On 17th January 2009,in excess of 40 members and guests attended the annual Ceremony of Investiture at Peterborough – even better than last year, which in itself was one of the best attended occasions in the history of the Order. Many members arrived well before the ceremony to meet up with friends old and new, and once again ten members from the Conclave of St Martin at Sees stayed the previous evening at a local hotel, and enjoyed a meal at a nearby restaurant.
At 11am, the Grand Master’s procession entered the Chapel, where the guests and 2 Postulants awaited. Just three postulants were invested this year, but still with the usual pomp and decorum, and with an "acting" Prior this year in Chevalier Julian Gunnell, since the Prior and Sub Prior had resigned from the Order.
Before the ceremony commenced, we heard from our special guest, His Excellency Dr Dr David Starritt, Commander of the British Isles of the Ordo Militaris Teutonicus, which is our "mother" Order, who said that he was actively looking for new members of that Order, though admission and membership fees were extremely high. If anybody is interested in learning more, they should contact our own Grand Chancellor, RE Barry Uttley (gc@orderofstraphael.org.uk)
Following the Investing of the Postulants and the promoting of existing members, the Grand Master made his Appointments of new Grand Officers, and a number of members also received promotions in the Meritorious Order of St Mark. Congratulations to all those who received awards.
After the formalities had been completed, we retired into the adjoining dining area for lunch, where everybody had the chance to get to know each other or renew old acquaintances. After the dinner, a raffle was held which raised close to £300 towards our new Charitable objective, Whiz-kidz.
Photographs of the event can be viewed in the Gallery.
A meeting of the Grand Council was held after the dinner, the main agenda items being as follows:
Regalia suppliers - the Custodian of Insignia has been making progress with a new supplier and hopes to have new Insignia available in the near future. Also for sale are Order ties and Paperweights. These can be viewed and ordered through the link in the News pages.
Constitution - the Grand Chancellor has completed the new Constitution and it is available to view elsewhere on this website.
Ritual update - the Grand Marshal has now revised the ritual and it was used at today's Investiture.
The Grand Master thanked everybody for attending and declared the meeting closed.
New members admitted (KSR)
1). Stephen Robert Kenneth Nimmons
2). Ronald Hughes
3). Ralph Apperley
Promotions within The Most Meritorious, Spiritual and Military Order of St.
Mark
To be Commanders (C.S.M.)
Paul James Hooley
Christine Maria Baker
Janice Elizabeth Bamber
John George Rice
Christopher Wilson Guy Ansell
Richard Christian Andrews
Trevor John Harrison
Ian William MacKenzie
Ronald Ball
To be Knights (K.S.M.)
Arnold Baker
Julian Keith Gunnell
Peter William Robins
Norman Lionel Offield
Alan Blackstone
David John Haywood
To be Dames (D.S.M.)
Margaret Gunnell
To be Knight Commanders (K.C.S.M.)
Ian Charles Burnett
Leslie Grout
To be Deputy Grand Master
Barry Frederick Uttley