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Appointments to and Promotions in Grand Rank 2020

R.W. Bro James H Newman OBE
Promoted to Past Junior Grand Warden

Now a R W Bro James Newman was promoted to Past Junior Grand Warden in Grand Lodge as well as being re-appointed, for the fifth time, as Deputy President and Chairman of the Trustees of the Masonic Charitable Foundation. James was initiated into Hadassah Lodge No 4871 in Sheffield in 1974, following his Father and Grandfather into the Lodge. He was Master in 1992, appointed acting Provincial JGD in 1999 and eventually promoted to PPSGW in 2012.

He was appointed to Grand Lodge as acting AGStB in 2002. He gained promotions to PAGDC in 2007 and to acting SGD in 2011 before becoming President of the RMBI in 2013, following ten years of service to the charity as Treasurer and Chairman.

In 2016, the RMBI merged with the other central masonic charities to create the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF), and James was appointed its first Deputy President and, more importantly, the Chairman of the Trustees Board. He was a Grand Steward in 2016.

James is a past First Principal of Welcome Royal Arch Chapter No 3779 and of the South Yorkshire Chapter of Installed Principals, of which he was a Founder. He was acting Provincial Grand Steward in 2002, acting Provincial Grand Registrar in 2009 and promoted to PPGScN in 2010. He was appointed Supreme Grand Chapter as acting AGSoj in 2012 and promoted to PGSwdB in 2017. As a well-travelled Mason, he is a member of the Craft or Royal Arch in four other Provinces plus several Lodges and Chapters in London. He is also member of several other Masonic Orders, in most of which he holds Grand rank. James was also Treasurer of the Friends of Connaught Court for five years and Chairman and a Director of Tapton Masonic Hall in Sheffield for ten years finishing in 2009. Outside of Freemasonry, James qualified as a Chartered Accountant and spent most of his executive career as Finance Director of a number of public companies before starting a non-executive portfolio, working in the public, private and voluntary sectors. He was the founding Chairman of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, Deputy Chairman of Sheffield Hallam University and was Master Cutler in 2010. He is currently the Chairman of Finance Yorkshire and the South Yorkshire Community Foundation and is involved at national level with the current European funding programmes, amongst other business and charitable interests. He was awarded an OBE in 2017 for services to business, the economy and charity in Yorkshire and an Honorary Doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University in 2012 for services to enterprise, education and the business community.

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