The Right Honourable Roundell Cecil Palmer had been initiated into Panmure Lodge No.
723 in 1919.
He was Member of Parliament for Newton, Lancashire. from 1910 to 1918, and for
Aldershot from 1918 to 1940. He was Assistant Postmaster-General from 1924 to 1929 and
Minister of Economic Warfare from 1942 to 1945, in charge of the Special Operations
Executive. He became a Privy Councillor in 1929. and was made a member of the Order
of Companions of Honour in 1945.
He succeeded his father as 3rd Earl of Selbourne in 1942. In 1948 he was Master of the
Worshipful Company of Mercers, and following his political career he became chairman
of the National Provincial Bank from 1951 to 1953 and deputy chairman of Boots from
1951 to 1964.
He died in 1971.
The Lodge history "The Life and Times of Palma Virtuti Lodge No 4187 - The First Hundred Years" was published to mark the Lodge's Centenary in March 2021.
It is a 145-page hardback book with a foreword by the Provincial Grand Master.
It includes not only the factual history of the Lodge, but various snippets of information about Palma Virtuti and its members that gives an insight into the whole character of the Lodge. It also contains the various national, regional and local events that have affected the Lodge and its members.
The book is part of the national collection in the Grand Lodge Library, and is being sold in aid of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Provincial 2027 Festival in aid of the Masonic Charities Foundation.
On 17th November 2021 the Lodge was honoured with a re-scheduled official visit by the Provincial Grand Master, R.W.Bro. Jonathan Whitaker and his team to mark the Lodge's Centenary and to present the Worshipful Master, W.Bro. Barry Jones, with the Lodge's Centenary Warrant and the brethren with their Centenary Jewels. A gathering of 55 brethren and a full capacity dining room at the Festive Board afterwards.
The Lodge held its Centenary Ladies Festival at the Farnborough Masonic Centre in February 2022, a very welcome opportunity to dress up and gather in numbers again after the restrictions of the COVID pandemic. 67 Ladies, Gentlemen and Brethren enjoyed he fantastic event, with excellent Catering , Toastmaster and Disco. Plentiful raffle prizes and over £600 raised for charity
The November 2023 meeting saw the officers of the Lodge hosting their counterparts from our Mother Lodge, Panmure Lodge No. 723. This reciprocal annual visiting arrangement has been taking place for 64 years, and is still going strong.
The brethren were treated to a presentation by W.Bro. Guy Sudron of his very poignant talk about his experiences carrying out the “Frontline Walk” in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund. He showed photographs and described the 62-mile route which followed the famous World War 1 battlefront, where so many thousands of allied troops sadly perished.
At the same meeting The Lodge was very proud to receive a Silver Certificate, acknowledging that Palma Virtuti Lodge had already donated in excess of £14,700 to the Provincial 2027 Festival in aid of the Masonic Charities Foundation. The Festival was only launched two years ago, so the Silver Certificate represents a terrific achievement for a Lodge of our size, and hopefully bodes well for further future honorifics which we are proud to have been awarded in the previous 2005 and 2016 Festivals.