Holy Royal Arch Knights Templar Priests
or Order of Holy Wisdom
District No. 10 - Transvaal, South Africa
R E Kt Pt D J Gamble
Grand Superintendent
Ill Bro D A McNally, PG V Pillar CHW
District Grand Director of Ceremonies
District Secretary:
Ill Kt Pt B R Glanville PG II Pillar
P O Box 91728
Auckland Park 2006
Home Phone: 011 477 2793
Cell Phone: 086 513 8562
History of the Order in South Africa
The Order in South Africa owes its origins to a District Grand Secretary of the Transvaal, and his friend, the Provincial Prior of Essex. What they had in common, of course, was the Order of Holy Royal Arch Templar Priests. The District Grand Secretary was W Bro George Walter Hookham, a PGIP in Britannic Tabernacle No.13, and the Provincial Prior was Rt Ill Kt. Pt. Arthur Murphy, who was also the first Grand Superintendent of the Order. Read More ...
History and Origin
It appears that this degree has its foundation in Ireland where records exist of workings in the late 1700s. It is reasonably asserted that in early days, Knights Templar from various Craft lodges joined together as a 'Union Band' for the purpose of conferring the degree, but there appears to have been no governing body to exercise control and guidance, which must have contributed in no small measure to its chequered existence. In 1895 a Tabernacle (The Royal Kent) was created at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and, while the Order of Knight Templar Priests and its appendant orders were for a time taken under the jurisdiction of the Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees, the Royal Kent Tabernacle continued to confer the degree. In 1923 the present Grand College was formed at Newcastle and from that time there has been continued healthy expansion of the Order. There are now in excess of 240 Tabernacles owing allegiance to this sovereign body, spread not only throughout England, but also in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada and South Africa.
The degrees controlled are:
- Funeral Master
- Master of the Blue or Knight of Solomon
- Most Excellent Master
- Excellent Mason and Master and the Veils
- Sublime Master or Jacob's Wrestle
- Fugitive Mark
- Architect
- Order of the Scarlet Cord or Knight of Rahab
- Knight of the Three Kings or The Balance
- Knight of the North
- Knight of the South
- Knight of Patmos or Philippi
- Knight of Redemption
- Knight of Death or Elysium
- Knight of the Holy Grave
- Knight of the Christian Mark
- Knight of Bethany
- Knight of the Royal Prussian Blue
- Knight of Eleusis
- Knight of Palestine
- Knight of Saint John the Baptist
- Knight of the Cross
- Knight of the Black Cross
- Knight of the White Cross
- Knight of the White of Cross Torphichen
- Knight of the Suspended Cross of Babylon
- Knight of the Red Cross of Jerusalem
- Knight of the Red Cross or Roseae Crucis
- Knight of the Triple Cross
- Grand Cross of Saint John
- Made free from Harodim
- Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priest
Reference: 'Beyond the Craft' by Keith B Jackson. Published by: Ian Allan Publishing
| Tabernacle | Meeting Place |
|---|---|
| George Hookham Tabernacle No. 141 | Polokwane |
| Keystone Tabernacle No. 114 | Germiston |
| Kosmos Tabernacle No. 38 | Johannesburg, Park Lane |
| Omega Tabernacle No. 65 | Johannesburg, Park Lane |