Winston Churchill’s Masonic Apron
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
was born on 30 November 1874 and educated at Harrow. At the time of his
initiation into Studholme Lodge 1591 on 24 May 1901, Freemasonry was a
fashionable social pursuit. The election of the Prince of Wales (later Edward
VII) as Grand Master in 1875 gave a huge impetus to Freemasonry. As the Prince
of Wales, he had been an exceedingly popular Royal and Grand Master, and brought
with him a host of other Royals and aristocrats who gladly joined the Craft. It
was not by accident that the promising young Winston was introduced to Studholme
Lodge in London. John Studholme Brownrigg, Provincial Grand Master for Surrey,
whose prominent family gave its name to the new Lodge, consecrated the Lodge on
31 January 1876. In 1881 the Lodge moved from Surbiton, in Surrey, to London,
and the summonses read like a Who’s Who of the aristocracy and social elite. The
guest list for the Lodge’s 21st Installation Banquet in 1897 includes 17 Members
of Parliament, including the Lord Chancellor, and numerous Lords, Earls, Knights
and high-ranking members of the armed forces dispersed throughout the dining
room. The Lodge records give the date of Churchill’s initiation as 24 May 1901
with his address as 105 Mount Street, his age as 26, and his occupation as a
Member of Parliament. Charles Clive Bigham, Viscount Mersey, whose entry in the
Studholme Lodge register, next to that of Churchill, has caused some confusion
about his taking his third degree in Rosemary Lodge, gives an insight into the
scene on the day. In his autobiography, published by John Murray in London in
1941, A Picture of Life 1872-1940, he states on page 188:
… that month I was initiated as a
free mason at Studholme Lodge (1591). While waiting for the ceremony I walked
round and round Golden Square with Winston Churchill, another candidate …
Within two months, on 19 July,
Winston was passed to the second degree, and on 5 March 1902 he became a Master
Mason, all three ceremonies being conducted in Studholme Lodge. An unfortunate
communication in 1955 by the then librarian of Grand Lodge, W I Grantham, to his
counterpart in Iowa, USA, has led to the erroneous reports that Churchill was
raised in Rosemary Lodge No. 2851. This occurred because the Studholme Lodge
register has the name Geoffrey C Glyn above, and Charles Clive Bigham below that
of Churchill. Further along the line against both these names is the entry
‘Raised in No 2851, 11th Nov 1901’. This entry was also wrongly attributed to
Churchill.
His raising was by special dispensation applied for by the Lodge secretary,
Henry James Fitzroy, the Earl of Euston, Provincial Grand Master for
Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, and conducted by the Master, J C F
Tower. At the same meeting, Ferdinand John St John was initiated and the
brethren dined at the Cafe Royal, as was customary for the lodge. Studholme
Lodge amalgamated in 1959 with United Lodge No. 1629 to form United Studholme
Lodge, and amalgamated again in 1976 with Alliance Lodge No. 1827 to attain its
present status as Studholme Alliance Lodge, retaining its original number 1591.
SOURCE: The
Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction
