History of the Castle on the Front Page
This is the Fortress of Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, held by the Knights of the Hospital of St. John from 1144 to 1271
[Weidenfeld Archive]
Krak des Chevaliers or "Castle of the Knights" is a mixture of Arabic and French spelling, this Castle stands 2,300 feet above the Sea Level. It is considered the greatest fortress in the world. The original had been built in 1031 for the Emir of Aleppo and was captured by Crusaders in 1099 during the First Crusade. In 1144, Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, gave it to the Knights Hospitallers.
of the
Grand United Order of the Knights of the Golden Horn (G.U.O.K.G.H)
who were
derived from the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (R.A.O.B.)
Was headed by
The Hull Encampment
Who according to the History of the R.A.O.B.
as
Written by Bro. Mervin W. Payne ROH GP1934. R.A.O.B. G.L.E.
Looked after the running of ceremonies and the raising of Primo's to the exalted position of Knight of the Order of Merit (KOM). In those days, before the 22nd September 1880 there indeed was no such degree as a member of the Roll of Honour (ROH) in the R.A.O.B.. The members of the K.G.H. in conducting their ceremonies were also accompanied by members of the Companions of the Ark, another higher Order within the R.A.O.B.
These Orders pre-empted the coming of the R.A.O.B. Knights Chapter and Roll of Honour Assemblies in later years.
Further to this, is an interesting piece of information about the First Grand Lodge Meeting of the R.A.O.B. G.L.E & the order of entry to this meeting:
The Director of Ceremonies
The Trumpeter
Knights of the Order of Merit
Sitting Primo's of the London Lodges
~~Officers of the Guild Companions of the Ark~~
& the
~~Knights of the Golden Horn~~
Grand Lodge Officers
Past Deputy Grand Primo's
The Grand Primo and Deputy Grand Primo of England
The other interesting piece of information is the titles that Brothers of the R.A.O.B. held, such as:
1876 Bro CF Woodward KOM GP CA KGH
1888 Bro. F Webster GP CA KGH
1890 Bro W Alexander GP CA KGH
Bro Dan Collins KOM PDG KGH PPCC
Bro. I Hobbs PDG KGH
1893 Bro C Ransom KOM GP PGP CA KGH
Bro T Rushton G Sec 1888 CA PDG KGH
KOM - Knight Order of Merit
GP - Grand Primo
PGP - Past Grand Primo
PDG - Past Deputy Grand
CA - Companion of the Ark
KGH - Knight of the Golden Horn
*****
The Origin & History of our Order
By Clive Warham
The Knights of the Golden Horn, like the Guild Companions of the Ark (now defunct) started life as an additional or higher Order available to members of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. The Order was founded in 1872 and for many years operated through Minor Lodges setting up their own Encampments, working unchallenged within the RAOB, with its headquarters or head office in Hull. In 1880 a charter was applied for to form the Erimus Encampment No.1 in Middlesbrough and from then on new Encampments were formed in Stockton – on – Tees, Darlington, West Hartlepool, Leeds, Etc. with membership restricted to those initiated into the RAOB. By 1888 it was the wish of the membership to admit and initiate gentlemen independently into the Order, that is without the RAOB membership qualification, this, of course, was refused by Hull. It was therefore decided at a general meeting of the Northern Encampments to sever links with Hull and the Grand United Order of Knights of the Golden Horn was born. The Order continued to grow and soon covered all parts of England and even though it had severed its links with Hull, it still remained as part of RAOB system until 1926 when it broke away completely. It was thought by many that the Order then just drifted off into obscurity, but this, however, was not the case and it has now been extant for 116 years, celebrating its Centenary in 1988.
Structure of the Order
The members are styled as Comrades and meet in Camps ruled by a Knight Commander and Grand Marshall, assisted by other supporting officers. Minor Encampments are placed into Divisions, which in turn are governed by the Grand Camp of the Order. Minor, Divisional and Grand Camps each have their own officers who are elected annually. There is no longer any RAOB qualification for membership, although many members are either Buffs or Freemasons.
The Order consists of five degrees:
· Companion
· Knight
· Knight of the Shield
· Sir Knight Counsellor
· Senior Sir Knight Counsellor
As in the RAOB and some Masonic Orders these degrees are conferred according to length of service and attendance. Minor Encampments can also award jewels for attendance & meritorious service to deserving members. Also, the Order of Merit, which is the highest honour that can be awarded by Grand Camp, for exceptional service to the Order.
Each Camp meets either weekly, fortnightly or monthly although ceremonial events are only carried out when and where necessary. Great emphasis is placed on harmony at GUOKGH meetings, which is quite refreshing, as this social aspect of fraternal orders seems to be disappearing in many of our Buffs and Masonic Lodges.
The Order At Present
At present there are 12 Encampments divided into four Districts and one camp direct. Most of the Camps are situated in the Teeside and Durham areas, although there are Camps in N.Yorkshire, Milton Keynes & Chippenham with plans for further Camps in the future. The GUOKGH has not expired as an Order, on the contrary, it is re-emerging and expanding, and looking forward to the next 100 years in its history.
Clive Warham
[Updates by Robin Todd]
Grand
United Order of the Knights of the Golden Horn
Taken
from the records found under the name of Sir Knight H. Laverick.
In the year 1880, a few members of the Royal
Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, Grand Lodge of England, met at the Robin Hood Hotel,
Commercial Street, Middlesbrough, to discuss how to improve the Order and to make it more
select. Among the members was a Sir Knight
(KOS) Henry Colston, Manager of the Imperial Tramways Ltd. at Middlesbrough, a member of
the Hull Encampment of the Knights of the Golden Horn and he advised us to apply for a
charter, which was granted, to be known as No.
1 Erimus Encampment and opened on September 22nd 1880.
The
Knights of the Golden Horn were really a selection of members of the R.A.O.B. Lodges, and
before you could become a Comrade of the K.G.H. you must have first been initiated into an R.A.O.B. Lodge.
This
arrangement then carried on for some time and new Encampments were opened at
Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, West Hartlepool, Leeds Etc. Trouble then arose as Bye-laws
were required to suit the various Districts, but when these By-laws were sent to the Hull
Encampment for confirmation, they were vetoed, so,
why were the Camps paying a quarterly fee of Five Shillings (5/-)
per head to admit
& Initiate gentlemen direct into the Order, that is independent of being a member of
the R.A.O.B.. As
usual this was not allowed.
A
meeting of local Encampments was held and it was decided to send a deputation to Hull
Encampment, to put a case before them, The Delegates selected were Kt H.
I. Bell and Kt H.
Laverick.
They
arrived at Hull and after a preliminary meeting, they attended the Hull Encampment and
laid the case before them, after which questions were asked from each side. They were then
asked to retire for an hour.
On
returning they were told that Hull could not grant the request and would not give their
Sovereign rights to a decision.
On returning home they reported the results of their visit to several Camps, the outcome being a General Meeting was called, and at that meeting it was decided to sever connections with Hull Encampment and form a New Order. This order to be known as the Grand United Order of the Knights of the Golden Horn.
Encampments Past
& Present
of the
Grand United Order of the Knights of the Golden Horn
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