W. Bro. Dr. John S. Wade
Bro John Wade was initiated into Fellowship Lodge No 4069 in 1981,
and went on to serve as Master in 1991. He is a past Junior Grand
Warden in both Yorkshire West Riding and Derbyshire. He was elected
President of the Sheffield Masonic Study Society in 2003 and was
elected a full member of QC Lodge in 2005. Bro Wade was appointed
Secretary of QC Lodge in 2008 and served as Master of QC Lodge in
2010.
Bro Wade is also an active member in Ireland ( Emerald Isle Lodge No
19 ), Scotland (PM of Lodge Hope of Kurrachi 337 ), and in Craft
Lodges in Italy and the USA. In his spare time he is the musical director
of the Sheffield and District Masonic Choir, which he founded in 1991.
The Travels of a
Prestonian Lecturer
by
W. Bro. Dr. John S. Wade
PPJGW (Yorks.W.R.), PPJGW (Derbys.)
UGLE Prestonian Lecturer 2009
WM, Loggia Santa Cecilia, No. 180 (Regular Grand Lodge of Italy)
IPM, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076 (UGLE)
PM, Lodge Hope of Kurachee, No. 337 (Grand Lodge of Scotland)
Member of Emerald Isle Lodge No. XIX (Grand Lodge of Ireland)
Worshipful Master, RW Deputy Grand Master, Distinguished Brethren,
Brethren. When Bob Bashford asked me to say a few words about my
travels as a Prestonian Lecturer, I wondered what on earth to say!
Perhaps I should start by reminding you what the Prestonian Lecture
is. In 1818 William Preston, the great Masonic educator, left in his
will the sum of £300 as an endowment for the United Grand Lodge
of England to appoint a lecturer each year to perpetuate his lecture
system. A lecture was delivered annually, and then at more irregular
intervals, until 1856, when for reasons unknown the appointment
lapsed. It was revived in 1924 and the lecturer has since then been
allowed to deliver a paper on a subject of his own choosing each
year (with the exception of the war years 1940 – 1946). There have
been many distinguished Prestonian Lecturers, of whom Bro. Trevor
Stewart, who was appointed for the year 2004 and spoke on English
Speculative Freemasonry, is with us this afternoon. You will also no
doubt remember the appointment two years earlier in 2002 of Bro.
Charles Wallis-Newport, whose subject was The Anglo-Irish
connections.
William Preston (1742-1818)
It has been customary over many years for the Prestonian
Lecturer to sell copies of his Lecture for his nominated
charities. One of mine, as you can see from this slide, is the
Cavendish Cancer Care Appeal in my home city of Sheffield.
The second was intended to be the Centre for Research into
Freemasonry at the University of Sheffield. Since that Centre
closed in January 2010, I have used what I had originally
earmarked for the work of the Centre to purchase two large
oak bookcases to house the large collection of books built up
over the 10 years of its existence, with the agreement of both
the University and Masonic authorities.
Charities supported by sales of the 56-page
booklet containing the 2nd edition of this
Prestonian Lecture:
• The Cavendish Cancer Centre, Sheffield
Registered Charity No. 1104261
• Research into Freemasonry in Sheffield
£5 per copy plus p&p
Orders to: e-mail; [email protected]
The Prestonian Lecturer is usually asked to give three or four
official deliveries (where a large audience is to be expected)
and then as many unofficial deliveries as he is inclined to give.
In the past it is probably true to say that, with notable
exceptions such as Harry Carr, Trevor Stewart and more
recently my predecessor Bob Sillett, most deliveries have been
given in lodges under the English Constitution, and the vast
majority of these within the 46 English provinces. On this
slide you can see a list of the English provinces, showing on
the left those in which I have already delivered the Lecture
and on the right those I have yet to visit or be invited to visit.
At present I have been to 29 provinces, with another 5
scheduled this year and a further 12 for which arrangements
are yet to be made. It is because of the geographical spread
of evidence for my topic that I am keen to get to every
province for further information.
Prestonian Lecture Provincial Deliveries in England & Wales
up to 12 February 2011
Provinces visited 29
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Oxfordshire
Berkshire
Yorkshire, West Riding
London
East Lancashire
Yorkshire, North & East
Ridings
Durham
Norfolk
Devon
Sussex
Surrey
Northampton & Huntingdon
Dorset
Derbyshire
Wiltshire
Provinces scheduled 5
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Warwickshire
South Wales
East Kent
Bedfordshire
Cheshire
Hertfordshire
Nottinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Worcestershire
Cumberland &
Westmorland
Bristol
Gloucestershire
Lincolnshire
Staffordshire
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Essex
Somerset
Hampshire & Isle of Wight
Leicestershire & Rutland
Northumberland
Provinces yet to be arranged 12
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Cambridgeshire
Cornwall
Guernsey & Alderney
Herefordshire
Isle of Man
Jersey
Middlesex
North Wales
Shropshire
Suffolk
West Kent
West Lancashire
As I indicated earlier, I have also had the wonderful opportunity
afforded to me for visits to other constitutions than the English
one. While some of these (for example Australia and India)
were linked to family holidays in those countries, others such as
the US, Italy, Scotland and Ireland have been linked to my
membership of lodges in those countries. In addition, being
involved with international conferences has led to contacts
across the world being interested in inviting me to bring the
Lecture to their countries. Spain, Poland and Canada fall into
that category. At first sight it may seem odd that a topic so
obviously parochial as English Masonic Processions should
arouse interest in distant constitutions, but when you consider
the underlying themes of secrecy and openness, and the use of
public and private space across three hundred years, it becomes
a little clearer as to why there is such interest.
The holding of the title of The Prestonian Lecturer is a calendar
year of twelve months from 1 January to 31 December. It is,
however, quite usual for the Lecturer to be nearly as busy in a
second year, and even, as I have be fortunate enough, in a third
year – though it is now beginning to slow down. Here are a few
photographs taken during the twenty-six months I have been
travelling, showing the variety of locations and regalia worn in
different constitutions.
Other Constitutions
Already visited
Visit scheduled
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 Ireland
Poland
 Italy
 Scotland
 Australia
 California
 India
 Virginia
 France
 New Jersey
 Massachussetts
 Maryland
 Indiana
 Washington DC
 Ohio
 New York
 British Colombia &  Michigan
 Greece
Yukon
 Spain
 Alberta
Pennsylvania?
Such regalia is well illustrated here with pictures from
California and Virginia, the first two legs of a zig-zag across
North America in September 2009, starting in California on my
own, across to the East Coast, where I was joined by two
fellow QC members and Past Prestonian Lecturers, Trevor
Stewart and Gordon Davie, who were with me when I gave
the Lecture at the George Washington Memorial in Alexandria
Virginia. Note especially the 18th century costume worn by one
of the members of the Williamsburg Lodge, also in Virginia,
who had come straight from work in the tourist attractions of
Colonial Williamsburg,
California & Virginia
Academia Lodge, Oakland, California
Santa Monica-Palisades Lodge, California
Alexandria-Washington Lodge, Virginia
Williamsburg Lodge, Virginia
Where you will encounter such
traffic as this in the streets!
Colonial Williamsburg
I then moved on to New Jersey, Washington and New
York with Trevor and Gordon. At a very upmarket
restaurant in New Jersey, where the three of us took
part in a charity dinner, and were billed with short
presentations as ‘The Three Prestonians’, we were, to
our amazement, honoured by the Grand Master with
appointments as ‘Honorary Grand Lecturers’ with
certificates to match! I am very grateful to Trevor for
organising this leg of my North American tour.
Canada: Crossing from Victoria to Vancouver
Another long plane journey took me across to
Canada, where I gave presentations in
Victoria, crossing over by ferry from there to…
New Jersey, Washington DC & New York
Snuffy’s Pangalis Restaurant, Scotch Plains, New Jersey
St. John’s Lodge No. 1, New York City
Robert de Bruce Council of Kadosh, Washington DC
Vancouver and Kamloops, all in the Grand
Lodge of British Columbia and the Yukon, and
then on to Red Deer in the Grand Lodge of
Alberta. The Canadians are just as hospitable
as the Americans.
At a subsequent meeting after my visit, I was
delighted to have been made an Honorary
Member of Excelsior Lodge, Vancouver.
Canada: Vancouver,Kamloops & Red Deer
Excelsior Lodge, Vancouver
Beacon Lodge, Red Deer, Alberta
Nicola Lodge, Kamloops
It was insisted upon by my host in Canada,
John Broadberry, that I should see the Rockies
and the Ice Fields on my journey back from
Red Deer to the airport at Calgary,
The Canadian Rockies & The Ice Fields
Views from the Rockies and the
Columbian Ice Field, en route to Calgary
not to mention the Royal Tyrrell Dinosaur
Museum. By the way, the dinosaur is the one
on the right.
The Dinosaur Museum in Alberta
Prior to the visit to North America, I was invited by a Polish
Masonic scholar, Tomasz Molski, whom I had met at the
Canonbury Conference in London, to come out to Poland.
This was duly organized in April 2009 and I gave the
Lecture in both Warsaw and Poznan. Edinburgh was the
venue for the Second International Conference on the
History of Freemasonry in May 2009, where I was able to
address a plenary session with the Lecture. With me here
are Dr Andreas Onnerfors from Sweden and Fabio Venzi, the
Grand Master of the Regular Grand Lodge of Italy. Further
opportunities arose on the European mainland, in Italy at a
meeting of the Italian QC Lodge and in Paris at the Villard
de Honnecourt Research Lodge. While the Lecture in Paris
was given in English at their request, that in Rome, and also
subsequently in Tuscany and Sicily, was delivered in Italian.
Some European Visits: Poland, Scotland, Italy and France
Walerian Lukasinski Lodge, Poland
Delivery at the ICHF, Edinburgh, Scotland
Quatuor Coronati Lodge, Rome
Villard d’Honnecourt Lodge, Paris
Towards the end of my Prestonian year, as you
are well aware, I came to Rosemary Street in
Belfast to give what was billed as the first
Prestonian Lecture to be delivered in Ireland
during the Lecturer’s actual year, but in fact I
must tell you that, while this may have been
true for Northern Ireland, both Charles Wallis
Newport and Bob Gilbert have delivered their
respective papers, during their years as
Prestonian Lecturer, to Lodge No. 1 in Cork.
Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed the visit to
your lodge and am proud to be a member of
its Correspondence Circle.
Rosemary Street, Belfast, 31 October 2009
So much then for what this Lectureship is, and
where I went during my year of office. In
view of the time, I shall only share one more
trip, with you. That followed on immediately
in January 2010. It was in fact a two-week
holiday in Australia with my wife, visiting
family and friends, and a further week in India
to break the journey on the way back. The
delivery in Australia was very near to where
we were staying in Chatswood, a suburb of
Sydney, to an audience of Australian brethren
and their wives, hosted by the Discovery
Lodge of Research. This was the only Masonic
event in Australia
Australia & India 2010
Discovery Lodge, Sydney, New South Wales
District Grand Lodge of Bombay
District Grand Lodge of Northern India
and we were able to experience some of the
wildlife and aboriginal culture.
The Indian leg was supposed to include a
presentation in Bombay (yes that’s what the
Masons there call it, not Mumbai!), but we were
prevailed upon to fly out to New Delhi and give
it there –
Australian Wildlife and Native Culture
that did of course give us the opportunity of
seeing the Taj Mahal, even though the visibility
on a rather foggy day was not too good. (If
time permits, tell the story of the train journey
in the fog).
The Taj Mahal, Agra, India
Brethren, I could go on, and have probably gone
on too long as it is, but I would like to leave you
with what has made the biggest impression on
me during the last 26 months – and that is the
enormous respect in which the Prestonian
Lecture is held across the Masonic world. It has
been a very enjoyable and at times exciting
experience, but also a very humbling one to
have been part of a long line of, in many cases,
very distinguished Masonic scholars to have
been designated Prestonian Lecturer for the
United Grand Lodge of England. Thankyou.
The Travels of a
Prestonian Lecturer
by
W. Bro. Dr. John S. Wade
PPJGW (Yorks.W.R.), PPJGW (Derbys.)
UGLE Prestonian Lecturer 2009
WM, Loggia Santa Cecilia, No. 180 (Regular Grand Lodge of Italy)
IPM, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076 (UGLE)
PM, Lodge Hope of Kurachee, No. 337 (Grand Lodge of Scotland)
Member of Emerald Isle Lodge No. XIX (Grand Lodge of Ireland)