| The Thee Companions Enactment Team | |
 Comp. Keith Vallance, Comp. Ian Passmore & E.Comp. John Cornish |
In the year 2007
three Companions came together to look at some of the
correspondence of Thomas Dunckerley, probably the greatest
Freemason this country has ever had, in particular in the
Holy Royal Arch, being Grand Superintendent of some 18
Provinces. Many of his letters, particularly in respect of
the formation of the first Holy Royal Arch in Cornwall, are
held in the Coombe Masonic Library at Hayle, Cornwall. After
reading these letters, and other Masonic records, it was
soon realised that it was possible to build an enactment
around these valuable letters, so a script was written, and
the three Companions were soon ready for rehearsals. Permission was obviously needed, and both the Grand Superintendents of the Provinces of Devonshire and Cornwall gave permission for the Companions to perform Part 1 of the trilogy “Some Correspondence of Thomas Dunckerely” with the Companions being in period costume. |
| Each of the three Companions
plays one of the characters involved in the letters of the
period. One Companion plays the part of John Knight, a very
important Companion of the Holy Royal Arch at Redruth,
Cornwall. Another plays a servant of Thomas Dunckerley, who
very often was blamed for losing letters, etc, but also
wrote letters on behalf of Thomas Dunckerley when he was ill
and unable to write. The third Companion plays Thomas
Dunckerley himself, who at times appeared to have been
rather short tempered with some people, but perhaps his
suffering considerable pain could explain this, as he was
afflicted with “gout” in both hands and feet, which made
walking and writing very difficult. The first presentation was at Perseverance Chapter No.164 at Sidmouth, Devonshire, in October 2007. The Companions of that Chapter, and their visitors, were most enthusiastic and as a result it was decided to send a letter to all Chapters, in both Devonshire and Cornwall, advertising our presentation, and that should they have an evening with no exaltation, or perhaps at their business meeting, they might like to consider having our team perform for them. The response was far greater than was anticipated, and every month for the rest of 2008, excluding August, there was a presentation in either in Devonshire or Cornwall, and some month’s two presentations. Eight Chapters, that could not be accommodated that year, were asked to consider 2009, when they would be given a priority booking. By 2009, due to the increased number of bookings, the original three Companions were unable to attend all of the presentations, so the team was extended to six Companions. This resulted in a far greater number of bookings being accepted but should you see a presentation in your own Chapter you may see a different team of Companions if you visit another Chapter. The original Parts 1 & 2 have travelled extensively in both the Provinces of Devonshire & Cornwall and are still available to any Chapter, but early in 2010 Part 3, the last part of the trilogy, will be available for presentation and in this part we will look at the early days when Thomas Dunckerley became Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of so many provinces, in particular in the West of England. If there are any Chapters, in other provinces, who would like our presentation, we will be happy to try to programme them into our schedule. The current team, who are members of Chapters in either the Province of Devonshire or Cornwall, are as follows: E.Comp. Nigel Watts of Chapter of Fortitude No. 105 E.Comp. John Cornish of St. Ia Chapter No. 1272 E.Comp. John Eaton of Perseverance Chapter No. 164 Comp. Keith Vallance of Devon Chapter No. 1138 Comp. Brian Saunter of King Arthur Chapter No. 7134 E. Comp. Ian Passmore of The Trinity Chapter No. 2595 For full details or to make a booking please contact E.Comp. John Cornish on 01364 652754 or e-mail: jc.freemason@btinternet.com Programme 2010. Wed 27th Oct, Maristow Chapter Plymouth Part 2 Tues 5th October Rose of Sharon Chapter, Redruth (Part 2) Weds 15th Sept. Trinity Chapter No. 2595 Buckfastleigh, (Part 1.) Wed 10th Nov 2010, Zetland Chapter No. 1071 Saltash Cornwall (Part 3)
2011
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