There are milestone evenings in Freemasonry that stay with you long after the candles have been extinguished and the festive board has been cleared, and the celebration at Widnes Masonic Hall was most certainly one of them.
Brethren gathered from near and far to honour David Wilkinson marking his 50th anniversary as a Freemason. The master of the lodge, Dr James Gibbon, opened the lodge and worked through the initial business before the main business took place. The room was full, the warmth palpable, and the occasion masterfully brought to life by Assistant Provincial Grand Master John Patrick Murphy, whose address drew the assembled company into the remarkable story of a remarkable man.
To understand David Wilkinson, you first need to step back to 1944, the sixth year of World War II. It was a year of turning points: D-Day saw 155,000 Allied troops land on the beaches of Normandy in the largest amphibious operation in history; the Great Escape saw 76 RAF prisoners of war tunnel their way out of Stalag Luft III; and in Hollywood, Casablanca swept the Academy Awards at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
It was also the year that David Wilkinson was born, in May, in Bury, Lancashire, to Frank and Norma Wilkinson. In the company that evening, John Murphy noted with a smile that David’s arrival might just have been the most significant event of them all.
David grew up in Bury, and with five O-Levels and an A-Level behind him, he set his sights on a career in the Police Service. In 1960, he enrolled as a Police Cadet with Lancashire Constabulary and never looked back. His police career was one of duty, dedication and at times, profound weight. Perhaps the most haunting chapter came in December 1963, when a young PC Wilkinson was sent to take a missing person report from a family in Smallshaw Lane, Ashton-under-Lyne. The missing boy was John Kilbride, a name that would later become tragically familiar to the nation. David spent that entire night searching, but the child was not found.
Two years later, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were arrested. In the search of Saddleworth Moors that followed, the body of John Kilbride was discovered, and among the officers who found him was a well-known Widnes Freemason, Nat Killen. On the night Brady and Hindley were convicted, David was called once more to the Kilbride home, responding to a domestic disturbance. As he later reflected, he had attended that address on both the first and the last night of the investigation. It is a story that speaks to the quiet, unsung burden carried by so many who serve in the police, men and women who witness the very worst, yet press on regardless.
David rose through the ranks with distinction, serving across the southern area of Lancashire Constabulary before retiring in December 1995 as a Chief Inspector, having served as the Chief Constable’s Staff Officer. He later worked as a civilian administration manager, finally retiring as a Northern Area Accountant in 2011.
Away from the job, David has always been a man of purpose. His involvement with the Rotary Club led him to lead a group study exchange to Utah and Idaho, delivering presentations on British culture and industry. He retired from Rotary in 2018. And of course, there is Ruth, whom David married on 26 February 1966, and who remains, in his own words, the love of his life. Together they have twin daughters, Rachel and Rebecca.
David’s introduction to Freemasonry had a certain serendipity to it. Widnes Police Station stood right next door to the Masonic Hall, and one day, David spotted a colleague, Bill Carter, heading in through the doors. Curiosity got the better of him. A conversation followed, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Proposed by Bill Carter and seconded by. John Waring, David was initiated into Victoria Lodge No.4629 on 20 May 1976. He was passed to the degree of fellow craft on 17 March 1977, and raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on 19January 1978. He progressed steadily through the offices of the Lodge, was installed as WM on 19 October 1989, and went on to serve as lodge secretary for eight years from 1994. His dedication to Victoria Lodge has never wavered.
One of the most vivid illustrations of Freemasonry’s reach came from David’s own travels. En route to a family holiday in Australia, he stopped in Singapore, and through an old friend who also happened to be a Mason, found himself attending a lodge meeting with no regalia and no notice. Kitted out as a fellow craft, he was asked for his Lodge name and number. When the ledger was checked, it revealed that a brother Halliwell from lodge No.4629 had been a regular visitor to that very hall years before. 1,000s of miles from Widnes, the connection was immediate and the welcome warm. The meeting itself included a lecture from a brother from Pakistan on the relationship between Islam and Freemasonry, a reminder that the Craft has always transcended borders, backgrounds and beliefs.
Back home, David’s contribution extended well beyond his own Lodge. In 2011 he was appointed Victoria Lodge’s representative on the Board of Widnes Masonic Hall. When the board chairman fell seriously ill and no replacement was forthcoming, David stepped into the breach, proposed, seconded and elected almost before the silence had settled.
As chairman until 2018, he introduced a series of practical initiatives that brought in new revenue without increasing the burden on members, from renting the car park to Royal Mail and Halton Council, to opening the Hall to outside groups. The income funded real improvements: new lighting, refurbishment of the main hall floor, and a much-improved fire alarm system. It was quietly impactful work, carried out in the true spirit of Masonic service.
His service to Freemasonry has been recognised at the highest levels of the Province of West Lancashire. In Craft Masonry, David has been appointed Past Provincial Senior Grand Deacon (1998), Past Provincial Grand Superintendent of Works (2007), and promoted to his current distinguished rank of Past Provincial Junior Grand Warden (2016). In the Royal Arch, he has served as first principal of Widnes Chapter No.2819 and holds the rank of Past Provincial Grand Sojourner.
As the evening reached its emotional end, John Murphy noted that the significance of David’s golden jubilee had not gone unnoticed at the very top of the Province. Mark Matthews, Provincial Grand Master of West Lancashire, had caused a special certificate to be struck to mark the achievement, read aloud to the lodge by Mersey Valley Group Vice Chairman John Gibbon. It was a fitting tribute to a man who has given five decades of Mersey-Valley. To read John’s full script, click here.
The formal proceedings gave way to a festive board that was a genuinely enjoyable end to a truly memorable evening. Good food, fine company and the easy laughter of men who share a common bond, it was Freemasonry at its very best. For those who were there, it was an evening they will not quickly forget. For those who weren’t, well, David will be delighted to see you at his 60th. Congratulations, David, we’ll look forward to it.
