is at that point that he should be made aware that he is expected to progress initially through the Three Degrees of Craft, then to spend some time contemplating on the lessons he has been taught before preparing himself for the fourth and final stage. By that time, with proper coaching and mentoring, he will appreciate that there surely has to be something else to follow. The Masonic legend cannot be allowed to end in anguish, grief and death as it does – just reflect on the ending of your own Third Degree. The Ceremony of Raising gives a number of hints and clues throughout that there might well be a happier finale to come but in the heat of the moment as the ceremony progresses, those hints simply do not register; we miss them.

 

But I do have to confess that, in years past, we have been pretty poor in promoting the Royal Arch, explaining its true purpose and providing suitable explanatory literature in language that we can all understand. We hardly ever lifted the profile of the Order above being just seen as a boring addition to the Three Degrees of Craft. As a PR exercise, we failed abysmally. We let ourselves down badly and we, and our predecessors, allowed it to happen. Companions, never again.

 

But now – happy days - we promote a much lighter approach, avoiding much of the deep religious and philosophical debates which still have a small part to play but now focussing more on the relevancy of the Order within a framework of Pure Antient Masonry, clearly defining its true purpose and thereby enhancing its appeal for today’s modern Mason. 

 

To this end, we are currently considering ways of improving our presentation of Royal Arch Masonry in this Province – how best to enhance its image in particular on the internet, in communications generally to all Companions and the methods by which we collect and report newsworthy events, all with the prime objective of briefing Companions and appealing to those potential candidates who might be quietly encouraged by what they see. This will become clearer as the masonic year 2014/2015 progresses.

 

If only communication had been that well intended all those years ago. For many of us, it took far too long to appreciate the true meaning of the Royal Arch and its true purpose.  It was all too confusing and its relevancy seemed rather questionable but eventually, after sitting on the sidelines in blissful ignorance, it was a relief to discover that so many of us had shared that same doubt and uncertainty, unaware of the spiritual reawakening that the Supreme Degree was inviting us to contemplate. 

 

In more recent years therefore we have tried to ensure that no longer will our younger and newly exalted Companions have to sit there in a similar state of confusion. We all deserve a better understanding of Pure Antient Masonry from the earliest opportunity and the need for better clarity, particularly as it relates to the role that the Holy Royal Arch will play in one’s Masonic progression. After all, the Craft is an analogy of a journey through life, focussing on one’s worldly attributes – the Royal Arch in turn invites quiet reflection on what might lie beyond, a spiritual awareness and well-being with one’s God, one’s Supreme Being in whatever form that Supreme Being presents himself to you.

 

We know that we will always have a small number of Brethren who find it difficult to recognise the Royal Arch, let alone contemplate any possibility of exaltation. We know who they are!  This is the cross we carry after those earlier years of appalling PR and lack of profile. Be it stubbornness on their part and a determined resistance not to conform, we won’t change them now; just admire their resilience! Thankfully, their numbers get smaller - and so did the dinosaurs. So be it.

 

But we, Companions, have a much larger and receptive market to address this year and well beyond 2014/2015. Our penetration into Craft membership has consistently hovered around 38%/39% over recent years – it’s not outstanding by any stretch of the imagination but about average for many a Province under Supreme Grand Chapter. It clearly indicates however that we have many still hovering on the sidelines who will now have a better appreciation of what the Holy Royal Arch has to offer. They are our target market; it will take time to penetrate but it is our joint and collective responsibility – you and me – to remind them that the Royal Arch awaits, that there is a fourth and final phase to Pure Antient Masonry and a finale which will bring a happier ending to the tragedy of their Third Degree. Their Masonic knowledge of Pure Antient Masonry will then be well and truly complete and should they still fail to see it, then are they not missing out and doing themselves such a great disservice?

 

But once they are exalted, Companions, then it will be our challenge to ensure that they enjoy the experience; that they are made comfortable and most welcome and, in due course, would seek to participate in our proceedings as they continue to discover that companionship which truly is the Holy Royal Arch. Let’s face the challenge together head-on; let’s have another good year. Bring it on.