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Post by offramp on Nov 18, 2019 17:15:38 GMT
Sir Gregor MacGregor, the Baron of Gregor was a Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Scotland between 1985 and 1993.
He was a truly representative Freemason.
A colleague described him as aIt was hard to find a picture of him online so I did one myself:
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Post by offramp on Dec 10, 2019 13:59:31 GMT
Here is a wonderful one. I really like this geezer.
Henry James FitzRoy, Earl of Euston was an enthusiastic Freemason. Well done!
Have a look at this picture. How many orders can you recognise? Dontcha feel sorry for the poor git who had to paint all of those medals.
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Post by offramp on Dec 15, 2019 10:30:22 GMT
When we hear about Silvio Berlusconi in the UK it is generally negative news.
For good or bad, he has been at the centre of Italian life since 1973. He became a Freemason in 1978.
He is currently aged 83 and a Member of the European parliament.
Bro Berlusconi is on the left.
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Post by offramp on Jan 4, 2020 9:13:00 GMT
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Post by offramp on Jan 5, 2020 19:45:52 GMT
Here is a great man whose life might seem tragic but it was ultimately triumphant.
Raimondo di Sangro was If you have not seen the stunning Cappella Sansevero you are in for a treat. Di Sangro included Masonic symbols in its reconstruction.
You can see many pictures of its famous sculptures at www.museosansevero.it/the-sansevero-chapel/?lang=en.
Di SangroIsn't that a non sequitur? If he was excommunicated surely he could continue to be head of the Lodge.Here is the sad part:But the triumph is that the Chapel is still there, and it looks fantastic.
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Post by offramp on Jan 9, 2020 19:08:07 GMT
I was reading a fascinating article about publisher Edward Lloyd (16 February 1815 – 8 April 1890). He was a prolific publisher of penny dreadfuls, and a plagiarist of Charles Dickens.
He also had some clever marketing ideas:Pretty clever! He became a Freemason in 1845 (the Royal York Lodge of Perseverance).
One of Lloyd's most prolific authors was James Malcolm Rymer. It was he who wrote the colossal book (in instalments) called Varney the Vampire.I believe that Rymer was a Freemason as well.
Here is a picture of both Prest & Rymer at the Carlton Club:
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Post by offramp on Jan 15, 2020 7:44:08 GMT
Here is a question and response from The Guardian's Notes & Queries section.He was a member of Loge La Reforme in Marseilles.
In that same Lodge were his fellow politicians Gustave Naquet et Maurice Rouvier.
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Post by boreades on Feb 20, 2020 22:29:46 GMT
Here is a wonderful one. I really like this geezer. Henry James FitzRoy, Earl of Euston was an enthusiastic Freemason. Well done! Have a look at this picture. How many orders can you recognise? Dontcha feel sorry for the poor git who had to paint all of those medals. But how about his personal life? Stuff you'd probably find in East Enders today? Gor blimey guv..
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Post by offramp on Mar 10, 2020 9:27:49 GMT
The great Kenneth Mackenzie described him as one of the greatest writers on Freemasonry ever. Ignaz Aurelius Fessler invented the Rite of FesslerHere is an example of Fessler's influence.
If you look at Rosenkreuzerey which was written by Fessler and published in about 1805/6, and look at pp92 to 96, you'll see the names of the Rosicrucian Grades:
- Junior
- Theoreticus
- Practicus
- Philosophus
- Minor
- Major
- Ademptus Exemptus
- Magister
- Majus
It seems that Kenneth McKenzie or perhaps Richard Little read that book.
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Post by offramp on Mar 30, 2020 14:23:27 GMT
When I was young one of my favourite entertainers was Freddie "Parrot Face" Davis: Freddie Davis.
He has been a Freemason for 50 years and understandably takes it seriously.
He has is a Past Master of Chelsea Lodge #3086.
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Post by offramp on May 29, 2020 17:18:51 GMT
A sort of French William Wilberforce: Victor Schœlcher. The poor geezer died on Christmas Day! How sad is that?
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Post by offramp on Jun 2, 2020 9:19:58 GMT
Not really my kind of guy, but I salute him as a fellow brother: Norman Vincent Peale.
He was a Methodist Minister and a 33° Scottish Rite Freemason. He wrote the bestseller The Power of Positive Thinking.
Peale is on the right:
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Post by offramp on Jun 7, 2020 17:21:01 GMT
One of the greatest humans of all time: Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza, known normally as Francisco de Miranda.I know him through his memorials in London, in Fitzrovia south of Warren Street.
From Wiki:Londoners hold these South American battlers in great esteem. My friend and I often visit the memorials.
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Post by offramp on Jun 16, 2020 10:07:11 GMT
One of the hardest clubs in the world to enter is the famous Supreme Court of the United States of America. It was started in 1789 and there have been only 114 members (they are appointed by the President, and there can only be 9 at once).
I was surprised to see that in the current 9, 5 are Roman Catholics and 3 are Jews. That is odd in a mainly Protestant country.
Anyway, of those 114 Supreme Court Justices, 36% have been Freemasons. That is 41. And of those 41 the first African-American was Thurgood Marshall.Marshall is 2nd row left centre north clockwise.
Here is another pic:
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Post by offramp on Jun 26, 2020 13:25:07 GMT
The entity of stage and screen comedian Nat Jackley first invaded my consciousness via the medium of an excellent film called Demobbed: www.imdb.com/title/tt0150301/
I did not know it at the time, but Nat Jackley was a Freemason, apparently a member of Chelsea Lodge #3098.
Here he is escorting the Worshipful Master and his Wardens from the Lodge:
I am not sure where Nat learnt his dancing style, was it from Dan Leno?, but it became popular with dancers like Billy Dainty:
It was also used by the great Max Wall, who can be seen here being very athletic for his age. Dickie Henderson also does very well.
Brother Jackley's films are always worth watching out for.
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Post by offramp on Jun 28, 2020 16:20:59 GMT
A very famous, Olympic gold medal winning sprinter: Harold Abrahams.
His story was told in that overblown and overlong film Great Balls Of Fire, which has that interminable music by that Greek composer, Vaginales.
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Post by offramp on Jun 30, 2020 9:56:57 GMT
A very famous American sociologist, socialist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer and editor.
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was Raised at Widow's Son Lodge #1 in Newhaven, Connecticut.
He knew Marcus Garvey!
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Post by offramp on Jun 30, 2020 10:14:15 GMT
Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji Jadeja, GCSI GBE, known to all and sundry as Ranji, was a titanic cricketer who played for Sussex and England. He later returned home and became the ruler of the Indian state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, as Maharaja Jam Saheb.
At University he joined Isaac Newton Lodge #859, then in India he was a member of Kathiawar Lodge #2787. He was its WM for two consecutive years, 1917 & 1918..
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Post by offramp on Jun 30, 2020 10:55:36 GMT
Here is the great friend of the earlier mentioned Francisco de Miranda, the great man Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios, known simply as Simon Bolivar.
He was born in Venezuela but was sent to Europe and it was in Cadiz that he became a Freemason.
He spent some frenetic months in London in 1810. In that time he negotiated with British politicians and sorted out the future of South America with Miranda.
There is a statue of him in Belgravia which I don't like. It is a bit stiff, like my writing.
At 4 Duke Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 3EL you can see this plaque.
He was a great man. Amazing to think that he died aged only 47.
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Post by offramp on Jul 2, 2020 18:25:23 GMT
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