Brethren of Dalton-in-Furness Lodge No 6828 have celebrated the golden jubilee of Owen Osmotherley, Past Provincial Grand Superintendent of Works, at Slater Street Masonic Hall in Dalton. Leading the celebration was Assistant Provincial Grand Master Peter Schofield with over 70 brethren in attendance. Peter was accompanied by grand officers David Grainger, (Past Assistant Provincial Grand Master), Rowley Saunders, Alan Jones and Barry Fitzgerald, as well as Past Provincial Grand Master of Cumberland and Westmorland Norman Thompson. The Furness and South Lakeland Group Chairman Alan Pattinson, vice chairman Chris Gray and secretary Tony Jackson were also present.
Acting Provincial grand officers were also out in considerable numbers and were being marshalled by Peter Littlehales, Provincial Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies. They were Assistant to the Provincial Directors of Ceremonies Phil Renney, Graham Dowling, Steve Ellershaw, Sydney Bateson and Provincial Grand Stewards Andy Baxter, Scott McMillan and Stuart Bateson. Sydney and Stuart are father and son, a rare but effective combination as acting officers.
On receiving the gavel from the master of the lodge Ferdinand Paule, Peter commented on how nice it was to see so many in attendance to celebrate the momentous milestone with Owen. Peter then continued to give a history of Owen’s life, both in and out of Masonry.
Owen Osmotherley was born in September 1947 at home in the front room of No 19 Romney Park in the town of Dalton-in-Furness. The exact time of his birth, as his mum recalled, that as he took his first breath, the 10 to four Barrow bus passed the front room window. He lived with his parents Richard and Doris along with older brother Ted, who now lives in Leeds and sisters Gwyneth who lives in Barrow and Dyllis who lives in Mold, North Wales. Gwyneth is married to Peter Gardner, the group and Ulverston Lodge No 7872, had the pleasure of celebrating Peter’s 50th celebration in 2023.
As a boy, Owen attended The Green School Infants and Junior sections before moving to complete his senior education at Dowdales School, again in Dalton. During his school years and as a teenager he was a very keen sportsman, playing rugby for various school teams and local clubs including Dalton and Askam. As a teenager he unfortunately suffered a severe injury to his shoulder playing rugby which meant he had to retire from the game but such was his love for the game he took to refereeing the sport, gaining great respect from many clubs, players and officials in the area.
Owen’s local church played a large part in his younger years and Peter reliably informed the assembled brethren that during his school years he was an angelic choirboy at St Mary’s Church in Dalton, and the church has continued to play a major role in family life up to the present day. Owen was also a very active member of the Cubs Pack at St Mary’s Church before joining the Scout Troop associated with Dowdales School.
After laving school he secured an engineering apprenticeship with Vickers Engineering in Barrow. During a 4-year apprenticeship he continued in further education at Barrow Technical College gaining his City & Guilds Craft Certificates and Full Tech Qualifications. On completion of his apprenticeship, Owen transferred to the marine drawing office where he remained for four years up to 1972. During his time in the drawing office, he made many lifelong friends, one of whom is Frank Pearson, (another recent golden jubilee celebrant, present on the evening). After 4 years in the drawing office in 1972, Owen began to develop itchy feet and felt that he was, perhaps, ready for a change in career.
The chief draughtsman at the time was a Captain Gouge and Owen made it known to him that he wanted to consider a move to the dark side; the shipbuilding arm of the business which was almost unheard of at that time. At this time Vickers were setting up a new department within the company to develop the technique and process of explosive welding. Captain Gouge recommended Owen to the management of the new team, and he was successful in securing a place within that new and exciting department.
Explosive welding uses explosives as a solid-state metal joining process that harnesses explosive force to create a bond between two metal components, which all sounds quite dangerous but Owen’s team was established to perfect the process for underwater use at great depths to weld pipelines on the seabed which was very much considered pioneering development work. Owen spent eight years from 1972 to 1980 developing the system and compiling safe working practices and practical systems which would be adopted by regulative authorities before the practice could be used commercially.
On completion of the development process and acceptance by the authorities, Vickers decided to close the department and made the team redundant in 1980. The practice was by now used widely in the offshore industry and Owen had no problem in securing employment with companies involved in the process. He then worked for several companies including the firm known as Weldit, who worked for many years in the Barrow area before finally finishing his working life with Oil States International, based at Sowerby Woods, Barrow. Owen retired from work in 2012 after lifelong devoted service in the field of engineering.
It was back in his school days at Dowdales School that a fellow pupil caught Owen’s eye. This was, of course, the love of his life, a Miss Jean Knagg, a fellow Daltonian, who lived with her parents in Cobden Street in Dalton. A friendship developed and dates between the couple took place, (fully chaperoned of course), but when Owen left school, they temporarily drifted apart. A few years later at a New Year’s Eve party at the local Cavendish Pub their paths crossed once again. After plucking up the courage, Owen once again asked Jean for a date which she, of course, accepted. Jean still lived with her parents in Cobden Street and by this time was employed as a telephonist for the GPO based in the Barrow Exchange on Michaelson Road in the town. The relationship blossomed and following a suitable courtship the couple were married on 11 March 1972 at St Mary’s Church in Dalton.
Their first marital home was next to Owen’s parents’ house at 17 Romney Park before the move in 1985 to what was to become their beloved family home on Myrtle Terrace where they still reside today. Jean and Owen have been blessed with two sons, Philip and Andrew. Philip is a qualified Marine Engineer who is currently employed by various insurance companies as a Marine Surveyor. He resides in Alloway in Scotland with his wife Caroline and family. Andrew is a Commercial Pilot and is a Captain with British Airways based at Heathrow. He resides with his wife Racheal and family in Stratford-upon-Avon. Jean and Owen have both been further blessed with four grandchildren. Philip’s boys, Ben and Hugo, who are both still at school and Andrew’s son Laurie and daughter Edie who are both also still in education.
It was mentioned earlier in that St Mary’s Church played a part in Owen’s earlier life and this has also remained the case throughout his adult life. In 1985 he decided to learn the art of bell ringing and joined the bell ringing team at St Mary’s Church. Most people think that bell ringing involves the pulling of a rope and little more. However, the learning of complex sequences of individual bell ringing and the coordination of all involved takes many years to master. The ringers practice on a regular basis and form part of the team which rings before Sunday morning service at both St Mary’s Church and St James Church in Barrow and again at both churches on every Tuesday and Wednesday evening.
A further hobby of Owen’s is pen and ink artwork which he has taught himself over his adult life, producing many wonderful works of art in this field. Two samples of this art were brought into the lodge room and were passed around the lodge, the brethren were amazed at the wonderful talent on display.
As Owen was growing up, Freemasonry was no stranger to him or the family with his father Richard being a member of Dalton-in-Furness Lodge. So, it came as no surprise when he was proposed into this lodge by his father and seconded by Jack Horseforth. Owen was initiated by his father Richard on 26 September 1974, a proud moment that must have been so memorable for both of them. He was passed to the degree of a fellow craft on 24 October 1974 before being raised to the sublime degree of a master Mason on 28 November that same year. The saecretary then read an extract from the minutes of Owen’s initiation.
Following his Initiation, Owen progressed through the various progressive offices of Dalton-in-Furness Lodge before becoming master of the lodge for the first time in 1987, following his good friend Frank Pearson, who installed him into the chair of King Solomon. Shortly after completing his year as IPM, Owen had left Vickers and was now contracting for many different companies at various locations around the UK, involving a great deal of travelling and spending time away from home and working long days. So much so that Freemasonry had to take second place, with free time being rightly spent with his family.
When Owen retired in 2012, he returned in the fullest sense to Freemasonry once again. As a consequence, Owen agreed to fulfil the office of WM for a second time in 2014, which greatly assisted his lodge to manage its way through the temporary difficult period and allow junior members the opportunity to progress naturally through the progressive offices. Owen embraced this opportunity with great enthusiasm and dedication, gaining him the respect of all the members of his lodge. During his second year as master in 2014, he was appointed to be the Chain Bearer for David Grainger at Provincial Grand Lodge when he was invested as Assistant Provincial Grand Master. It was a great delight for everyone to see David in the lodge on the evening, following his nasty accident last year. Owen held the office of lodge chaplain from 2016 to 2021 a period of 5 years, before being appointed lodge director of ceremonies in 2022, the position he still holds today.
In Provincial Grand Lodge, Owen was appointed to Past Provincial Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies in 1996, promoted to the Rank of Past Provincial Senior Grand Deacon in 2016 before promotion once again to the rank of Past Provincial Grand Superintendent of Works in 2023, undoubtedly just reward for all the hard work, commitment and dedication he has given to his Lodge.
In the Royal Arch, Owen was exalted into Dalton-in-Furness Chapter No 6828 on 4 February 1976. He moved through the progressive offices of the chapter before, due to work commitments, his Royal Arch Masonry was put on hold. However, in 2016 when time allowed, he became third principal, then second principal the following year; then in 2018 he attained the first principal’s chair. Owen was appointed scribe Nehemiah in 2022, the office he still holds today.
After reading out, and presenting Owen with his golden jubilee certificate from Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthews, Peter returned the gavel to the WM and the lodge was closed in due and ancient form. Alms collected in the lodge room amounted to £280. After the ceremony, the celebrations continued in Dalton, and the raffle held at the festive board made £720 for Masonic charities.
