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On Friday 23^rd January 2026, Leopold Lodge No 1571 celebrated their 150^th Anniversary in style, by welcoming over 60 people to the Grand Temple at Mark Masons' Hall.

The Leopold Lodge was consecrated on 7^th December 1875 at the Woolpack Tavern, 98 Bermondsey Street, London. They are the granddaughter Lodge of St Lukes No 144 and the daughter Lodge of Beadon Lodge No 619.

The meeting opened at 4.45pm and W Bro Kieron Mallen PSGD, Met Grand Inspector, escorted by W Bro Costa Trizis Met AGDC LGR, W Bros John Lam & Charles Farelly Met GStwds, were paraded into the Grand Temple, accompanied by W Bro David Wilmot SLGR, Acting DC, W Bro Ian Weatherley, Acting ADC (and WM of Beadon Lodge 619), Bro Alex Addae Broby, SD, and Bro Kris Sooriya, JD.

The Lodge was called off and 11 non-Masonic guests were admitted to hear a presentation about the life and times of Prince Leopold and the history of Leopold Lodge, by the Secretary, W Bro Tony Silver SLGR.

W Bro Tony welcomed the guests from St Lukes Lodge No 144, Beadon Lodge No 619, Apollo University Lodge No 357 (from Oxford), Duke of Albany Lodge No 1963, Leopold Lodge No 1760 (who had travelled from Scarborough), Prince Leopold Lodge No 1445 and Royal Leopold Lodge No 1669.

W Bro Tony then welcomed W Bro Keiron Mallon, the Metropolitan Grand Inspector, W Bro Keith Gregory-Parry, their VO, W Bro John Damm now of Beaconsfield Lodge 1662, who had introduced W Bro Tony to Leopold Lodge, other Past Masters of Leopold Lodge and fellow members of the 86 Craft Association, and all of the rest of their Masonic and non-Masonic guests.

W Bro Tony told those in attendance that he had joined Leopold way back in October 2006, was installed as WM in February 2009, taking over as Secretary in February 2012. His aim when he took over the reins was to get the Lodge to its 150^th. Well: it had  been an interesting journey, but they did get there!

“So tonight, we will take a look back to the beginning on the 7^th December 1875. But first, lets discover a little about Prince Leopold: who was he, what did he look like, and what was his connection to Freemasonry?

Prince Leopold was the youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was born on 7^th April 1853 at Buckingham Palace.

During labour, Queen Victoria chose to use chloroform, and thereby encouraged the use of anaesthesia in childbirth, which had recently been developed by Professor James Young Simpson. The chloroform was administered by John Snow. It was speculated, but never proven, that the chloroform was partly responsible for his haemophilia. It was later thought that the haemophilia gene is carried on the X chromosome, which is normally passed through the female descent; as in the past, few haemophiliac men survived to beget children. This was Victorian times and medical research wasn’t what it is today.

Prince Leopold was named after his Great Uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium. Unfortunately, the young Prince, who had inherited haemophilia from his mother Queen Victoria, was a delicate child. There was also speculation during his life that Prince Leopold also had mild epilepsy, like his great nephew Prince John, who was the youngest son of King George V and sadly died in 1916 at the age of 13.

Prince Leopold was an intellectual, and a close friend of Lord Alfred Tennyson. In 1872 he entered Christ Church, Oxford and became President of the Oxford University Chess Club. In 1874 he became a Privy Counsellor and granted an annuity of £15,000 which is around £1.6-2m in today’s terms.

He left Oxford in 1876 with an honorary doctorate in Civil Law and then travelled to Europe. In 1880 he toured Canada and the United States with his sister, Princess Louise, who was married to John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne and Governor General of Canada.

Incapable of following a military career due to his haemophilia, Leopold instead became a patron of the arts and literature, and served as an unofficial Secretary to his mother, Queen Victoria.

Despite his inability to pursue an active military role, he had an honorary association with the 72^nd Regiment, Duke of Albany’s Own Highlanders, and from 1881 served as the first Colonel in Chief of the Seaforth Highlanders, which was formed through a merger of the 72^nd Regiment with the 78^th (Highlanders). A portrait of Prince Leopold in military uniform is held in the Royal Collection.

Prince Leopold was an active Freemason, being initiated in the Appollo University Lodge No 357, Oxford, which is the principal Lodge of Oxford University. Due to its association with the university, it has had many famous members such as Cecil Rhodes, Oscar Wilde, and  his older brother Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who became King Edward VII.

Prince Leopold was proposed by his brother, who was the then WM, and initiated in a joint ceremony with Robert Hawthorne Collins, his friend and tutor, who later became Comptroller of his Household.

Prince Leopold was Master of the Lodge from 1876 to 1877, and later the Provincial Grand Master for Oxfordshire. In 1882 he laid the foundation stone of the Masonic Hall on Marlborough Street in Banbury.

Prince Leopold, stifled by the desire of Queen Victoria to keep him at home due to his haemophilia, saw marriage as his only hope of independence. He was acquainted with Alice Liddell, the daughter of Henry Liddell, the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, of whom Lewis Carroll wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It has been suggested that Leopold considered marrying Alice, though others suggest that he preferred her sister Edith, (who later  served as a pallbearer at his funeral on 30^th June 1876).

Leopold also considered his second Cousin, Princess Frederica of Hanover, but they instead became lifelong friends and confidantes. After rejection from a host of other eligible Princesses, Queen Victoria stepped in and suggested a meeting with Princess Helen Frederica, daughter of George Victor, reigning Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont; which was a small Principality (until the abolition of the monarchy in 1918) in what is now known as the Hesse and Lower Saxony region of Germany. They were married on 27^th April 1882 at St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle. His income was raised to £25,000; £3.5-4m in today’s terms.

Leopold and Helen enjoyed a happy, albeit short marriage, and welcomed their daughter Alice in 1883. Sadly, he didn’t live long enough to see the birth of their son, Charles Edward, and died at his villa in Cannes on 27^th March 1884, aged only 30 years old.

The Leopold  Lodge 1571, was consecrated on the 7^th December 1875, at the Woolpack Tavern. Back in Victorian times, it was quite common for Lodges to meet in Taverns, as opposed to the ready made Temples we meet in today.

The news of the consecration was published in the Freemason, copies of which are held in the Library at Freemasons' Hall.

The extract from 18^th December 1875, recalls the consecration was conducted by Bro James Terry, Secretary of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution, Past Grand Director of Ceremonies of Hertfordshire.

“Bro Terry on taking the Chair, appointed as Senior Warden Bro H.G. Buss Provincial Grand Treasurer of Middlesex, and Bro John Coutts, PGP as Junior Warden. The address was given by the Secretary, and the petition and warrant having been read, the Brethren signalled their approval of the officers named in the Warrant; Bros Charles William Kent PM of Southwark Lodge 8798 as WM designate, Henry Hudson as SW, H Bennett PM of Lodge of Justice 147 as Treasurer.”

It’s interesting to know that the ceremony was conducted using Emulation ritual, however the Lodge inherited the use of Universal from Beadon Lodge, and both Lodges still use Universal today. Interestingly, our Grandmother Lodge and Beadon’s Mother Lodge, St Lukes, uses West End ritual and not Universal. The Warrant of the Lodge, as in every other Lodge, has been proudly displayed at every meeting since.

The Past Master’s jewel shows Prince Leopold’s coat of arms.

Unfortunately, we are unsure if Prince Leopold ever visited the Lodge, or actually gave his permission to use his crest, but we have been using it on our stationery and Past Masters jewels since the early beginnings of the Lodge. As we couldn’t prove permission to use the crest, as a lot of the archives of the Lodge were lost in a fire, possibly during the Second World War, we haven’t managed to get an official banner dedicated. But you can see the crest’s printed use in a Summons dated Tuesday 8^th December 1925 celebrating the Jubilee meeting, so I think we can all agree that it’s adoption is well established.

Despite the Lodge’s age of 150 and counting, we have evolved, as has Freemasonry in general. Today Leopold is a reflection of multi-cultural London.

Alex, our current Master, is French; Noel, our Senior Warden, is Sri Lankan; as is his brother Joe our Junior Warden (both of whom are Past Masters of the Lodge). Noel’s son, Joe, is our Inner Guard; and his cousin Kris is our Junior Deacon. We also have Petar who is Bulgarian, Emanuel, Italian, Tony, Latvian; Nevile our Tyler is from Guyana, and until recently we had Kristian, a Past Master who hails from Budapest. We also had another Italian, an Iranian and a Pakistani among our number. Currently we happily blend members who are C of E, Catholic and Jewish, whilst in the near past we also had Muslim members. Everyone is welcome, as good men are good men, irrespective of their origin or faith.

Back in the 1980s & 90s, the Lodge was predominantly an Insurance Lodge, with members working in the City of London. I joined in 2006 from a Financial Services background, and we have since widened the membership to include Money Exchange, Fintech, a Chartered Surveyor, a few entrepreneurs, and recently the Performing Arts.

We are also reducing the average age of the Lodge, by introducing members as young as 18,19 and their early 20s; with the clear intention of trying to secure the future of the Lodge for many years to come. These younger members are our future. My task as Secretary was to get us to this point, and I am now working towards a succession plan, to hand over the reins in a couple of years’ time to the younger generation.

Over the past 150 years, Leopold Lodge has gone through two World Wars, the COVID Pandemic, several stock market crashes, years of growth and leaner years of fallow. We have also moved around Central London. The Jubilee meeting was held at Freemasons' Hall, the Centenary meeting at the Aberdeen Angus in Regent Street. From there, the Lodge moved to Shuttleworth’s in the Aldwych which was next to the Waldorf Hotel; then on to the Blakemore Hotel. When I joined in 2006, we were meeting at the City University Club in Cornhill. Finally in February 2013 we moved here to Mark Masons' Hall.

Back in 2012, I fought off an attempt by the then Father of the Lodge to hand in its warrant, vowing to the Past Masters who backed me to get us to our 150^th anniversary. And here we are: a diverse Lodge which reflects London today as a multi-cultural society, living and working in harmony.

Leopold were founding members of Metropolitan Grand Lodge, a Hall Stone Lodge as we contributed to the building of Freemasons' Hall, in memory of those who died in the 1^st World War; and in 2021, I helped W Bro Mark Schito in forming the 86 Craft Lodge Association, whereby the member Lodges that meet here at Mark Masons' Hall all help and support each other.

So what of the future? Although this is the first time all but one of the Leopold Lodges have managed to come together in one room, I sincerely hope that it’s not the last.

I also believe that we should look to recruit a younger and enthusiastic generation of Freemasons. No longer will we hear the Old Past Master sitting at the back moaning that “… we didn’t do it like that in our day!” In my humble opinion, it’s the place of Past Masters like myself to nurture and mentor the younger generation, in order for our beloved Leopold Lodge to regenerate and thrive on towards our 175^th Anniversary in 2050. This is the very reason why tonight’s meeting is a White Table, where non-Masons have been openly invited into our Temple, to learn a little about Freemasonry in general and the Leopold Lodge in particular, with the hope that a few may wish to ask to join us.

In closing, my sincere thanks to W Bro Alex Cailoll who came to the library at Freemasons' Hall with me, whilst researching the information that has led to this history. My thanks also to W Bros Keiron Mallon, our Met Grand Inspector, Keith Gregory-Parry, our VO, Martin Hughes, our Treasurer and Brian Hart, for their contributions in compiling this updated Lodge history.”

W Bro Kieron Mallon PSGD thanked W Bro Tony Silver SLGR for his thoughtful and well researched presentation.

The meeting was then called back on for the continuation of Masonic business.

After the meeting, a drinks reception was held, followed by a sumptuous meal.A raffle was held and £335 was collected in aid of the London Air Ambulance appeal.

The WM proposed the toasts to The King, the Craft and Royal Arch Masonry; The Most Worshipful The Grand Master His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent KG, GCMG, GCVO, ADC and The Right Worshipful Metropolitan Grand Master Warren Duke.

W Bro Kieron Mallon responded on behalf of the Metropolitan Grand Master; and complimented the Secretary for all of his hard work in bringing so many Lodges together for the event.

The Secretary then proposed the toast to the Worshipful Master, W Bro Alex Caillol, who thanked all of the guests for coming in his response.

The Secretary then proposed a toast to the visitors, hoping that although it had taken 150 years for most of the Leopold Lodges to come together in one room, he hoped it would be the beginning of a greater relationship between the many diverse Lodges. He also suggested that the Secretaries look into the possibility of forming and Association of Leopold Lodges, and that he would be emailing the Secretaries to make those first steps. The Secretary then asked for a response from W Bro Doug Stanway of the Leopold Lodge No 1760; who had brought with him a party of seven from Scarborough. The WM of Leopold Lodge No 1760 presented the WM of Leopold Lodge No 1571 with a bottle of whiskey produced close to their Lodge in Yorkshire, which was gratefully received.

Finally, W Bro Neville Barnwell SLGR gave an amended Tylers Toast, and the evening ended well past 10pm, a fine afternoon and evening having been had by all.

This article is part of Arena Magazine Issue 60 – Spring 2026.
Arena Magazine is the official online magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in Arena Issue 60 here.

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