Queens College, Taunton Lodge

The Lodge, which currently has sixty members, meets four times a year, in January, March, May and October, at the Masonic Hall in Taunton. Meetings start at 4.00 p.m. and are followed by dinner, also held in the Masonic Hall. Our meetings are well attended and we always welcome a good number of visitors.

The Lodge is open to former pupils of the School, their fathers, sons and other direct relatives, current and former members of staff and current and former Governors of the School.

Future meetings are scheduled for:

• Saturday 10 October 2009 (followed by the Annual Ladies Festival at the Castle Hotel, Taunton)
• Saturday 16 January 2010
• Saturday 20 March 2010 (Installation Meeting)
• Saturday 8 May 2010
• Wednesday 19 May 2010 (Proposed Fraternal Visit to Le Delta Lodge No. 134 [Grande Loge Nationale Francaise], meeting in Versailles)
• Saturday 3 July (Special Meeting to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of the Lodge, incl. lunch at the School)

Further details/ information for potential new or joining members, or visitors can be obtained from:

The Lodge Secretary, David Sargison

(a) 4 St Luke’s Road, Beckington, Somerset BA11 6SE
(t) 01373 831799
(e) davidsargison@hotmail.com

The Worshipful Master, Robert Francis

(a) Star Castle Hotel, Garrison, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly TR21 OJA
(t) 01720 422317
(e) info@star-castle.co.uk

Recent News

	Robert Francis was installed as the new Master of the Lodge by his predecessor, Andy Rodgers, at our Installation Meeting in March. Over 90 members and visitors attended the meeting. The Lodge was honoured on this occasion by the presence of the Provincial Grand Master for Somerset and the Past Provincial Grand Master for Cornwall. The photograph below records the event. Jamie Ware and Jonathan Dolling were invested as the Senior and Junior Wardens respectively for the New Year.
	Stuart Doyle (at Queen’s from 1996 to 2006) became our new and youngest member recently.
	The Lodge donated over £2,000 to the “Help for Heroes” charity recently, following fundraising at last year’s Ladies Festival. The photograph below shows Andy Rodgers and Jim Wiltshire presenting a cheque to Richard Lupton, the Help for Heroes West Somerset Representative, at a short ceremony prior to the January Meeting of the Lodge. Gary Doyle, father of Stuart and a serving Officer in the Navy, who was a visitor at the Lodge Meeting, joined the presentation party.
	Sidney Haynes, a former Headmaster and our oldest member, was 96 in February.
	20 members and guests lunched together at the Royal Hotel in Weston-super-Mare in early April prior to the Somerset Provincial Annual Meeting. Ian Gibson and David Sargison received Provincial Honours at the Meeting.
	Joe Voake, a former member, died in September last year in the United States aged 78. John Parker gave a moving eulogy at the January Meeting of the Lodge.
	Following two visits to Lisbon in Portugal in recent years, visits to two other destinations have taken place over the last year. The first to St Godolphin Lodge in St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly at the invitation of our new Master, Robert Francis. The photograph below shows Richard Baker, Andy Rodgers and Roger Sawtell and their wives enjoying a hearty dinner – freshly caught that very morning! The second visit was to South Porch Lodge in Lanzarote, in the Province of the Canary Islands and part of the Grand Lodge of Spain. The photographs below show Andy Rodgers, Lionel Frewin and David Sargison with their wives on a rather windy headland in Lanzarote and later enjoying some typical Spanish tapas. Queen’s is developing a bit of a tradition for organising an overseas social trip for its members and wives each year.

History

The Lodge was consecrated on 8 July 1950 and came into being as a result of the enthusiasm of a number of English and Welsh Old Boys of the School who were Masons. The Lodge of Unanimity & Sincerity No 261, also meeting in Taunton, sponsored the Lodge. The founders established that the Lodge should work the Oxford ritual. This has been adapted over the years to produce our own unique “Queen’s Working.” The Lodge has been privileged over the years to have had many eminent Brethren from Somerset and other Provinces as members. In May 1980, Ken Kinnersley (father of Mike and Alan) , who joined the Lodge in January 1958 and was its Master in 1968, was appointed and installed as Provincial Grand Master for Somerset, an office that he held until 1990. At present, the Lodge can boast one Grand Officer and many Provincial Officers as members as well as both the current and immediate past Provincial Grand Masters for Somerset as Honorary Members. During its fifty-nine years, the Lodge has initiated eleven Lewis’s.

A brief history has been written and copies are available from the Lodge Secretary. The Lodge is a member of the Federation of School Lodges and has hosted the Annual Festival of the Federation on two occasions, in 1967 and 2000. The Lodge celebrated its Silver Jubilee Meeting on 12 July 1975 and its Golden Jubilee Meeting on 8 July 1950 (50 years to the day after the consecration of the Lodge). The Installation of the Lodge is currently held in March each year and the Ladies Festival usually follows the October meeting. At the latter event, the Lodge supports a charity, chosen by the wife of the Master, through its fundraising efforts. The Lodge welcomes enquiries from OQs who might like to consider becoming a member of their old School Lodge or simply visiting us from time to time.