Politician is Essex's new grandmaster

From the Essex Chronicle...

Essex Freemasons appoint Cllr Rodney Bass as new Grand Master to lead into tercentenary year

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  The new Grand Master Rodney Bass

The Essex Freemasons have appointed Essex County Council cabinet member Rodney Bass as their new Grand Master.The former Chairman of Essex County Council will lead the historic organisation into their tercentenary celebrations in 2017.
Cllr Bass served on Maldon District Council for 40 years and will be inaugurated this evening at Freemasons Hall in London.
Presiding over each lodge is the Master, the head member who chairs each meeting from the Master's throne – a grand, ornately carved chair adorned with the gold Masonic square.

Once a deeply secretive movement the all-male organisation now consist of roadsweepers, builders, and office managers and focus on donating to charitable causes in the UK and abroad.

As you progress through the ranks, you are entrusted with new passwords and rituals, that you must only share with other Masons of equivalent rank or higher.

To become a Freemason, there are just three irrefutable requirements:

You must be of good character.

You must believe in a God (but it doesn't matter which one).

You must also have a clean criminal record.

Here is brief history of the freemasons:

Middle Ages – it is not totally clear how the Freemasons started, but the most likely theory is that it originated from a group of stonemasons who built important castles and cathedrals in the Middle Ages

1640s-60s – a Grand Hall was built in London and gentlemen who were not stonemasons began to join the group

1717 – the first Grand Lodge in the world was established in London

1723 – the first rule book, called The Book of Constitutions of Masonry, was being used. Gentlemen met at the Grand Lodge four times a year and recorded their meetings

1813 – the original Grand Lodge and a rival Grand Lodge merged to form the United Grand Lodge of England and Wales (which still exists today). Many of the rituals and regalia were standardised at this point

1814 – there were 647 lodges

1900 – there were 2,800 lodges

1967 – Freemasons celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Grand Lodge at the Royal Albert Hall