The splendid and historic Roman Suite, at Hope Street Masonic Hall, was the venue for a very special meeting of Temple Lodge No 1094, to celebrate 60 years of Robert (Bob) Fisher in Freemasonry, and being a member of Temple Lodge for that period.
The meeting was a private, yet very emotional and memorable affair, with grand officer representation from brethren within the lodge in the form of Tom Lovatt, Stephen Walls, Dave Johnson and Robb Fitzsimmons. The lodge director of ceremonies John Cherry called the brethren to order and the WM Andrew Williamson, opened the lodge into the first degree.
After the minutes of the previous meeting had been confirmed, the WM announced that the next business would be to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the initiation of Bob Fisher. The lodge DC seated Bob to the front and one side of the WM, and the lodge ADC Ray Parr seated Stewart Hyde, the lodge preceptor and a senior member of the lodge, to the front and other side of the WM, brethren sat either side of the WM were allowed to move to a more comfortable position within the lodge to hear and see the celebration and history of Bob.
Bob was born in Hornchurch, Essex in July 1940, to Alexander Hector Henry Fisher, a tool maker by profession, and Dorothy May (nee Rolfe). Hornchurch is a pleasant suburban town some 15 miles east/ northeast from the centre of London, but has now become a part of Greater London.
When Bob was about 2 years old, the family moved to Liverpool and he was educated at Alsop High School, Walton, and excelled as a swimmer and boxer, interests which have stayed with him. He was secretary of the Merseyside Police Boxing Section and served on the Police Northwest Region Committee for boxing. He was also a founder member of the Police National Boxing Team.
Bob joined the Liverpool City Police in May 1960, as Con 184“B” and a little later, he passed an advanced driving course which resulted in him transferring to the Traffic Division as Con 185”T”. In 1967 it became the Liverpool and Bootle Constabulary and in 1974 enlarged into the Merseyside Police as it now. as Con 1768”T“. Bob was promoted to Sergeant and posted to the City Centre “A” Division where he spent several years before returning to the Traffic Division. Towards the end of his service, Bob was posted to a Headquarters position which included the Coroners Court.
Bob met his wife Stephanie via a ‘blind date’ arranged by his cousin Marion, although only after she had to show Bob a photograph of her first! Having past that test, Stephanie went to Marion’s house and Bob answered the door wearing a false red beard and berry. Despite his antics, Stephanie bravely decided he was worth the effort, and they married in July 1964. They have three sons plus five grandchildren. It was a major loss to Bob and all the family when Stephanie succumbed to cancer in late 2015.
On retiring from his police career, Bob became a volunteer driver for the Multiple Sclerosis Society on the Wirral, a Welfare Officer for the National Association of Retired Police Officers (Liverpool Branch), and for a time was a volunteer Ambassador for the Northwest Air Ambulance. Unfortunately, he has had to step down from those roles.
Both Bob’s father and father-in-law were Freemasons, albeit in the Cheshire Province. Although keen to see him follow in their footsteps, the fact that Bob lived and worked in Liverpool meant that it was more appropriate he join a Liverpool (West Lancashire) lodge. He was introduced to Joe Way and William Jackson of Temple Lodge, and they proposed and seconded his entry into Freemasonry on 13 January 1965.
It is rumoured that at a committee meeting, some brethren were wary of bringing a serving police officer into the lodge. However, it happened, and he readily progressed through the various offices and was installed as the WM in April 1971. At this time, it is believed that he was the youngest reigning master in the province. In 1955 the lodge totalled 102 members, in 1966 there were 71, Bob being chronologically, the 68th out of the chair. He was DC for five years, chaplain for four, and returned to the chair in 2011, 40 years afterwards. He became the lodge almoner in 2014 and would ‘fill in’ if somebody couldn’t attend.
In the late 70s, Masonry came under scrutiny by the powers to be and it was suggested that all police officers would be forced to admit membership, there was also a hidden agenda that they could be denied promotion. Although it never came to pass, it had an adverse reaction to Masonic recruitment and many, already Masons resigned for fear of their future. As a result, numbers dropped but Bob managed to convince others to join, as did Howard Youdan after him, which kept the lodge going.
Bob joined the Sovereigns Peace Lodge No 8911 (retired police officers lodge) in April 1991 and took the WM chair in 2011. Latterly, his health has meant that he had to curtail some of his Masonry. His service to Freemasonry was recognised with his first Provincial appointment in 1983. He will be invested to PPGSwdB at Provincial Grand Lodge 2025. Bob has through the Police proposed, seconded and supported may brethren, in Temple Lodge, with most of them still being actively present, to this day.
Stewart congratulated Bob for his exemplary service to Freemasonry over the last 60 years, and then called upon Liverpool Group Chairman Dave Johnson to present Bob with a certificate that the Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthews has directed should be raised to mark the occasion. Stewart read out to the lodge the wording of that certificate, after which all the brethren stood and gave rapturous applause to Bob. To read the full history of Bob’s life and Masonic career, click here.
At the festive board, Ray who is an ex-colleague, friend and candidate of Bob led the tributes. Ray recalled with emotion how he had first met Bob, 1981 in the Police, and how this had led to becoming friends and then becoming a brother in Temple Lodge. Bob had supported Ray in many aspects of Police work, family matters and lodge, becoming a father figure to Ray, and a true friend.
Bob responded to his toast by thanking all those that had been involved in making the evening an enjoyable one, and thanked Ray for his kind words and toast. The evening was ended by the tyler’s toast.