The Earl Of Lathom, D.G.M., And Prov. G.M. West Lancashire.

THE EARL OF LATHOM , D . G . M ., AND PROV . G . M . WEST LANCASHIRE .

The Rig ht Hon . Edward Bootle-Wilbraham , first Earl of Lathom and second Baron Skelmersdale , was born 12 th December , 18 37 , and while in his 16 th year succeeded his grandfather as Lord Skelmersdale . A few years later , while a member of Christ Church , Oxford , and being still a minor , he was initiated in 1856

into the mysteries of Antient Free and Accepted Masonry in the famous Apollo University Lodge , No . 357 , Oxford , and was appointed Prov . G . Steward of Oxfordshire the following year , among his Oxford contemporaries being Bros , the Rev . C . F . Martyn , P . G . Chaplain , and D . P . G . M . Suffolk ; Sir M . E .

Hicks-Beach , Bart ., M . P ., P . S . G . W . England , Prov . G . M . of Gloucestershire ; Sir E . Baldwin Malet , our present Ambassador at Berlin , the Hon . Auberon Herbert , brother of the Earl of Carnarvon , R . Jasper More , M . P ., the Earl of Carnarvon , who had been

initiated in the Westminster and Keystone Lodge in 1856 , and joined the Apollo Lodge in 1857 , and the late Theodore Mansel Talbot , Provincial Grand Master South Wales , East Division . On leaving Oxford , Lord Skelmersdale appears

to have joined the Lodge of Harmony , No . 580 , Ormskirk , and in 1862 was elected to the chair of W . M ., having in the

meantime been appointed Prov . S . G . D . West Lancashire , and Prov . S . G . W . in 1861 , to which latter office he

was re-appointed in 1862 and 1863 . In 186 3 the late Earl of Zetland , then M . W . G . M .,

conferred on his lordship the post of S . G . W . In 186 7 he became Dep . P . G . M . of West

Lancashire , and in 18 72 received his patent of P . G . M ., in succession to the late Bro . Sir

Thomas J . Hesketh , Bt ., his installation in that office being carried out with more than the

customary pomp and circumstance on the 27 th January , 18 73 , and in that of Grand Superintendent of the same

province on the 5 th April following . 11118 72 he was founder and installed first W . M . of lhe Skelmersdale Lodge ,

No . 1300 , Liverpool , and on retiring from the chair was presented with a very handsome Past Master ' s jewel in token of the many important

THE RT . HON . THE EARL OF LATHOM , D . G . M ., PROV . G . M . WEST LANCASHIRE . From a Photograph by the London Stereoscopic Co ,

services he had rendered to the lodge during the most critical period of its existence . In the year of his installation as P . G . M . he signalised his appointment to that office b y kindly undertaking the post of Chairman at the 85 th Anniversary Festival of the Koyal Masonic Institution for Girls , and had the satisfaction of

hearing that the donations and subscriptions obtained on that occasion reached close on £ 7500 , In 18 75 , on the installation of the Prince of Wales , firstly as M . W . G . M . in the Royal Albert Hall , and then as Grand Z . of Supreme Grand Chapter in Freemasons' Hall , his lordship was pleased to appoint Lord

Skelmersdale to be his Deputy Grand Master in Craft Masonry and Grand H . in the Royal Arch Degree , and in both these exalted offices , which his lordship still continues to fill , he has made himself beloved by the Craft generally on account of his uniform

kindness and geniality towards all he is brought in contact with , whilehe is esteemed and respected by reason of his strict and conscientious performance of his duty . In 18 76 he succeeded the late Bro . W . Romaine Callender as Provincial Grand Mark

Master of Lancashire , and at the same time became Deputy Grand Master of the Mark Grand Lodge . It was also in this year that he presided at the Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , when the proceeds were announced b y Bro . Terry , the Secretary , as amounting to £ 9380 . In 1880 he pre-

The Earl Of Lathom, D.G.M., And Prov. G.M. West Lancashire.

sided at the Boys' School Festival held at the Crystal Palace , when the proceeds amounted to £ 14 , 002 . In 18 7 8 he was chosen to succeed the Earl of Limerick as M . W . G . Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons , and , after retaining the office for the usual term of three years , was

followed by Lord Henniker . In the Order of the Temple he is Great Prior of England and a Knight Grand Cross , while in that of Rome and the Red Cross of Constantine he is a Past Grand Viceroy and a Chief Intendant General unattached , as well as a

Past Captain of the Guards of the Patriarchal Council of K . H . S . and St . John the Evangelist . He has been for many years M . P . Sovereign G . Commander of the Supreme Council 33 of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , and an honorary member of the Studholme Chapter ( Rose Croix ) , No . 67 .

The occasions on which he has presided at the public ceremony of laying the foundation stone , or consecrating some new hall to the purposes of Freemasonry , or of performing a similar function in connection with buildings devoted to the use of the

general public , are numerous , and would occupy too much space in recapitulating , but one of them deserves mention . We allude to his installation , in February , 18 7 6 , of the late Prince Leopold , afterwards created Duke of Albany , as Prov . G . Master of Oxfordshire , the

ceremony being performed in the Sheldonian Theatre in the presence of an unusually large gathering of members of the

province and distinguished brethren from other parts of the country . He was also President of the Board of Stewards at

the Centenary Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , which was held in the

Royal Albert Hall , on Thursday , the 7 th June , 1888 , under the presidency of H . R . H . the

Prince of Wales , who , in proposing the toast of " Prosperity to the Institution , " did the Earl of Lathom the honour

of associating with it his name ; and , in replying , his lordship gave some interesting

particulars relating to the School , and the amount of good it had been the means of achieving . As to the extent of the

work that has been done during the 17 years he has presided over Craft and Arch Masonry in

the Province of West Lancashire , and the progress by the several branches of Freemasonry in this division of the

great North-Western County Palatine , we note first of all that the number of lodges which have been added to the roll of West Lancashire since 18 73 is about 33 , while the chapters muster some 40 , as compared with some 24 at the close of 1872 . But the subject on which he mostly prides

himself—as we gather from the speech he made in the Royal Albert Hall at the Girls' Centenary—is the progress made by the West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution , which was only in its early days when he was installed P . G . M ., but which now'is able to boast of a considerable income usefully employed in the

education and advancement in life of a large number of children , the sons and daughters of indigent and deceased West Lancashire brethren , who , but for the help rendered them by this Charity , would have been but indifferently set up to enter , with any fair prospect of success , upon the great battle of life . This

West Lancashire Institution , while doing the good we have referred to , has at the same time been able to accumulate a well invested capital of about £ 20 , 000 . His lordship is also proud of the other two charitable organisations in his province—the

Hamer and the Alpass Institutions—which render service to the decayed brother and brother ' s widow , as the Educational Institute does to the children of deceased and decayed brethren * These two organisations , though of much more recent creation /