History of the LGRA

HOW IT ALL BEGAN…

The 598 Brethren who received London Rank in 1908 lost no time in organising themselves. On the 29th April the following year they held a dinner at the Holborn Restaurant with a view to creating an Association within which they could exchange knowledge and opinions on matters of common interest. This was undoubtedly a colourful occasion as all those that attended wore the full dress regalia of their new rank.

A Committee and President were elected and it was agreed that they would dine together after each of the Quarterly Communications of Grand Lodge in much the same way as Grand Officers who were members of the Grand Officers Mess.

Quarterly Meetings

Over the intervening years, with membership having grown to around 13000, it rapidly became impractical to dine after the meetings. The meetings attract a variable number of members. The Association does not meet as a Lodge and all proceedings are completely informal. All new appointees to the Rank are invited to become Life Members of the Association on payment of a single modest fee and are encouraged to attend meetings.  In a more recent development masons not holding London ranks have also been able to join the Association as Associate Members for the payment of a modest life subscription fee.

In the very early days these were held in the Conway Hall, Red Lion Square. However, from August 1990, with the gracious permission of the then Grand Secretary, R.W.Bro. Cdr. M.B.S. Higham, they have been held in the more appropriate surroundings of a suitable Temple in Freemasons' Hall.

No regalia is worn at these meetings although members are encouraged to wear the Association tie.

Quarterly meetings are held on the last Wednesday in the months of February, May, August and November.  They currently start at 16.00.

Quarterly Bulletin

In the early years, occasionally, reports of meetings of the Association were given in the weekly Freemasons Chronicle. Also included was a single page ‘summons’ to meetings and the annual Festival. In 1960, it being appreciated that very few members were buying the Chronicle, extracts of meeting proceedings and notices for the next were printed and posted direct to members. From these ‘seeds’ the Quarterly Bulletin has blossomed and it is now produced as a PDF document of between 12 and 20 pages (with printed copies available by additional subscription).

The Bulletin is downloadable from the website www.lgra.co.uk. 

Communication with Members

Until recently there were regular postal mailings to members.  The cost of these mail shots, which included a printed copy of the Bulletin, because unmanageable and it was decided to move to messages being sent from the Association to members by e-mail.  Over the years a variety of systems have been used for this - the most recent being use of MailChimp.  

Members were advised of the move to electronic communications several times in issues of the Bulletin but a large number did not provide a valid email address and so the Association has lost contact with them - various initiatives are undertaken from time to time to remedy this situation.