A BRIEF HISTORY OF

DIST. GRAND CHAPTER OF BOMBAY & N.INDIA

Royal Arch came to Bombay with the consecration of Chapter Keystone of W.India No.757, in 1859. In the next decade, three more Chapters were consecrated. However, Chapter St. George, consecrated in 1869, found it was unable to sustain itself, and was forced to go into abeyance in 1872.

Fortunately, another Chapter, Mt. Horeb, was consecrated the same year, and with four Chapters once again working, the District Grand Chapter of Bombay came into being, with the Hon. James Gibbs, who had already assumed the office of Grand Superintendent in 1863, continuing as such.

Royal Arch all over the world at this time was going through tough times. In the District of Bombay, membership was down, attendance very poor, and by 1878, two Chapters closed down. This forced the District Grand Chapter itself to go into a kind of abeyance.

In 1887, HRH the Duke of. Connaught was installed as District Grand Master. But not being an installed 1st. Principal of a Chapter, he could not also be installed as Grand Superintendent. In order to accommodate HRH the Duke, the ruling "Z" of Chapter Keystone of W.India, resigned. HRH the Duke was then elected and installed as "Z" in 1888. At the same meeting, his appointment as Grand Superintendent was announced, and he was installed as such.

In March 1890, HRH the Duke was recalled to England, but he continued as Grand Superintendent till 1901, when he was installed as M.E. the 1st Grand Principal.

HRH the Duke decided to appoint a Pro Grand Superintendent, since he was in England. And so, on 29th December 1896, E.Comp. Henry James Parson was installed as Pro Grand Superintended, and this date is also considered to be the inauguration of a new District Grand Chapter of Bombay.

Over the next 100 years, Royal Arch Masonry had many ups and downs. Royal Arch, for some reason, has never found much favour by a majority of Craft Masons. So it is not surprising that in the District of Bombay, only about 45 Chapters were consecrated in 100 years. 14 of these were erased over the years, while 6 transferred to other Districts, mainly England.

In 1964, the Grand Chapter of India was formed, and six of the Chapters under EC decided to join the new Grand Chapter.

In 1989 the boundaries of the District Grand Chapter of Bombay were redefined to include the erstwhile District of N.India, and the new name of the District became District Grand Chapter of Bombay and N.India. So today there are 18 Chapters in the District.

1992 saw that had taken place in Craft Masonry in India had its repercussions in Royal Arch also. The United Grand Lodge had already de-recognised the Grand Lodge of India for having broken the terms of the Concordat signed in 1964. The Supreme Grand Chapter also followed suit, and Masonry in India suffered due to the ill-advised actions of the Grand Lodge of India.

In March 1999, three years after its actual date, the Dist. Grand Chapter celebrated its centenary at a well attended Annual Communication, when Companions from all over the District re-dedicated themselves to further the interests of the District. For the first time, a District Grand Chapter was unfurled by the Grand Superintendent, M.E.Comp. A. E. G. Gilbert, who also released the exhaustive X Centenary History of the District Grand Chapter.

But perhaps the most significant event of the festivities was the announcement by the Grand Superintendent of the formation of the new Dist. Grand Chapter EC Centenary Charity Fund. Over Rs. One Lakh had been collected through donations and advertisements. And now, for the first time, the Dist. Grand Chapter will be in a position to assist the needy without referring to the Dist. Grand Lodge.

It seems a pity that the hard work put in by so many outstanding Royal Arch Masons over the last almost 150 years should result in Just 18 Chapters today. It now becomes the bounden duty of each and every Royal Arch Mason to make a concerted effort to convince Master Masons to seek exaltation and thus complete the work begun with their initiation. Let "each one bring one". 0nly then can Royal Arch achieve the membership it deserves.