Senior officers in West Lancashire
Freemasonry in West Lancashire is governed by the constitution of the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE). The country is split into Provinces, the Province of West Lancashire is one of the largest under the English constitution.
Administered from Leyland, by a Provincial Grand Master who is appointed by UGLE to preside over the Province. He has a Deputy Provincial Grand Master and a number of Assistant Provincial Grand Masters.
Groups were introduced in 1910 because of the size and number of Masons in the Province and to aid the then Provincial Grand Master’s chairmanship of a major charitable festival. The success in 1910 resulted in the group structure remaining and there are now eight Assistant Provincial Grand Masters with responsibility for overseeing one or more of the 19 groups in the Province.
Philip Gunning
Deputy in Charge of the Province
David Ogden AProvGM
Responsible for the Wigan and Leigh Groups.
Frank Umbers AProvGM
Responsible for the
Ormskirk and Bootle
and Southport Groups
Barry Jameson AProvGM
Responsible for the Eccles, South Eastern and Warrington Groups.
Mark Matthews AProvGM
Responsible for the
Liverpool and
Gladstone Groups.
Andrew Whittle AProvGM
Responsible for the Mersey Valley Group.
Duncan Smith AProvGM
Responsible for the
Blackpool and the South
and North Fylde Groups.
Peter Lockett AProvGM
Responsible for the
Chorley and Leyland
and Preston Groups.
Peter Schofield AProvGM
Responsible for the
Lancaster and District,
Furness and South Lakeland Groups.
Peter Taylor
Provincial Grand Secretary
Malcolm Bell
Provincial Grand
Director of Ceremonies