The Manawatu Freemason

Portrait of Bradley Brother Omar Nelson Bradley  With all the activity overseas and having just had the 82nd Anniversary of D Day, this weeks highlight is Brother Omar Nelson Bradley born into poverty on the 12th February 1893, in Randolph County, Missouri USA. When he was 15 his father passed away and his mother moved the family to Moberly, Missouri and remarried. he graduated from Moberly High School in 1910.  He considered Moberly his home for the rest of his life no matter where he travelled with the Army. After graduation, he took the West Point entrance exam.  He came in second on the exam and when the first-place entrant could not attend, Bradley accepted the appointment. He graduated in 1915 from the Academy.  His class has been nicknamed "the class the stars fell on" because of the number of generals made from the graduating class.  The class included Dwight D. Eisenhower, who like Bro Bradley attained the rank of General of the Army. He served during W...

  Conspiracy theorists often tell us that Freemasons are secretly united. Supposedly, once a man joins the fraternity, he becomes part of a vast network all working toward the same hidden agenda. History suggests otherwise. John Stith Pemberton, the inventor of Coca-Cola, was a Freemason.  Caleb Davis Bradham, the inventor of Pepsi-Cola, was also a Freemason.  Yet the companies they founded spent more than a century locked in one of the most famous business rivalries in modern history. For over 100 years, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have battled for market share, advertising dominance, restaurant contracts, shelf space, sponsorships, and consumer loyalty.  Entire generations have picked sides.  Billions of dollars have been spent trying to outperform the competition. The rivalry became so famous that it earned its own name: "The Cola Wars" This presents a problem for the claim that Freemasons are all secretly united.  If that were true, somebody forgot to tell Coke...

  The Steel and the Stone: The Legend of Jim Bowie Long before his name was etched into the stone walls of the Alamo, Jim Bowie was a man forged by the untamed American frontier.  He was an adventurer, a land speculator, and a dedicated Freemason.  Bowie knelt at the altar of L'Humble Chaumière Lodge No. 19 in Opelousas, Louisiana, where he swore solemn oaths of brotherhood and virtue.  This Masonic foundation stayed with him as he traveled west, instilling a deep sense of loyalty and duty that would define his actions in the turbulent years to come.  History would truly immortalise him through a weapon that bore his name, though it was born from another man's mind.  It was his brother, Rezin, who designed the initial blade.  It was a master blacksmith named James Black who hammered the steel into its iconic, lethal clip-point shape in Arkansas.  Yet, it was Jim Bowie who gave the knife its soul.  In 1827, during the infamous Sandbar Fight ne...

  The Most Worshipful Brother William Lee Plunket Governor of New Zealand, installed for the third time Grand master of the Free and Accepted Masons of New Zealand, at Auckland.  May 9 1906 MW Bro William Lee Plunket. 5th Baron Plunket, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, KStJ, DL (19 December 1864 – 24 January 1920) was a British diplomat and colonial administrator. He was Governor of New Zealand from 1904 to 1910. Interestingly however, despite popular opinion - it was Lord Plunket's wife (m 1894), Lady Victoria Alexandrina Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, who gave her name to the Plunket Society, a New Zealand society promoting the health and well-being of mothers and children and was a patron of the Mothercraft Training Society. SIR WILLIAM LEE PLUNKET. Educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Dublin (where he graduated B.A. and was captain of the rowing club), he joined the diplomatic service in 1889 as honorary attaché to the embassy in Rome. In 1892 he was transferred to Constantinople. Retirin...

  Coca-Cola played an important role in standardizing the modern, jolly, red-and-white-suited version of Santa Claus Every Christmas, millions of people see the same image: a cheerful, bearded Santa Claus in a bright red suit.  While the character of Saint Nicholas is centuries old, the modern image of Santa was heavily popularized through Coca-Cola's advertising campaigns in the twentieth century. That creates an interesting Masonic footnote to a holiday tradition most people never think about. The man who invented Coca-Cola, Dr. John Stith Pemberton, was a Freemason.  He was a member of Columbian Lodge No. 7 in Columbus, Georgia.  Before creating the world's most famous soft drink, Pemberton worked as a pharmacist and chemist, eventually developing the beverage that would become Coca-Cola in 1886. Just before Pemberton's death, Asa Candler acquired the formula and built Coca-Cola into a global brand.  Decades later, Coca-Cola commissioned artist Haddon Sundblo...

  President George Washington laying the cornerstone of the United States Capitol   during a Masonic ceremony on September 18, 1793 The ideals celebrated on Independence Day closely align with Masonic principles The Fourth of July, or American Independence Day, is a date of profound historical importance. It marks the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776—a defining moment that established the birth of the United States. For Freemasons around the world, this day also holds special significance, as many of the ideals celebrated on Independence Day closely align with Masonic principles. The influence of Freemasonry on the founding of the United States is not just symbolic—it is woven into the very fabric of the nation’s origin story. The Declaration of Independence was more than a political document; it was a bold philosophical statement inspired by Enlightenment ideals. Core beliefs such as liberty, equality, and the right to self-governance echoed strongly withi...

  Sir Thomas Lipton, 1st Baronet, KCVO Tea Magnate Bro "Tommy" Lipton was born on May 10 1848 in Glasgow and emigrated to the USA in 1865 where he ended up working in the tobacco fields of Virginia and rice plantation.  He is reputed to have said  "People must eat...and the store that tempted people to buy goods would never be empty of customers" In 1870 he returned to Glasgow and helped his parents run their small shop.  It was this same year that he was Initiated into the Scotia Lodge No 178 Glasgow on the 31st May 1870 aged 22.  He was Passed on 17th August 1870 and Raised later that same evening. On his 21st Birthday he opened his own shop at 101 Stobcross St in Glasgow. The shop  was in the heart of industrial Glasgow, with its smoke and fog.  The shop was said to be so brightly lit at night that it became a beacon in the street, Goods were stacked in the American fashion, not for the convenience of the proprietors, but with the purpose of catchin...

  The Hon. Mrs. Elizabeth Aldworth, nee St. Leger, known as ‘The Lady Freemason’ The Hon. Mrs. Elizabeth Aldworth, nee St. Leger, known as ‘The Lady Freemason’ was the first woman recorded as being initiated into Freemasonry sometime between 1710 and 1712, into a Lodge which met at her family home, in County Cork, Ireland. It was presided over by her father Viscount Lord Doneraile, and it is said that Mr. Richard Aldworth, whom she later married, was also present.  According to a memoir published in 1811, the teenage Elizabeth fell asleep in the library, and was awakened by the sound of voices coming through some loose brickwork left behind from an unfinished restoration.  Her curiosity aroused, she managed to loosen the bricks and watched spell-bound; as she eavesdropped upon the masonic ceremony going on in the next room.  As it neared its conclusion, she tried to escape unnoticed, but on opening the door, was met by a grim-faced Tyler holding a drawn sword; her fa...

Elias Ashmole by John Riley Brother Elias Ashmole - English antiquary, politician, officer of arms, astrologer, freemason and student of alchemy Brother Elias Ashmole was born on the 23rd  May 1617 in Lichfield at the age of sixteen he left Lichfield to move to London it was there that he began keeping a diary of his life. In one of his entries he writes that on ‘October 16, 4.30pm – I was made a Freemason at Warrington in Lancashire with Colonel Henry Mainwaring (a Roundhead friend related to his father-in-law) of Karincham in Cheshire. The names of those that were then at the lodge, Richard Penket Worden, James Collier, Richard Sankey, Henry Littler, John Ellam, Richard Ellam and Hugh Brewer.’ Bro Ashmole was an antiquary with a strong Baconian leaning towards the study of nature. His library reflected his intellectual outlook, including works on English history, law, numismatics, chorography, alchemy, astrology, astronomy and botany.  Although he was one of the founding Fel...

  Brother Harry Houdini.  March 24, 1874 - October 31st 1926 Brother Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary, on March 24, 1874, to a large Jewish family.  He was one of seven children and his parents, Rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz and Cecília Steiner brought the family to the United States when Erik was four.  They arrived in America on July 3, 1878, on the SS Fresia, changing their name to the German spelling Weiss and Erik’s name to Ehrich. This famous photograph captures legendary escape artist Harry Houdini preparing to leap from the Harvard Bridge into the freezing Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 30, 1908 Known to his brethren by his real name, Brother Ehrich Weisz was initiated on July 17, 1923, into St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 in New York City, a "daylight lodge" specifically designed for performers and theatrical people and famous as the first strictly "daylight" Masonic lodge in the world. He was raised to the Sublime Degree of Mast...

  W.Bro. Peter Justice was installed as Worshipful Master exactly 20 years after he had done the job last time on 8 April 2026.    It was a very well attended meeting, both by members of this Lodge as well as from many other Lodges from as far away as Auckland.

  Rei Kōtuku Charitable Trust receives significant help from The Manawatu Kilwinning Lodge Dr Amanda Evans gave an outline of the Rei Kōtuku Charitable Trust to the Brethren, visitors and guests of The Manawatu Kilwinning Lodge No 47 in Palmerston North after she was presented with a donation of $20,402.86 from the Lodge on 11 February 2026 at the Lodge rooms in the Manawatu Masonic Centre. Rei Kōtuku is a paediatric palliative care service that provides specialist medical, nursing and allied health wraparound support to seriously ill children and their families from Wellington to Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki. It is funded through private contributions as it is not publicly funded. In 15 months, they cared for 68 palliative babies, children and teenagers, including 29 who have died. They also provided bereavement support to their families. WBro John Brooks WM created a Master’s project that recycled over 5.6 tonnes of lead-acid batteries in a 16-month period. The project was supported ...

  UCOL ākonga awarded $35,000 in 10th year of Freemasons Willson Lewis Scholarship Eighteen Manawatū ākonga were awarded Freemasons Willson Lewis Scholarships on 18 March 2026, totalling $35,000 to assist them with their studies and career advancement. The Freemasons Willson Lewis Scholarships is a joint initiative between Freemasons Lodge Manawatu Kilwinning No 47, UCOL and Master Builders.  The scholarships were first awarded in 2016, with the goal of helping tradespeople working in the construction industry to develop their skills further.  These scholarships are supported by the Manawatu Kilwinning Charitable Trust and The Freemasons Charity of New Zealand. This year, the 18 scholarships were awarded to ākonga currently studying the New Zealand Diplomas in Architectural Technology, Construction Management and Quantity Surveying. These scholarships come in the form of monetary awards to help recipients with costs associated with their study.  This year’s recipient...

  Joseph Banks. 1743 - 1820 Sir Joseph Banks, the eminent naturalist, was the first Freemason to set foot on Australian soil, he was at the time on a combined Royal Navy & Royal Society scientific expedition to the South Pacific Ocean on HMS Endeavour led by Captain James Cook. Joseph Banks was born on 24 February 1743, the son of William Banks, a wealthy Lincolnshire country squire and member of Parliament.  He was initiated into Freemasonry at Somerset House Lodge No. 4 prior to 1768. Various scholars have attempted to establish the date of his initiation into The Horne Lodge. A closer approximation of the date of Banks’ initiation can be made by reference to his contemporary Freemasons, such as Thomas Dunkerley (the natural son of George III), Lord Gormastone, Viscount Hampden, James Heseltine, and Admiral Peter Parker, for instance. Banks may have joined the lodge when he was at Oxford University, though one might have expected that he would have achieved some of his s...

Edward Anthony Jenner. 1749 - 1823 Bro Edward Jenner was born on May 17th 1749 he was raised on December 30th 1802 and died January 26th 1823. Bro Edward Anthony Jenner was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England.  Bro Jenner is credited for discovering the scientific principles of immunization and for engineering the vaccine for smallpox. Bro Jenner's dream was for future generations to live in a world without smallpox.  This dream finally became reality 56 years after his death, when the World Health Organization declared smallpox an eradicated disease. Jenner was raised a Master Mason in 1802 and was a member of Lodge of Faith and Friendship No.270 in Gloucestershire, England.  He was active in the fraternity, serving in 1812 as Master of his lodge.  This lodge was regularly visited by the Prince of Wales – the future George IV – who would play a significant role in Bro Jenner’s life.  In 1821, having known him to be a man of integrity from their time toge...

  Bro Lionel Brockman Richie Jr Bro Lionel Brockman Richie Jr was born on the 20th June 1949 in Tuskegee Alabama, the son of Lionel Brockman Richie, a U.S. Army systems analyst, and Alberta R. Foster, a teacher and school principal. His grandmother Adelaide Mary Brown was a pianist who played classical music. He signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 1968 for one record before moving to Motown Records originally as a supporting act for the Jackson 5, the Commodores became an established soul group in 1974.  In 1982 Bro Richie left the Commodores and started his solo career realising his first solo album “Lionel Richie” that contained three single, US number one hits. Over the years he has won four Grammy Awards including song of the year in 1985 for “we are the world” which he co-wrote with Michel Jackson, Album of the Year in 1984 for Can’t Slow Down, Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) in 1984, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Truly in 1982, Richie was ...

Douglas MacArthur.  26 January 1880 - 5 April 1964 Bro Douglas MacArthur, born on the 26th January 1880 Bro MacArthur was a scholar and military leader dubbed “The American Shogun”.  While stationed in the Philippines, MacArthur was made a Mason “at sight” by the Grand Master of the Philippines, he was raised on the 14th January 1936 and had received the 32nd degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite on the 28th March of that same year.  Being made a "Mason at sight" is a rare Masonic procedure where a Grand Master uses their authority to initiate, pass, and raise a candidate to the degree of Master Mason in a single session, bypassing the usual waiting periods and proficiency requirements. He was was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army.  He served with distinction in World War I; as chief of staff of the United States Army from 1930 to 1935; as Supreme Command...