WHITE ROSE 43 - Masonic Province of Yorkshire, West Riding

PROVINCE CELEBRATES CAPITAL GAINSCREATING A BITMORE HISTORYTWO Brethren from our Province added alittle bit of history at April’s annualinvestiture of United Grand Lodge atGreat Queen Street, London.W Bro James H Newman wasappointed Acting Senior Grand Deaconand W Bro Gerald A J Brown ActingJunior Grand Deacon in recognition oftheir services with two of the centralcharities.This is the first occasion for over 20years that the Province of Yorkshire, WestRiding has provided Acting Deacons inthe same year. And a further plus is thatwith W Bro Dr Simon Lindley, ZetlandLodge No 1311, being re-appointedGrand Organist, Province has three ActingOfficers to restore what was once acommon occurrence.For example, at the annual investiturein April 1925 the Rt Hon ViscountLascelles, KG, DSO was appointed andinvested as Senior Grand Warden and atthe same meeting the Rt Rev Bishop ofBradford, Arthur Perowne, DD, (PentalphaLodge No 974), was appointed GrandChaplain and W Bro Sir Bernard Sugden,of Zetland Lodge No 603, was appointedJunior Grand Deacon. Sir Bernard wenton to become vice president of the Boardof General Purposes.W Bro Newman joined the Board ofTrustees of the Royal Masonic BenevolentInstitution in December 2003 andbecame treasurer in April the followingyear. He held this position for seven yearsbefore becoming chairman of the Boardof Trustees in October 2010.As treasurer, he successfully guided thecharity through some very challengingfinancial times including the infamous'credit crunch'. He was also chairman ofthe investment committee (a position hestill holds) and chairman of the AuditCommittee.Since joining the Board of Trustees, hehas also been a member of theSupervisory Board that meets on amonthly basis and takes all keyoperational decisions of the charity. Assuch, he has been intimately involved fornearly eight years.He was chairman of the CharityTreasurers' Group, which wrote theoriginal Cost Report in 2005,recommending and identifying the costsavings from moving the central charitiesinto Freemasons’ Hall and also preparedthe business plan for the Centre forMasonic Research at the University ofSheffield in 2001. He was also chairmanof the Sheffield Masonic Hall Company forfive years to 2009.Before becoming treasurer of the RMBIin 2004, James was treasurer of theFriends of Connaught Court for five years.W Bro Newman said: “As the charity isthe only one of the four central charities,which is a real live working/operationalcharity, rather than just a grant-giving one,it suits my business background well. Theturnover of the Charity is £50million, it has18 care homes, 1,000 residents and itemploys over 1,000 people with assets ofover £110m, a big organisation by anystandards. It is an honour and pleasure tobe able to contribute and enjoy doing soto such a worthy Masonic cause.”AT the Quarterly Communication of UnitedGrand Lodge in March, W Bro Newman hadthe honour of proposing the re-election ofM W Bro HRH The Duke of Kent, KG, asGrand Master for the ensuing year.With a long family history inFreemasonry, James was Initiated intoHadassah Lodge No 4871, in 1974,becoming Master in 1992. ActingProvincial Rank followed in 1999 and in2002 he was appointed to Grand Lodgeas Acting AG St B. He was promoted toPAGDC in 2007.He was Exalted into Welcome ChapterNo3779 in 1992, becoming First Principalin 1997, with acting Provincial rank in 2002and was Provincial Grand.Registrar in2008 before being promoted to PPGSN in2009.James is also actively involved in otherMasonic Orders.W Bro Newman, a Fellow of the InstituteHART SHAWCHARTERED ACCOUNTANTSWe offer an extensive range of servicesIncludingFinancial Admin OutsourcingPersonal & Corporate InsolvencyBuying & Selling BusinessesAuditStrategic Business PlanningPension & Investment AdviceManagement AccountsEuropa Link, Sheffield Business Park, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S9 1XUFax: 0114 251 8851 Email: info@hartshaw.co.ukFOR A FREE INITIAL CONSULTATIONCall Andrew Maybery0114 251 8850of Chartered Accountants and a Memberof the Association of CorporateTreasurers, holds an impressive portfolioof non-executive directorships and wasMaster Cutler in the Company of Cutlers inHallamshire last year.W BRO GERALD A J BROWN wasInitiated into Rectitude Lodge No 4383 inNovember 1982 and became Master in1991.He was appointed Past ProvincialGrand Registrar in 1998 and promotedPPJGW in 2004 and PPSGW two yearslater.Appointment to Grand Rank asAssistant Grand Director of Ceremoniesfollowed in 2006 to precede his newaccolade of Acting Junior Grand Deacon.Gerald gains his latest recognitionfollowing extensive work with theSamaritan Fund, which he joined in 2005,as a member of the grants committee.A retired consultant surgeon, W BroBrown acts as a medical referee, regularlyassessing cases, but he says: “All thehard work is done by the caseadministrators, who are very skilful andincredibly caring.“We are constantly battling ignoranceabout the help available from MSF andare always looking for ways to increaseapplications.”In addition to serving the ProvincialCharity Committee, W Bro Brown findstime to be an active member of manyMasonic Orders, including WakefieldChapter No 495 where he served as FirstPrincipal in 1998, the Ancient andAccepted Rite, Red Cross of Constantineand Knights Templar, in which he recentlyreceived Great Priory Rank.Full list of Appointments to Grand Rank - see Page 85