MEN WHO HAVE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE BUILDING UP OF A LIVING BROTHERHOOD

Thanks are extended to Bro. Mick Walker, R.O.H. for the submission of this page.

Brother Leonard I. Aulton, R.O.H.

    The first two brethren dealt with in this series of articles were unknown to any but one or two very old members of the Order. The subject of this essay is by contrast a brother who not only shared the authority exercised by Brother John Archdeacon and Brother Lord Alverstone, but retained his prominence in the affairs of the Order until the years immediately preceding the beginning of World War Two.

    Brother Leonard Isaac Aulton was initiated in the Earl Bradford Lodge, No. 120, on the 10th April, 1883, received his Second Degree on the 6th November in the same year and his Third Degree on the 17th December, 1895.

    Within two years of receiving his Third degree he was serving as Grand Tyler, and, in fact, held that office at the fateful Cardiff Convention of 1897. At the stormy meeting of Grand Lodge in London on 4th November, 1897, he was elected Honorary Secretary to carry out the Convention decision and immediately arranged the first meeting of Grand Lodge in the provinces, by summoning delegates to assemble on 18th November, 1897, at the Crown Hotel, Station Street, Birmingham.

    He did not continue in that office, Brother George Loxton of Dudley being elected as Grand Secretary for 1898. Brother Leonard Aulton, however, was elected Deputy Grand Primo for 1899, although a further twenty-two years were to pass before he was elected Grand Primo for 1921. It is interesting to note that at this election Brother Leonard Aulton received 1007 nominations, this was a record. The installation was carried out at Bradford on Saturday 29th January 1921 by Bro. John W. Gaze, in the presence of 261 Delegates.

    He was constant in attention to the duties of Grand Lodge until immediately before his death, which occurred on 30th March, 1939. No mere repetition of degrees and offices held can epitomise the career of Brother Aulton, but such repetition does prove the tremendous length of service which he gave to the affairs of Grand Lodge itself. For over forty-four years he played his part in Grand Lodge. The only other member to achieve a similar record was the late Brother John Wilson, the subject of a future sketch.

    The real story of Brother Aulton's work for the Order is the story of the Aldridge Orphanage. Brother Billy Rose has this to say about him:- "During 1897 Brother Aulton fostered the idea of supporting some local Orphanage, but later he felt that the Order was capable of having an Orphanage of its own. He repeatedly gave notice of business in Grand Lodge for his scheme to be discussed, but without success. Eventually, however, he was able to secure the unanimous approval of the officers and delegates at a Grand Lodge meeting on 19th January, 1898".

    The difficulties of financing Aldridge, which tested the faith of the founders on many occasions, were finally resolved by a simple but really valuable suggestion which came from the Duke of York Lodge of the Gloucester Province.
    At the Grand Lodge Meeting held on October Ist, 1902, they gave Notice of Bye-Law for their Lodge That a book shall be kept in the Lodge by the City Registrar and opened each Lodge night, and that all members and visitors attending same shall register their names and pay the minimum sum of ½d the amount to be paid to the R.A.O.B. Orphanage Account.
    From the Minutes of the Grand Lodge Meeting held on December 3rd, 1902, we obtain the following record:
    Gloucester P.G.L. (Minute No. 31, October 1902) Bye-Law for Lodges requiring visitors and members to register in an Orphanage Registration Book and pay a minimum sum of ½d., the amount so collected to be paid to the Orphanage Account. The Grand Secretary read a letter from the Orphanage Board that the Board recommended the idea and the Bye-Law was granted on the proposition of Brother J. Gordon seconded by Primo T. P. Simpson, with liberty for other Lodges, if so disposed, to adopt a similar course.
    In due course, this method of raising funds was adopted by a large number of lodges, and finally by all lodges, and from a financial position where the use of the Orphanage had to wait on information as to subscriptions, the Directors had the happy experience that they could meet all maintenance costs and were able to put aside a very substantial sum for investment for the future work of the Home.
    This ½d idea did something even more important, for it brought a general realisation that our future was not dependent upon efforts which had more than a flavour of begging in them or of insufficient gifts from the wealthy, and that well within the means of the ordinary brother, by the specific and regular payment of a small sum, great schemes could be planned and brought to fruition. The Great War Annuity Scheme was based on a single ½d per registration, and our Convalescent Scheme, with its heavy outlay and maintenance costs, was well founded on the same small coin.

    It was natural that he should become the Secretary of the Committee charged with raising funds for the Orphanage. His enthusiasm in this direction was not confined to members of the Order. The gentleman who subsequently became Brother Croxall presented a piece of land at Aldridge to certain named Trustees to build an Orphanage for the orphan children of our members. By a strange coincidence the late Samson Fox, from whose Personal Representatives Grove House was purchased in 1926, was an early subscriber to the Aldridge Orphanage and, of course, there were many other similar gifts.

    The Orphanage was opened in 1904 and extended in 1912. At the peak period Aldridge Orphanage housed 170 children, 10 above its normal capacity.

    The land and buildings were transferred from the Aldridge Orphanage Trustees to Grand Lodge Trustees in 1932. From its inception in 1904 to that date Brother Aulton remained Secretary, and at the time of the transfer Brother C. D. Buckle, as Grand Lodge Auditor, was instructed to incorporate the Aldridge Accounts with the Accounts of Grand Lodge. In subsequent conversations, he expressed his admiration of the meticulous manner in which Brother Aulton had devoted himself to his secretarial duties. Brother Charles once remarked that if he had to name three men whom he considered the ideal of honesty and integrity he would name Leonard Aulton as one of them.

    In private life he was the Manager of a small firm manufacturing glass and light metal lampshades, chandeliers and similar articles. An intensely patriotic man, he had served in the Queen's Own Staffordshire Yeomanry as a young man, and won a Sword of Honour whilst so serving. Stern but friendly by nature he was of a somewhat reserved character, and did not take the prominent part in debate to which his personal service would have entitled him. This fact may have contributed somewhat to the many arguments which subsequently developed in Grand Lodge with reference to the ownership and control of the Orphanage. Brother John Wilson was the great protagonist for the point of view that the Orphanage should belong to Grand Lodge in the legal and physical sense as well as exist for the provision of accommodation for our orphan children.

    Brother Aulton was the somewhat silent servant of the existing Trustees who, convinced that they were doing their duty in safeguarding their Trust, appeared for many years to be unwilling to abdicate their personal interest in the property in favour of Grand Lodge.

    To decide which point of view was correct would be merely an academic discussion in 1956, but one is permitted to comment that an acquired weakness develops in the best of servants to the Buffalo Order as their length of service grows with increasing age.

    Classical mythology records how the Greek hero, Achilles, fell at the Siege of Troy after being wounded by Paris in the heel, which was his only vulnerable spot. His mother, Thetis, had dipped him, as a child, in the River Styx to provide him with the invisible armour of the Gods, but holding him by the heel in so doing left that one spot vulnerable. The "Achilles" heel of Brother Leonard Aulton would appear, in retrospect, to have been his somewhat silent reliance on and subservience to the desires of that section which wished to retain its own position of privilege and influence in the Orphanage Trust, and which was unwilling to submit itself to the democratic control of Grand Lodge.

    Although one makes this criticism, there is no doubt that the Aldridge Orphanage was the inspiration of the Order from its inception in 1904 until its closure in 1936. Men acquire a particular devotion to bricks and mortar which appear to testify to the extent of their good works. To Brother Aulton's credit must be placed the manner in which he directed these good works into a channel which brought love and happiness to the orphan child. That he was efficient in his work goes without saying; that he pursued unswervingly the ideals of honesty and brotherhood is vouched for by all who knew him; that he was given the privilege of serving the Order at Grand Lodge and provincial level for an almost unequalled number of years provides his epitaph.

    Further details of Brother Leonard Aulton will be added when time allows.