District Grand Lodge of Bengal

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The District Grand Lodge of Bengal is a Masonic Lodge in India under the United Grand Lodge of England, based out of Freemasons Hall, Park Street, Kolkata (19 Mother Teressa Sarani [1]).

The District Grand Lodge of Bengal has exercised authority over freemasonry under the UGLE in India since 1729, when Captain Ralph Farrwinter,[2] an officer of the East India Company, was appointed Provincial Grand Master for East India in Bengal, and warranted the first Indian lodge East India Arms, No. 72, based in Fort William, Calcutta (Firminger 6).[3][4]

Seal of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal

Members of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal were some of the biggest figures of the British Raj.[citation needed]

Emir of Afghanistan[edit]

It was the scene of the induction of Emir Habibullah Khan IV of Afghanistan by Lord Kitchener and Sir William Burkitt on 1 Feb 1907. An account of this highly unusual event was written at the time by Sir Henry McMahon.[5][6][7][8][9]

Induction of Emir Habibullah Khan of Afghanistan into Masonry on 1 Feb 1907

District Grandmasters[edit]

List of District Grandmasters
Year District Grandmaster
1862 H. D. Sandeman[10][11][12]
1873 J. Pitt Kennedy (acting)
1875 J. Blessington Roberts[13][14]
1877 J. Pitt Kennedy
1879 Henry Thoby Prinsep[15]
1897 Brigadier General A. G. Yeatman-Biggs[16]
1898 Henry Thoby Prinsep
1904 Sir W. R. Burkitt (judge)
1908 Sir John Stanley
1911 Sir Lawrence Jenkins[17]
1913 Baron Carmichael
1917 Earl of Ronaldshay
1923 Sir W. J. Reid[18][19]
1926 Henry Rivers Nevill[20][21][22]
1930 Sir Eric Studd[23]
1938 Charles Carey Morgan
1940 Archibald Barr-Pollock[24]
1954 Frank Carlile Kidd[25]
1960 K. B. Large
1966 Donald Fordwood[26]
1972 A. M. Adams
1982 Vahan Poladian[27]
1988 Archibald Israel Edwards
1994 L. O. H. de Silva
1998 Iqbal Ahmed
2012 K. S. David
List of District Masters of Bengal, Park Street Lodge, Calcutta

References[edit]

  1. ^ "DISTRICT GRAND LODGE OF BENGAL".
  2. ^ Harland-Jacobs, Jessica L. (September 2012). Builders of Empire: Freemasons and British Imperialism, 1717-1927 - p38. UNC Press Books. ISBN 9781469606651.
  3. ^ Deschamps, Simon (2017). "From Britain to India: Freemasonry as a Connective Force of Empire". E-Rea. 14 (2). doi:10.4000/erea.5853.
  4. ^ "A glimpse into Masonic secrets on stage".[dead link]
  5. ^ "The Newsletter of the Committee on Masonic Education Vol. 16 No. 1 - "THE AMIR 'TAKES THREE"" (PDF).
  6. ^ "The Emir of Afghanistan (1872-1919) Freemason A Royal Occasion A Royal Masonic Occasion (An Account of the entry of H M Habibullah Khan Amir of Afghanistan into Freemasonry) By Sir Henry McMahon" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Horatio Herbert Kitchener". 20 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Horatio Herbert Kitchener".
  9. ^ "Amir Habibullah Khan: Afghan Reformer and Freemason".
  10. ^ "The India Office and Burma Office List". 1843.
  11. ^ "The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and Its Dependencies - section on East-India College". 1844.
  12. ^ Selections from Calcutta gazettes of the years 1784 (-1823) showing the political and social conditions of the English in India. Office of Superintendent Government Printing. 1868.
  13. ^ s:Dictionary of Indian Biography/Roberts, John Blessington
  14. ^ "The Freemason's Chronicle - Vol XV, No 382 - 22 Apr 1882".
  15. ^ "The Freemason Vol XXV No. 1121, 30 August 1890" (PDF).
  16. ^ Yeatman-Biggs, Arthur Godolphin Yeatman. "Major General Arthur Godolphin Yeatman Biggs".
  17. ^ Jenkins, Lawrence Hugh (2004). "Sir Lawrence Hugh Jenkins". In Stearn, Roger T (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34176. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  18. ^ India Office, Great Britain (1819). "The India List and India Office List - W. J. Reid, Deputy Commissioner, Assam".
  19. ^ "Resignation by the Hon'ble Mr. W. J. Reid of his office of additional member of the Indian Legislative Council and appointment of Mr. A. W. Batham in his place".
  20. ^ "WorldCat Identities - Henry Rivers Nevill".
  21. ^ India Office, Great Britain (1819). "The India List and India Office List - p17".
  22. ^ "Henry Rivers Nevill, CIE, OBE, BA, late Indian C.S. (b. 24may1876) was educ at Charterhouse and Oriel College, Oxford, and worked in India 1899-1932 (India Office List, 1933, findmypast)".
  23. ^ "Studd Collection – Film 1. Description: B&W. 11:36min. Calcutta (Kolkata), India. December 1927 – January 1928. Film made by Sir Eric Studd. Grand Lodge Deputation to India. Inspecting the construction of a new building at Freemasons Hall. Outdoor scenes of the Masonic Headquarters. Viceroy's Cup. Arrival of Viceroy, Sir Stanley Jackson, Governor of Bengal. Extended sequence of Masonic processions to church service, St. Jones, Calcutta. Group portrait of Lord Cornwallis (Grand Deputy Master), Sir John Ferguson (Past Grand Treasurer), Sir J.E. Kynaston Studd (Past Grand Deacon), Col. S. Pleydell-Bouverie (Dy. G. Director of Ceremonies) and Bishop Foss-Westcott. Scenes of Masonic procession. Short scene of Sir Eric Studd (Dy. District Grand Master). NB: Special thanks to Martin Cherry, Librarian at the Library and Museum of Freemasonry, London, for providing invaluable background information".
  24. ^ "THE LONDON GAZETTE, 14 FEBRUARY, 1941" (PDF).
  25. ^ Kidd, Frank Carlile (1965-03-09). "The London Gazette" (PDF).
  26. ^ "SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE" (PDF).
  27. ^ "Vahan Poladian".


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