We are delighted to announce that the M.W. The Grand Master, His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent proposes to confer THE GRAND MASTER’S ORDER OF SERVICE TO MASONRY upon W.Bro. Professor Aubrey N. Newman, PJGD, of John of Gaunt Lodge No. 523 at the Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge on 13th September 2017.
The Order of Service to Masonry was Instituted in 1945 and is in the personal gift of the Grand Master, in acknowledgment of exceptional services to the Craft. The Order is limited to 12 holders, confers no precedence on them, but entitles them to place the letters OSM after their names, preceding the initials of any other Masonic rank they may hold.The Order is a neck decoration in the form of a Garter blue ribbon from which hangs the jewel of the Order.
W.Bro. Aubrey was initiated in John of Gaunt Lodge No.523, Leicester in 1967 and was it’s Master in 1981 and again in 2000. He subsequently became a joining member and Master of two lodges involved with Masonic research: Lodge of Research No.2429 in Leicester and Quator Coronati Lodge No.2076. In 2003, he was the Prestonian Lecturer with his lecture entitled: ‘The contribution of the Provinces to the development of English Freemasonry’. More recently he chaired the editorial committee for the Tercentenary International Conference celebrating 300 years of Freemasonry which was held at Queen’s College, Cambridge in September 2016.
The Provincial Grand Master of Leicestershire and Rutland, R.W.Bro. David Hagger said: “The Grand Master’s Order of Service to Masonry is the highest award that is conferred in Masonry. W. Bro. Aubrey is a worthy recipient and on behalf of all the Brethren of the Province I extend to him our Heartiest Congratulations.”