Help with a Member of the Buffs

[shirley]

Hope I have done this correctly. Here goes. I have this photo of my Grandfather who was born 1882, who was a membwe of the Buffs. Can anyone tell me about the insignia he is wearing. I think he looks about 40 in the photos, so I am assuming it was taken in the 40's. Can anyone tell me about the insignia he is wearing. What are the medals for? It was a Liverpool lodge he belonged to, as my brother remembers going to a Christmas party with him
Thanks
Shirley

[dickiesam]

Hi Shirley,
Congrats! It worked!

My immediate reaction on seeing the 'apron' he is wearing is that he is a Freemason. Possibly the regalia is that of a Master Freemason and he is wearing military insignia. Can't tell if they are 'service' medals or other awards. You can see similar Masonic aprons here:
http://www.thelodgeroom.co.uk/userimage ... 84639).htm
And here:
http://www.crestregalia.com/acatalog/Royal_Arch.html

If he was a Mason, the WP might indicate which lodge he was a member of. Where did he live at this stage of his life? If you think he was in his 40s when the photo was taken, the period would be the early 1920s, not the 40s as you suggest.

DS

[shirley]

Hi Dickiesam. You are right about the age, it would have been the twenties. I can remember the talk was of him being in the Buffs, not the Masons. From what I can see from the RAOB site is that the WP could stand for Worthy Primo, but still not sure what that was. He was in Liverpool, and the medals would not have been Army medals as he was in the Merchant Navy most of his working life.
Shirley

[dickiesam]

Hi Dickiesam. You are right about the age, it would have been the twenties. I can remember the talk was of him being in the Buffs, not the Masons. From what I can see from the RAOB site is that the WP could stand for Worthy Primo, but still not sure what that was. He was in Liverpool, and the medals would not have been Army medals as he was in the Merchant Navy most of his working life.
Shirley

Hi Shirley,
In my mind I associated the 'Buffs' with the Royal East Kent Regiment, familiarly known as The Buffs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffs_(Roy ... _Regiment)

You meant the Buffaloes of course! AKA The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes...

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Ante ... _Buffaloes

There are four degrees of within the RAOB:
Brother (1st degree) (Kangaroo)
Certified Primo (2nd degree)
Knight Order of Merit (Knight or Sir) (3rd degree)
Roll Of Honour (Right Honourable) (4th degree)

In a Minor Lodge, there are 11 Officers:
Worthy Primo
City Marshal
City Secretary
City Treasurer
City Chamberlain
City Tyler
City Constable
City Registrar
City Minstrel
City Waiter
Alderman of Benevolence

It looks as though your grandfather was the senior officer of a Minor Lodge.

From the same site:

The Order, today, is a 3 tiered system of Minor Lodges, Provincial Grand Lodges (Local Governing Body)and Grand Lodge. Each Province may also have a Knights Chapter and Roll of Honour (ROH) Assembly, the minimum entry requirement being that the member has attained the appropriate degree to be admitted.
In the early days of the R.A.O.B. it is clear that there must have been members who were also members of the various Masonic Orders since there is much in R.A.O.B. ritual and regalia that can be identified as being Masonic in origin as well as from other societies.

DS

[johnhoul]

Hi Yes the W.P. is Worthy Primo, a position elected for a period to be in charge and oversee, if you can enlarge the photo the apron should have his lodge name in the centre,the jewels on his chest could be presented for anything, a position he held, if he was a delegate to Provincial grand lodge,also a jewel for each degree he had passed,again if you can improve the photo have a look at this link,on the right click jewel
http://www.fcparry.co.uk/shop-2
you may want to write to the Grand Lodge they have all the membership archives or at least may be able to point you to a lodge that can help
http://www.raobgle.org.uk/
John

[johnhoul]

Hi again, couldn't help having a browse around the buffs site myself,if you have a look at the gallery photo's have a look at the bottom row,it shows their still wearing the same stuff,also the blog gives you an insight to things they do.
John

[shirley]

John
Thank you for the info. I have now been in touch by email with the RAOB, and have even had a reply. The chap who answered my query is the historian, so I have sent the photo. He cannot promise anything, but keeping my fingers crossed.
Shirley