The New Zealand Craftsman Wellington, New Zealand, June 2, 1913

WARWICKSHIRE FREEMASONRY.

INSTALLATION OF THE PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER.

With an elaborate and dignified ceremonial befitting the occasion, Mr. George Beech was, in the
Birmingham Town Hall, on Monday afternoon, duly installed as Prov.G.M. of Warwickshire Freemasons, in
succession to the late Marquis of Hertford. It seldom happens in the annals of modern Masonry that such an
honour is conferred upon an untitled member of the Craft, and so far as Warwickshire is concerned one has
to travel back to the year 1792 to find a commoner as head of the province.

The I.M. was the Rt. Hon. Lord Ampthill, G.S.C.I., G.C.I.E., Pro-G.M., and the representative of the Duke of
Connaught.

By half-past 3 o'clock the Town Hall was practically filled with Freemasons, representing not only
Warwickshire, but including visitors from the neighbouring Provinces of Staffordshire, Worcestershire,
Shropshire, Derbyshire, and even beyond the limits of the Midland Counties.

After the singing of the well-known Masonic hymn, " Hail Eternal ! by Whose aid," Lord Ampthill
addressed the assembly, pointing out that a Prov.G.M. was one of the most important officers of the G.L.,
inasmuch as he was the direct representative of the province to the G.M.

The newly-installed Prov.G.M. subsequently addressed the G.L., and expressed his deep appreciation of the
high honour which had been conferred upon him. He succeeded three noblemen whose names were
reverenced throughout the Midlands, and who had stood high in the councils of the Empire.

Subsequently a banquet took place at the Grand Hotel. The Pro-G.M. presided over a large company. After
the loyal toast, the health of Lord Ampthill was submitted from the chair.

In reply, the Pro-G.M. attributed much of the enthusiasm which greeted the toast to the fact that lie had had
the good fortune to be private secretary to Mr. Joseph Chamberlain. (Applause.) Whatever their political
opinions might be, they would all admit that Mr. Chamberlain was a great Englishman, and one who had
deserved well of his fellow countrymen, and one of whom the city of Birmingham had every reason to feel
justly proud.

Mr. Headon-Boocock proposed " The Rt. Hon. T. F. Halsey, R.W. Deputy-O.-M., and the Officers, Present
and Past, of the G.L. of England." Mr. Granville Grenfel responded.

Lord Ampthill submitted the toast of " The Prov.G.M.," to which Mr. George Beech replied, and stated that
the province now boasted 42 Lodges, with over 2,000 members.—" The Deputy-Prov. Q. M. " was proposed
by Sir E. Letchworth, G.Sec., and acknowledged by Colonel W. F. Wyley.—Other toasts followed.