The school hall at Hutton Grammar School in Hutton near Preston was buzzing in anticipation as the brethren assembled for a very special meeting of Old Huttonian Lodge No 7614, part of the Chorley and Leyland Group. Everyone was gathered to witness a splendid 50 years as a Freemason for lodge stalwart William Henry Pearce.
The normal lodge business was effectively managed by WM John Lucas, supported by lodge officers under the guidance of director of ceremonies for the evening, Jeff Lucas. At the appropriate moment, Jeff retired from the lodge and returned to announce that Past Deputy Provincial Grand Master Philip Harry Gunning sought admission. A procession was formed of grand officers and acting Provincial grand officers. Philip was introduced to the WM and offered the gavel of the lodge, which he gratefully accepted and occupied the chair of King Solomon.
Philip commenced his presentation by looking at life as it was in 1944 when the world was gripped with the horrors of World War Two and how the tide would begin to turn when in June of that year 170,000 troops stormed onto the beaches of Normandy. It was a year that would see the birth of singers Frank Sinatra and Diana Ross, sportsmen, boxer Joe Frazier and golfer Tony Jacklin, and the last eruption of Mount Vesuvius. On 25 August that year, William and Emma Pierce announced the arrival of their son William.
Bill had described to Philip having a happy childhood, enjoying, with his brothers and sisters, Wakes Week holidays in Douglas on the Isle of Man. Bill’s father was the general secretary of the Manchester Warehouseman’s Union. Bill’s father was also a coach at Radcliffe Swimming Club, a club with an international reputation, so Bill was naturally thrown in at the deep end, so to speak. Bill went to an infants school in Radcliffe and then on to Radcliffe Secondary Modern. On leaving school, he became a painter and decorator, followed by work in the local paper mill and then employment as a mechanic, before joining Lancashire Constabulary as a police cadet in 1961.
Bill was appointed as a constable in 1963 and went to the training school at Bruche near Warrington, known locally as Stalag 19. Philip commented that when looking at Bill’s career in the Lancashire Constabulary, you really had to look at the era Bill served and what being in the Lancashire Constabulary meant. During the mid-sixties, Lancashire Constabulary was considered to be the most progressive force in the country. It was the first force to have personal radios and the wireless department was military grade. It was the first police force to introduce a mobile beat patrol, or Panda cars as they were then called.
The training school had a worldwide reputation and the driving school was acknowledged to be the best there was, with students coming from all over the world. Outside the Metropolitan Police Service, Lancashire was to become the largest provincial force and it is fair to say that what Lancashire did today, the country followed a year later.
The same goes for sporting achievements and the various senior officers who occupied the role of chairman of their respective sports made sure the status quo remained. Woe betide the sergeant who tried to stop a good rugby player, swimmer, golfer, first aider, bandsman, footballer or cricketer and so on from taking his place on the field or in Bill’s case, in the pool. Bill was a swimmer, not your ordinary swimmer but a Captain Webb type and that came to the attention of Chief Superintendent Tommy Andrews, but Tommy Andrews was only the starting point because of all the sporting champions at senior officer level, there was one who towered above the rest… Assistant Chief Constable Tommy Watkinson, a name feared throughout.
If you were one of Tommie’s boys, which Bill and Arthur Marshall were, you were considered untouchable. Coming up to a major championship, they had a wonderful term for it… working to orders, it meant no shifts; you just turned up at headquarters and disappeared. Three weeks later, it was announced in the police force general orders that the swimming team, lifesaving team, first-aid team, constabulary band and so on were national champions and you had a photo taken with a beaming Tommy Watkinson and the chief constable of the day. That was how it worked and the force basked in the reflective glory. Lancashire truly was the best at everything and the job got done right.
Bill Pearce also excelled at swimming outside of the police service and his list of achievements are the stuff that legends are made of. Bill actually found time to do a bit of ‘policing’ and was first posted to Little Hulton in 1965 and then to Little Lever, where he became the detached ‘beat bobby’ responsible for arranging his own shifts – no doubt to coincide with his swimming duties.
In 1968 Bill joined the underwater search unit. In his time with the search unit, there were many notable cases, but two were known nationally and indeed internationally. In February 1983, Bill was involved in the search for Veronique Marre, the daughter of a French Diplomat who had gone missing whilst on a walking holiday in the Lake District.
The search involved searching Wastwater, Britain’s deepest lake. In doing so, a roll of carpet was found which, on examination, contained the body of a female. Because of the cold, the body was fairly well preserved and was identified as being the body of Margaret Hogg, the wife of Peter Hogg, an airline pilot. There is a YouTube documentary called the Lady of Lake Case Two which features the investigation and the work of Bill and his colleagues. Philip Gunning gave other examples of high-profile cases that Bill Pearce was closely involved with, many that everyone in attendance could remember.
During Bill’s operational past, in 1984 he was heavily involved in the commissioning of the decompression chamber at headquarters. The chamber was used by the Lancashire Underwater Search Team and the regional police diving unit. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was utilised not only for police diving operations and training but occasionally for emergency hyperbaric treatment of severe carbon monoxide poisoning and industrial gas accidents in coordination with local hospitals, no doubt saving countless lives.
As Philip brought Bill’s career in the police service to a close, he paid due recognition to his service and the service of Old Huttonian Lodge member Arthur Marshall and the late John Howard, who is still fondly remembered. Bill retired in 1998 after 35 years of police service.
Philip turned to Bill’s life outside of his career and swimming, although swimming did play a part in it. His wife-to-be, Julia, was also a member of Radcliffe Swimming. They were married in March 1975. Bill and Julia had three children, two girls and a boy. They now have nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. They have now travelled extensively, with cruises and so forth, but their favourite family haunt is the Hostel Cortez, Garrucha in Almeria in Spain. They visit at least twice a year and so often that Bill is now fluent in Spanish. Bill relaxes by watching sport on television and is particularly fond of rugby union and still attends the gym, almost every day. The family association with Radcliffe Swimming Club continues to this day and Bill is a past president.
Bill was initiated into Pilkington Lodge No 6522 in the Province of East Lancashire on 28 October 1976, Philip Gunning invited David Thornton to read an extract from the minutes of that meeting, which was a fascinating account of lodge business on that night in 1976. Bill became WM in 1987 and received his first Provincial appointment in 1993, that of Past Provincial Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies. In 2004 he was promoted to Past Provincial Grand Superintendent of Works.
Bill became a founding member of Red Rose of Lancashire Lodge No 9640 which was consecrated in October 1997, Bill became WM in 2003, taking over as director of ceremonies in 2008 and remaining in that office until 2015. He became a joining member of Old Huttonian Lodge on the 2 October 2010 and became WM in 2015. Bill was exalted into Red Rose of Lancashire Chapter No 9640 in 2008. In the Province of West Lancashire, Bill was appointed Past Provincial Senior Grand Deacon in 2011 and promoted to Past Provincial Grand Superintendent of Works in 2017.
Philip then asked Bill’s great friend Arthur Marshall to read aloud the contents of the 50 years in Freemasonry certificate.
The festive board was a lively occasion, with everyone enjoying the cuisine of Masonic Event Catering. The two courses of prawn cocktail followed by roast chicken stuffed with Cumberland sausage were supplemented by the inimitable Old Huttonian Lodge cheese and biscuits.
The main toast of the evening was given by Bill’s long-time friend Arthur Marshall, who gave a very moving and powerful resume of their friendship and time together in the police force, with first-hand examples of the work that they were both involved in. Arthur received a tremendous round of applause for his delivery and Bill suitably responded, starting with a hilarious joke and thanking everyone for their attendance and support over the years. Bill presented Philip Gunning with flowers for Mrs Gunning and a bottle for Philip.
Just before the final toast of the evening, lodge tyler John Topping, North Fylde Group Vice Chairman, presented Bill with a very attractive 50-year lapel badge as a gift from the North Fylde Group.
(Click here for the full presentation delivered by Philip Gunning)
Report narrative edited by John Topping, with grateful thanks to Philip Harry Gunning for sharing the full presentation.