Royal Masonic Institution for Boys archive collection

Contains records of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys (formally the Royal Masonic Institution for Clothing and Educating the Sons of Deceased and Indigent Free Masons and Royal Masonic Institution for the sons of Decayed and Deceased Freemasons). This includes minutes, agendas, signature books, reports, nomination and election files, correspondence and administration files of the Institution’s Courts, Boards and Committees; Festival records, including minutes, agendas, announcement files, accounts and administration files; records concerning petitioners and beneficiaries, including petitions and certificates, admission registers, statistics lists of grants awarded, case files and Royal Masonic School for Boys, Bushey, school records, pupil commendations, funded prize administration files, confirmation and service registers and annotated prize and sports day programmes; financial records, including the Masonic Boys Welfare Fund and Scholarship Fund accounts and administration files, taxation correspondence files, investment administration files, donation and subscription registers and files, ledgers, cash books and reports and accounts; staff records, including officers engagement books, Royal Masonic School for Boys staff registers, personal staff files, salary books and pension records;

property records, including architectural plans, building specifications, a valuation and inventory and visitor books for the Royal Masonic School property and premises in Bushey, Hertfordshire; files concerning the appointment of surveyors and considerations for the appointment of an architect to the Institution; schedules of deeds and securities held by the Institution, its banks and solicitors; property management files for the Institution’s property in Wood Green, London, Great Queen Street, London and Bushey, Hertfordshire and files concerning the closure and sale of the Royal Masonic Schools for Boys, Bushey, Hertfordshire and publicity records, including films, administration files and photographs.

RMIB FONDS level

Arranged into 7 sub-fonds according to the functions of the Institution: Governance, Festivals, Petitioners and Beneficiaries, Finance, Staff, Property and Publicity.

No access to be given without the prior permission of the Director of the Museum of Freemasonry. Some archives in this collection are subject to restricted access periods, with access conditions specified at the series level catalogue record.

The foundations of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys lie in a fund initiated in 1798 by the United Mariners Lodge, No. 30, of the Antients Grand Lodge, to provide benefits to clothe and educate the sons of indigent freemasons. In 1808, a similar Institution was established by the Royal Naval Lodge of Independence, No. 59, of the Moderns Grand Lodge. In 1816, the two Institutions merged under the Patronage of HRH the Duke of Sussex following the union four years earlier between the two Grand Lodges to form the United Grand Lodge of England. Although known as the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys from 1798, its official title changed over time. Formed in 1798 as the Masonic Institution for Clothing and Educating the Sons of Deceased and Indigent Free Masons, by 1832, the suffix ?Royal? was added when King William IV (1765-1837) became the Patron. From 1858, the Institution operated under the name of the Royal Masonic Institution for the sons of Decayed and Deceased Freemasons, until it formally adopted the title of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys in 1868.

The Institution initially supported boys by providing grants for clothing and education at local schools, known as out-education and maintenance grants. The Institution offered support to boys in this form throughout its existence but in 1857, the Institution also opened its own School for the sons of indigent freemasons. From 1857-1902, the Royal Masonic School for Boys was located in Wood Green, London. In 1903, the School relocated to Bushey, Hertfordshire and in 1929 the Institution opened a Junior School adjacent to the Senior School. Due to a fall in pupil numbers, the Junior and Senior Schools were merged in 1970. In 1977, due to a continued fall numbers, the Royal Masonic School for Boys was closed and the Institution reverted to its initial remit of supporting boys through out-education and maintenance grants.

In 1971, HRH the Duke of Kent, as Grand Master, set up a Committee of Inquiry on Masonic charity, under the Chairmanship of the Hon Mr Justice Bagnall. In 1973, the Committee of Inquiry produced a report, known as the Bagnall Report, which recommended the merger of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys and Royal Masonic Institution for Girls into a single Trust. In 1982, the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys merged with the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls and the trust deed establishing the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys was signed. The Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys became active in 1986 and it continues to provide educational support to the children of Masonic families where required.