Installation of Right Worshipful Brother Nicholas Ball, the 18th Provincial Grand Master in the Province of Devonshire by United Grand Lodge of England…
Installation of Right Worshipful Brother Nicholas Ball, the 18th Provincial Grand Master in the Province of Devonshire by United Grand Lodge of England
On Monday 17th April the newly installed Assistant Grand Master for the United Grand Lodge of England Rt. W. Bro. Steven Varley, accompanied by a team of senior officers which included The Grand Secretary V. W. Bro. Adrian Marsh, travelled to Torquay to install Very Worshipful Bro. Nicholas Ball as our new Provincial Grand Master. He was to become the 18th Provincial Grand Master for this Province.
Provincial Grand Lodge was first opened by W. Bro. Peter Keaty (now our Deputy Provincial Grand Master) together with W. Bro. Charles Yelland Asst. PGM and with distinguished brethren from ten other Provinces who were present, together with the Executive from the Royal Arch and heads of many other Masonic Orders.
The Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies, W Bro Paul Grier called the meeting to order to receive the Assistant Grand Master Rt. W. Bro. Steven Varley together with other Grand Officers in attendance. He appointed his Grand Wardens, the Grand Chaplain and the Grand Tyler. He then addressed the brethren briefly.
Rt Worshipful Brother Nicholas Ball was then escorted into Grand Lodge with an escort of the oldest warranted lodges in Devonshire and his chain of office carried by the Worshipful Master of his own lodge; Pelican Lodge No 7878.
After solemn prayer he then took his obligation, the Patent was read and he was duly installed into the chair of King Solomon as Provincial Grand Master. He was then proclaimed and saluted seven times by the brethren of Devonshire.
Our new Provincial Grand Master invested his Executive Team. W Bro Peter Keaty as Deputy, W. Bros. Charles Yelland and W. Bro. Andrew Vodden MBE were re-installed as Assistant Provincial Grand Masters followed by two new Assistant Provincial Grand Masters, W. Bro. Dr Reuben Ayres and W. Bro. Timothy Golder.
The Lodge was “called off” and 500 of those present retired for lunch held in the dining room of the Riviera International Conference Centre.
After lunch Provincial Grand Lodge was called to resume and the business of the afternoon continued.
Rt. W. Bro. Nicholas Ball welcomed distinguished guests from the visiting Provinces of Cornwall, Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire Bristol, South Wales, Monmouthshire, Gloucester & Herefordshire together with Distinguished Brethren from other Orders and Degrees in Devonshire.
A poignant moment of silence was held in respect for the departed merit of the 120 brethren who had passed to the Grand Lodge Above in the previous year.
The usual business of Provincial Grand Lodge then took place with the installation of the Provincial Senior Grand Warden W Bro Martyn Aldridge and the Junior Grand Warden W Bro David Wilson followed by the appointment of the active officers for the year.
One sadness in particular was that of the passing of W Bro Lapthorne who had been Festival Secretary and had agreed to take on the office of Provincial Grand Charity Steward but had died only a few weeks before his appointment. His appointment was announced and the Provincial Grand Master paused proceedings with the sign of reverence as a mark of respect for a well-loved and highly respected mason.
The PGM then addressed the brethren to deal with the three greatest problems facing the Province;
Declining numbers, struggling lodges and buildings.
To help deal with declining numbers he encouraged Brethren to tell friends of good reputation about our Order and ask them to consider joining our lodges. Also, to ensure we sit down with and more importantly get to know the younger brethren. To enjoy their company and help them feel valued and encourage them to bring their friends into the friendship and brotherhood of our Craft.
He spoke of the problem of struggling lodges and how whilst many lodges were thriving and growing some were in decline. Of our 130 or so lodges, 27 Lodges had lost over 30% of their members in the past 7 years and that only 26 Lodges had stayed the same or grown in that period. He suggested that such lodges should talk with Provincial Grand Lodge to explore how we could help by trying to work with them.
He spoke of the physical state of some of our buildings and that now was the time to invest in them for the future. Now that the Festival was over he advised that this was a time to redirect out Charitable giving and to include spending money on our buildings. He stated
“Now that our Festival is over, we should focus our Charitable giving to The Provincial Benevolent Fund and The PGM’s Fund, and our buildings”.
The full address can be read on the Provincial Grand Lodge Website www.devonshirefreemasons.org.uk under the heading of the Welcome page.
Provincial Grand Lodge was then closed.
Here is a small selection of the photographs taken during the day. You can see all of the current photos at this link Photos from PGL 2023
