BLOOMSBURY RIFLES LODGE No. 2362

Last Thursday, our Secretary went with Jean Hansford to present a cheque to the Alzheimer’s Society, from the Lodge Relief Chest, in memory of W. Bro. Joe Hansford GStB.

 

We met with Ryan Tyler, who is the Services Manager West Sussex, at the Society’s Worthing Office. Ryan’s Grandfather was a Freemason under the Irish Constitution. The Society were very supportive of Joe and Jean in their time of need and the Lodge voted a £400 donation to the Alzheimer’s Society at our last Regular Meeting.

 

Jean asked that we went on the 31st. October 2019 as that would have been Joe’s 91st. birthday.

 

Joe was proposed for Initiated into the Bloomsbury Rifles Lodge No. 2362 on the 13th. February 1958, balloted for and approved on the 10th. April 1958 and Initiated into the Lodge on the 12th. June 1958. Joe was then Passed to the Second Degree on the 11th. December 1958 and Raised to the Degree of a Master Mason on the 12th. February 1959.

 

This was the start of a long and distinguished journey in Freemasonry.

 

Joe was Installed as the Worshipful Master of the Bloomsbury Rifles Lodge on the 12th. April 1973. Following his year as Worshipful Master and then his year as the Immediate Past Master, he was Invested as Chaplin of the Lodge, an appointment which he held until 1989.

 

On the 30th. September 1986 Joe was Invested with London Grand Rank.

 

In 1990 the Lodge held its Centenary and it was fitting that Joe was again Installed as Worshipful Master of the Lodge for this important landmark in the Lodge’s history.

 

Following his year as Worshipful Master and then his year as Immediate Past Master, Joe was appointed as Director of Ceremonies of the Lodge, an appointment he held until 2001.

 

Joe was a hard-working member of the Lodge and the Lodge of Instruction and he set a very high standard within the Lodge, a standard that today’s members still aim to reach. Joe was an excellent ritualist and would step in to assist with the ceremonies, sometimes with only a few hours notice. The sincerity with which he delivered the ceremonies was an inspiration to all those present at the meeting.

 

In 1999 Joe’s hard work and dedication was recognised by Grand Lodge when he was appointed and invested as Grand Standard Bearer, an appointment that he proudly carried out at the Grand Temple in Freemasons’ Hall in London.

 

On the 11th. December 2008 W. Bro. Robert W. Hancock, Metropolitan Grand Inspector, attended the Lodge Meeting and Presented Joe with his 50-year Certificate in recognition of his service to Freemasonry for the past half a century.

 

Joe visited and assisted many Lodges in London and in Sussex during his masonic journey and in 2016 the Bloomsbury Rifles Lodge elected him an Honorary Member of the Lodge in recognition of the dedication and support he had given to the Lodge during his membership of it.