Connor Isted, at the young age of 27 years, was installed as WM of City of Lancaster Lodge No 281 three days after his father, Kevin, was installed as WM at Vale Lodge No 5256. The principal guest was Assistant Provincial Grand Master Peter Schofield.
Peter was accompanied by Past Assistant Provincial Grand Master David Grainger and grand officers Chris Butterfield, David Edwards and Neil McGill, together with the Chairman of the Lancaster and District Group Chris Larder, group vice-chairman Dan Crossley, group secretary and Provincial Grand Steward Lee Fisher, Provincial Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies Greg Pinnington, Provincial Senior Grand Deacon Kevin Rigg, Provincial Grand Charity Steward Andy McClements, Provincial Grand Registrar John Gibson and Provincial Grand Standard Bearer Paul Morgan. Jack Baxter and Mick Gorry acted as Provincial grand deacons.
WM Alistair McIntyre opened the lodge in the first degree and conducted the business of the lodge before opening the lodge in the second and third degrees. Principal guest Peter Schofield, accompanied by David Grainger and Chris Butterfield, grand officers, acting Provincial grand officers and group chairman, were admitted. On entering the lodge, Peter Schofield was offered the gavel of the lodge by the WM, for which he thanked the WM but swiftly returned it. The lodge was adjourned in the third degree and reopened in the second degree.
The installing WM invited Terry Ridal to occupy the chair of installing senior warden, Geoff Careless to occupy the chair of installing junior warden and Phil Howden from Lancaster Castle Lodge No 5952 to occupy the position of installing inner guard. The honour of presenting master elect Connor Isted was given to his proud father, Kevin.
All those below the rank of an installed master were requested to leave the lodge for a short while, during which a Board of Installed Masters was convened and the master elect was installed into the chair of King Solomon. The working tools of an installed master were presented by director of ceremonies Adrian Wells.
The third and second degree working tools were presented by junior brethren Michael Egginton and John Hammerschlag. John is a Belgian student studying at Lancaster University whose native language is not English, so he did particularly well. First degree working tools were delivered by lodge secretary Lee Fisher.
Terry Ridal was appointed as senior warden and his son Andrew Ridal as junior warden, although Andrew was absent, he will be invested at a later date. The address to the master was given by Neil McGill. There was no address to the wardens and Peter Schofield gave the address to the brethren of City of Lancaster Lodge.
On completion of the installation ceremony, Peter Schofield brought greetings from the Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthews to the WM and wished him a successful and healthy year. He congratulated immediate past master Alistair McIntyre, director of ceremonies Adrian Wells and the brethren who delivered the working tools on a superb ceremony.
Peter was presented with a list of donations that the lodge had made to Masonic and non-Masonic charities totalling £3,284. Connor Isted personally contributed £710 from sponsorship he had raised as a competitor taking part in the Great North Run. Peter thanked the brethren of the lodge for their very generous donations.
Organist for the evening was David Tattersall and the Master’s Song was performed by Alistair McIntyre. A total of 57 brethren attended the festive board, where the toast to the WM was given by Connor’s father Kevin. £50 was donated from the ‘master’s swindle’.
WM Connor Isted was born in Preston in July 1998 and grew up in Chorley before moving to Morecambe in 2009 at the age of 11. He attended Heysham High, now known as Bay Leadership Academy.
After completing his A-levels, Connor was an undergraduate at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree in business management and a Master’s Degree in marketing management.
On graduation, Connor was admitted to Enterprise Rent-a-Car’s graduate scheme, later being promoted to the corporate accounts department of their European head office. Connor was also involved in working on the King’s Coronation with the Metropolitan Police in London. After a period of four years, Connor moved to his current employment in January 2025 as a Property Manager for Rowan Block and Estate Management.
WM Connor was initiated in 2019 into City of Lancaster Lodge at the age of 20 and was introduced to Freemasonry by Keith Middleton, who has since sadly been called to higher service. Connor has progressed through the offices of the lodge and has delivered the second degree tracing board lecture on more than one occasion prior to his installation. He is also second principal at Chapter of Fortitude No 281.
