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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.

History

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.)

Knights of the Golden Horn

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 R.A.O.B, 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 R.A.O.B. By 1888 it was the wish of the membership to admit and initiate gentlemen independently into the Order, that is without the R.A.O.B. 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 R.A.O.B. 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 Six degrees:

·         Companion

·         Knight

·         Knight of the Shield

·         Sir Knight Counsellor

·         Senior Sir Knight Counsellor

.         Arch 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 13 Encampments divided into four Districts and one camp direct. Most of the Camps are situated in the Teesside 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.

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|No.147|

This site was last updated on

08 September 2009 13:46:59

Any Comments please ring Robin Todd on 01525 379326 or contact him by email.          

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