Federation of School Lodges

Kingston Grammar School is by no means the only school to have its own Lodge, and Lovekyn Chantry Lodge is not the only one of its kind. School Lodges have their own organisation, The Federation of School Lodges, which has at present about 172 Lodges and Chapters among its members.

The Federation was founded in 1949 with the inaugural meeting being hosted by Old Hamptonian Lodge. It was set up in the belief that those Lodges which initially derived most of their membership from old boys and others associated with a school had a character of their own, and therefore had a great deal in common. It had two main objectives: to facilitate contact between school Lodges, enabling members who travel or move away to find other lodges with a similar ethos to their own, and to hold an Annual Festival where members of school Lodges could gather together.

The Annual Festival is an important event for member Lodges, and it has for many years been well supported by members of Lovekyn Chantry Lodge, which joined the Federation in 1955. Each year a different school Lodge hosts the event, and we did it in 1969, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the School’s Charter from Queen Elizabeth I. Whenever the Festival is away from the London area we have made it a social event for our wives and partners as well as ourselves. Usually we have a weekend away together, and there is a programme of events for the wives while the Brethren hold their formal meeting on the Saturday afternoon.

The Federation has its own website which can be found here.

W. Bro. David U Thompson is the Federation Representative to whom all enquiries may be made.

 

Federation of School Lodges

75th Anniversary Festival

Southend-on-Sea

Hosted by the

Old Southendian Lodge No.5403

 

To celebrate this milestone a special masonic and partners programme is being planned for the 19th August 2023, and a number of Brethren and their wives will be representing Lovekyn Chantry Lodge making it a truly social weekend.

Southend High School for Boys was founded in 1895, a year when the first telephone was installed in the town – from the Maplin Pile Lighthouse in the Thames estuary to the Southend Coastguard, connected for the sole purpose of saving life.

The school has the enviable privilege of being the first school to provide secondary education in Southend.

The iron pier, today still the longest pleasure pier in the world, opened to the public in 1889 with the first pier railway in the country following in 1890, and a steam railway from the City of London through the East End to Southend opening in 1894, Southend became a “Day Tripper” resort for many from the East End of London. Visitors enjoyed the clean air, the pier, boat trips and “taking to the waters”, along with the wonderful local oysters, cockles, mussels, winkles and even jellied eels!