On 4 July 1911 the Grand Master HRH the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the Worshipful Master of the Old Wellingtonian Lodge, granted this Lodge a unique members’ jewel, to be known as the ‘Connaught Jewel’, and decreed that it be worn at “all Masonic meetings”.
The Connaught Jewel is one of three jewels offered to members of the Lodge, the others being our Past Master’s Jewel and the Founder’s Jewel (although the last of our founders Brig S V P Weston passed away in 1973). All three appear below.
The Connaught Jewel comprises the lion rampant of the Duke of Wellington, together with the original name (‘Heroum Fillii’) and our lodge number appended to a pale blue ribbon.
The Lodge is believed to be one of approximately 70 lodges under the English Constitution to have a members’ jewel (click here for more information on members’ jewels), and one of only nine to have one bestowed upon it by a member of the Royal Family.
It is not however a Royal Jewel (of which there are only three), but one of six awarded by Grand Masters. The Duke of Connaught bestowed four such jewels – to Aldershot Army & Navy Lodge, London Irish Rifles Lodge, Household Brigade Lodge and to the Old Wellingtonian Lodge. The former two lodges’ jewels are restricted to Master Masons, whereas the Old Wellingtonian’s Connaught Jewel and the Household Brigade jewels are for all members of the respective lodges.
The Grand Secretary at the time Sir Edward Letchworth, an honorary member of the Lodge, issued a certificate detailing the design and nature of the Jewel, and the rights of Lodge members to wear it, copies of which are still issued to all members when they get their jewels.
As a final note we do not have a centenary jewel (like this one), having instead a centenary bar on the ribbon of the Connaught Jewel. This is in part to stop members sporting the ‘Russian general look‘ and clanking their way through Lodge meetings….
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Founder’s Jewel |
Connaught Jewel |
Past Master’s Jewel |