{"id":5656,"date":"2024-07-23T09:57:30","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T09:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northumberlandkt.com\/?page_id=5656"},"modified":"2024-07-23T10:01:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T10:01:08","slug":"eulogy-gordon-craigs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/northumberlandkt.com\/?page_id=5656","title":{"rendered":"Eulogy Gordon Craigs"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Eminent Knight Gordon Craigs <\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Great Standard Bearer (Vexillum Belli)<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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24th March 1958 \u2013 6th July 2024<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\tOn Saturday 6th July 2024, Eminent Knight Gordon Craigs passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly, at home.\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Gordon had been a Freemason for 45 years, having been initiated in Lodge Palatine No 5345 on 17th April 1979. He first took the Chair of the Lodge in 1988, after which he continued to serve the Lodge in the capacity of Secretary for seventeen years, following which he was Lodge Treasurer for seven years, before reverting back to Secretary for the last two years until his death.

During this time, he joined Portland Lodge No 6170 in 2021, becoming its Master the following year, and he was the reigning Master at the time of his death.

For his service to the Craft, he was first appointed to the rank of Past Provincial Junior Grand Deacon in 1997, before promotion to Past Provincial Junior Grand Warden in 2004. His first Grand Lodge appointment, to Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies, followed in 2009.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In 2020, after he had completed a decade as the Provincial Grand Master of the Northumberland Provincial Mark Lodge, he was invited by our Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master to focus his considerable talents onto Craft Freemasonry by becoming one of our Assistant Provincial Grand Masters.

He readily accepted the office, which he fulfilled with great distinction, taking on the role of Provincial Lead for Learning and Development, and for which he was promoted in Grand Lodge to the rank of Past Senior Grand Deacon.

His utter dedication to Freemasonry in Northumberland did not end there. In the Royal Arch, he was exalted in St Cuthbert Chapter No 1902 on 13th October 1981 and served as its First Principal in 1996. He was also a joining member of the Northumbrian First Principals Chapter No 3477, and of Chapter De Sussex No 406.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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His first appointment in Provincial Grand Chapter, in 2001, was to the Acting rank of Provincial Grand Registrar, followed by promotion to Past Provincial Grand Scribe Nehemiah in 2007, and in 2014 he received his first Grand Chapter appointment to the rank of Past Grand Standard Bearer.

Such was his contribution to the Provincial Grand Lodge as an Assistant Provincial Grand Master he was, in 2022, invited by the Grand Superintendent to take on the office of Deputy Grand Superintendent of the Provincial Grand Chapter of Northumberland, leading to Grand Chapter promotion to the rank of Past Grand Sword Bearer just last year.

His dedication to the Royal Arch was unparalleled and his innovations in encouraging uptake of the Royal Arch by Craft Freemasons have and continue to bear fruit to this day.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Outside the Craft and Royal Arch, he was a prolific servant to the Companion Orders of Freemasonry, most notably in the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, where he was the Provincial Grand Master for the Mark in Northumberland for ten years from 2009, as well as serving on the Grand Master\u2019s Royal Ark Council from 2018. He had been advanced in Blagdon Mark Lodge in December 1984, but subsequently became a joining member of no fewer than seven other Mark Lodges in our Province and nationally, as well as membership of four Lodges of Royal Ark Mariner.<\/p>

In our Templar Order, he was installed a Knight in St Ronan Preceptory<\/b> in April 2006; acting as Preceptor in 2014; and following a series of appointments and promotions in the Provincial Priory of Northumberland culminating in Past Provincial First Constable, he was appointed in Great Priory to the Acting rank of Great Standard Bearer (Vexillum Belli) in 2020. In addition to his \u201cmother\u201d Preceptory, he was also a member of the Preceptory of Tutelage No 633 and an Honorary member of the Grand Master\u2019s Bodyguard Preceptory No 715. He held Grand Rank in many other Orders in masonry, especially in the Grand Council of the Order of the Allied Masonic Degrees; and in the Grand Council of the Order of Royal and Select Masters. He joined King Edwin Lodge No 7 in the Knights Beneficent of the Holy City in 2015; was inducted into the Heart of Glendale Council of the Order of the Secret Monitor in 2019, and Northumberland Consistory in the Order of the Scarlet Cord in 2022.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\tIt is clear that he still had so much more to give to Freemasonry and his death at such an early age is a tragic loss to the Province of Northumberland. His commitment, dedication and drive \u2013 together with his sheer love of masonry \u2013 were unmatched, and he will be sorely missed by all his Brethren and Companions throughout all the Orders of which he was a member.\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Kevin Stannard
Provincial Prior<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Eminent Knight Gordon Craigs Great Standard Bearer (Vexillum Belli) 24th March 1958 \u2013 6th July 2024 On Saturday 6th July 2024, Eminent Knight Gordon Craigs passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly, at home. Gordon had been a Freemason for 45 years, having been initiated in Lodge Palatine No 5345 on 17th April 1979. He first took […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5656","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northumberlandkt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northumberlandkt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northumberlandkt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northumberlandkt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northumberlandkt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5656"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/northumberlandkt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5665,"href":"https:\/\/northumberlandkt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5656\/revisions\/5665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northumberlandkt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}