District Grand Lodge of Bengal
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]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Seal_of_the_District_Grand_Lodge_of_Bengal.png)
Members of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal were some of the biggest figures of the British Raj.[citation needed]
Emir of Afghanistan[]
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]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Induction_Emir_Habibullah_Khan_Freemason.png/220px-Induction_Emir_Habibullah_Khan_Freemason.png)
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][24] |
1938 | Charles Carey Morgan |
1940 | Archibald Barr-Pollock[25] |
1954 | Frank Carlile Kidd[26] |
1960 | K. B. Large |
1966 | Donald Fordwood[27] |
1972 | A. M. Adams |
1982 | Vahan Poladian[28] |
1988 | Archibald Israel Edwards |
1994 | L. O. H. de Silva |
1998 | Iqbal Ahmed |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/List_of_District_Masters_of_Bengal.png/220px-List_of_District_Masters_of_Bengal.png)
References[]
- ^ "DISTRICT GRAND LODGE OF BENGAL".
- ^ Harland-Jacobs, Jessica L. (September 2012). Builders of Empire: Freemasons and British Imperialism, 1717-1927 - p38. ISBN 9781469606651.
- ^ "From Britain to India: Freemasonry as a Connective Force of Empire".
- ^ "A glimpse into Masonic secrets on stage".
- ^ "The Newsletter of the Committee on Masonic Education Vol. 16 No. 1 - "THE AMIR 'TAKES THREE"" (PDF).
- ^ "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).
- ^ "Horatio Herbert Kitchener".
- ^ "Horatio Herbert Kitchener".
- ^ "Amir Habibullah Khan: Afghan Reformer and Freemason".
- ^ "The India Office and Burma Office List". 1843.
- ^ "The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and Its Dependencies - section on East-India College". 1844.
- ^ "Selections from Calcutta gazettes of the years 1784 (-1823) showing the political and social conditions of the English in India".
- ^ s:Dictionary of Indian Biography/Roberts, John Blessington
- ^ "The Freemason's Chronicle - Vol XV, No 382 - 22 Apr 1882".
- ^ "The Freemason Vol XXV No. 1121, 30 August 1890" (PDF).
- ^ Yeatman-Biggs, Arthur Godolphin Yeatman. "Major General Arthur Godolphin Yeatman Biggs".
- ^ Jenkins, Lawrence Hugh. "Sir Lawrence Hugh Jenkins".
- ^ India Office, Great Britain (1819). "The India List and India Office List - W. J. Reid, Deputy Commissioner, Assam".
- ^ "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".
- ^ "WorldCat Identities - Henry Rivers Nevill".
- ^ India Office, Great Britain (1819). "The India List and India Office List - p17".
- ^ "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)".
- ^ "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".
- ^ "The Peerage - Sir Eric Studd".
- ^ "THE LONDON GAZETTE, 14 FEBRUARY, 1941" (PDF).
- ^ Kidd, Frank Carlile (1965-03-09). "The London Gazette" (PDF).
- ^ "SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE" (PDF).
- ^ "Vahan Poladian".
- Freemasonry
- Masonic Lodges
- History of India