Barry Maxwell, 12th Baron Farnham,
Initiated Cavan Masonic Lodge No. 90,
Pro-Grand Master, United Grand Lodge of England 1991-2001.
Barry Maxwell, 12th Lord Farnham, was born on 7th July, 1931 the son of Arthur Kenlis Maxwell of Calderwood, 11th Lord Farnham. He was educated at Eton College and Harvard University, Boston, United States of America. He succeeded to his grandfather's titles in 1957, following the premature death of his father on active service in 1942. He married Diana Marion Gunnis on 19th January, 1959. |
Barry Maxwell, 12th Lord Farnham,
on the right of this Photograph |
He served as Chairman of Avon Rubber plc; Brown and Shipley merchant bankers, Brown and Shipley Holdings plc and the Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association.
He was initiated in Cavan Lodge, No. 90, Cavan, working under the Irish Constitution. He became a joining member of Lodge of Erin, No. 2895, London, working under the English Constitution in 1968, serving as Worshipful Master in 1974; Royal Alpha Lodge, No. 16, London in 1979, serving as Worshipful Master in 1987; Lodge of Antiquity, No. 2, London in 1984, serving as Worshipful Master in 1987 and Old Etonian Lodge, No. 4500, London in 1992.
He was appointed Senior Grand Warden by the United Grand Lodge of England in 1977, being promoted to Assistant Grand Master in 1982, Deputy Grand Master in 1989 and Pro Grand Master in 1991.
In Royal Arch he was exalted in Chapter of St. James, No. 2, London in 1982, serving as First Principal the same year. He was appointed Grand Scribe by the Supreme Grand Chapter in 1983, being promoted to Past Third Grand Principal in 1988, Second Grand Principal in 1989 and Pro Grand Principal in 1991.
He retired from his Masonic offices on 13 March 2001 due to ill health and he died on 22 March the same year.
He was initiated in Cavan Lodge, No. 90, Cavan, working under the Irish Constitution. He became a joining member of Lodge of Erin, No. 2895, London, working under the English Constitution in 1968, serving as Worshipful Master in 1974; Royal Alpha Lodge, No. 16, London in 1979, serving as Worshipful Master in 1987; Lodge of Antiquity, No. 2, London in 1984, serving as Worshipful Master in 1987 and Old Etonian Lodge, No. 4500, London in 1992.
He was appointed Senior Grand Warden by the United Grand Lodge of England in 1977, being promoted to Assistant Grand Master in 1982, Deputy Grand Master in 1989 and Pro Grand Master in 1991.
In Royal Arch he was exalted in Chapter of St. James, No. 2, London in 1982, serving as First Principal the same year. He was appointed Grand Scribe by the Supreme Grand Chapter in 1983, being promoted to Past Third Grand Principal in 1988, Second Grand Principal in 1989 and Pro Grand Principal in 1991.
He retired from his Masonic offices on 13 March 2001 due to ill health and he died on 22 March the same year.
The Maxwells and the Cavan Connection
The branch of the Maxwell family from whom the Barons Farnham were descended, arrived in Ireland at the end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign at the request of James VI of Scotland, later James I of England. Robert Maxwell, second son of John Maxwell MP of Calderwood Castle, East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, Scotland, came at this time and has been described as being, ‘one of four lowland Scots of any consequence who lived in the English Pale.’ In 1609 he was appointed Chancellor of the dioceses of Connor and in 1610, Dean of Armagh. His eldest son Robert Maxwell DD, held various ecclesiastical positions in the dioceses of Connor and Armagh, before being appointed Bishop of Kilmore in 1643, and Ardagh in 1661. In 1664, he purchased the manors of Dromhill and Dromellan, in the central barony of Upper Loughtee, county Cavan, from Thomas Waldron, thus cementing the Maxwell family connection with county Cavan for the next 330 years (i).
i. (Compiled by Dr Jonathan Cherry, holder of the Studentship in Irish History provided by the National Library of Ireland in association with the National Committee for History, 2004-2005. The “Farnham Papers” National Library of Ireland.)