Main Performers | HRH The Duke of Connaught (Worshipful Grand Master) - speaker |
Set List | Laying of the foundation stone of the Masonic Peace Memorial (HRH The Duke of Connaught), Message to the King at Holyrood and His Reply (HRH The Duke of Connaught),
'O God, Our Help In Ages Past', 'Now Thank We All Our God', 'God Save the King' (The National Anthem) |
Royal Presence | HRH The Duke of Connaught |
Performance Notes | This was not the first of last time the Freemasons would use the Hall but in 1927 they held their only stone laying service at the Hall. Over 6,000 brethren watched a dummy foundation stone being laid in the centre of the auditorium by Field Marshal HRH the Duke of Connaught, in synchronisation via electrical relay with a real foundation stone being laid by their Grand Master at the new Freemason's Hall in Holborn.
"In the presence of over 8,000 Freemasons, the Duke of Connaught, as Grand Master, in the Royal Albert Hall yesterday, performed the ceremony of the laying of the foundation-stone of the new Masonic Temple in Great-Queen Street, which is to be erected as a memorial to the Freemasons of the English constitution who gave their lives in the Great War. There were four separate processions into the Hall, the first consisting of the Junior Officers, the second of a deputation from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the third of a deputation from the Grand Lodge of Ireland, and the fourth was the Grand Master''s procession, the Duke of Connaught being the preceded by the Principal Grand Officers of the year. " (The Times, 15 July 1927) |
Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1927/56), Photograph, B&W O/S Photographs |