St George’s Lodge of Harmony No 32 has the honour of being the oldest lodge in the Gladstone Group, and one of the oldest in the Province West Lancashire. For this particular meeting, it was the occasion of Tony Prichard’s golden jubilee in Freemasonry.
It was fitting that Tony was sitting in the chair of King Solomon and he explained to all present that it was an honour to be back in the chair of St George’s Lodge of Harmony colloquially known as Lodge 32, meeting at the Adelphi Hotel, and since it was eight years previous that he had last been master of a lodge, could all bear with him.
Tony opened the lodge expertly and considering it had been such a long time previous was not apparent at all, conducting the opening of the lodge in the first degree with a polished performance and obvious knowledge of ritual. Tony then welcomed the principal guest, Assistant Provincial Grand Master Frank Umbers to the lodge and as is custom offered him the gavel of the lodge.
Accepting the gavel, Frank said that it was an honour to receive it, especially on such a splendid occasion but on this evening, he was very content to return it back to Tony. Having completed lodge business, the lodge was then closed, so that Tony’s sons James and Paul, could be admitted into the lodge room, along with the tyler, Paul Harford.
Inner guard, Mark Prichard, who is also Tony’s son, then gave a short and pleasant speech about their family life and mentioning a little-known fact that he is also a member of the Magic Circle, and that he was very pleased to be part of the celebration of his golden jubilee. This was then followed by Andrew Prescott who again gave a very humorous speech and an insight into Tony or uncle Tony as he is to Andrew.
Director of ceremonies, Michael Radcliffe, then read a history of Tony’s Masonic career thanking Richard Leonard for his very hard work in deciphering the many minute books from which the information had been gleaned, particularly as many of the books were handwritten.
Michael described that he had first met Tony in 1976 whilst a trainee solicitor and unknown to him at the time, that Tony had already been initiated into Freemasonry in St George’s Lodge of Harmony, some two years prior in 1974. Master of the lodge at the time, Edward Denton, performed the initiation ceremony with Paul Williams delivering the charge.
Fast forwarding now to some eight years later we find Tony has progressed through the ladder of the lodge and is now occupying the position of senior warden, with a ballot being held to elect Tony to be the next WM. The ballot having proved unanimous, Tony was then installed as master of the lodge in 1983.
At Tony’s installation meeting there were 28 members and 51 guests present, the lodge was opened by the master Christopher Warmald, although the installing master was Michael Hill. Also, in attendance was the Provincial Grand Master at the time, Alan Fletcher Ferris. Narrator Michael Radcliffe was recorded in the minutes as a steward. Tony was presented by past masters, A W Fletcher and E T Goldsworthy.
At dinner during Tony’s installation, the Provincial Grand Master announced that brother James Hull, would be appointed as an Assistant Provincial Grand Master, a particular honour for not only him but also the lodge, having not occurred for 50 years previously, since a lodge member had been appointed an assistant.
At his next meeting, which was held at the Lyceum Club, Liverpool, Tony broke with tradition and admitted guests to the meeting en-bloc, rather than one by one which was previously how guests were admitted, this practice has continued to this day. Despite being a partner at Weightmans Solicitors, and having a young family, Tony performed the entire first degree ceremony and the charge to a new initiate, Peter Evans, and showed his commitment to his Freemasonry at an early stage in his Masonic journey.
The minute book showed that Tony had a busy first year as master, and after performing Peter Evans second degree ceremony, then proposed his father, Francis Prichard to be a candidate for initiation. The following meeting held in November, was Peter Evans third degree, again performed by Tony, with the traditional history, performed by then Assistant Provincial Grand Master James Hull.
The following December meeting saw Tony initiate his father, Francis Prichard, into Masonry, which must have been quite an occasion for him and the members of the lodge in attendance. The following meeting in January 1984, was the annual installation meeting and Tony, installed his successor Nigel Griffiths as master, with Assistant Provincial Grand Master Cyril McGibbon in attendance. Tony received his first appointment to Provincial Grand Lodge in 1990 being appointed Provincial Grand Registrar and then received a further appointment in 2010 as Past Provincial Junior Grand Warden.
With the description of Tony’s first year in office and Masonic journey completed by Michael Radcliffe, Assistant Provincial Grand Master Frank Umbers then rose and presented the certificate of his achievement of 50 years of Freemasonry to Tony. Gladstone Group Chairman, Paul Storrar then rose to extend his congratulations to Tony and delivered an exemplary oration of the charge to an entered apprentice. An unexpected and fitting end to what had been an amazing celebration of a golden jubilee for Tony.
The members, visitors and guests then retired to the unique festive board and gathered around the long lodge mahogany tables lit solely by silver candelabra, with brother pipes providing musical accompaniment and the calls for ‘pleasure of wine sir’ the festive board customs are very special.
As with all of these occasions, the celebrant is the main focus of attention and the toasts to Tony’s health were no exception, Tony thanked all for celebrating his golden jubilee, surrounded by his family, friends, brethren and visitors. The responses are always amplified by the lodge firing glasses and, on this occasion, I am pleased to report that the response was enthusiastic and heartfelt, many congratulations to Tony for achieving this milestone and the memory of the celebration will live long in all those who had the honour of observing it.
Many thanks to Richard Leonard for his assistance in preparing this report.