Crowle Freemasons’ web site comes to the rescue in finding family members

Thanks to the Crowle Masonic centre’s web site a Freemason from Northamptonshire has been able to get in touch with a cousin to tell them of a death in the family.

John Boughton, a member of Lodges in Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire, was struggling to reach Crowle residents Richard and Jayne Boggis, and asked through the web site if we could help.

The message was picked up by Vermuyden Lodge WM Barrie Graham, who explained: “John not been in touch with his cousin for several years, and the landline number he had for them was not working. He reached out using the ‘Get In Touch’ facility on our website, and as a result I got an email asking if we knew of his cousin.

“I put in a few calls to Crowle-based brethren, and John Shaw went to see if the family still lived at the address we’d been given. Happily, it turns out they did, and John was able to put them in touch (they’d cancelled their landlines and solely used their mobiles, hence their cousin not being able to get in touch). John and I subsequently got a really nice email from the brother who contacted us, thanking us for our help.”

John Boughton explained. “I had been trying to phone Rick or his wife Jayne since May 9th to let them know that my mother passed away on the 8^th, but there was simply no answer – but with the help of Freemasons in Crowle we were able to get in touch.

“Rick’s dad was known as Jim, and his real first name was Paul, but he changed it because he hated being called Pauly. It was actually Jim and my mother who were cousins. I understand that Jim was asked to go and help his future wife cut hair in the barber’s shop, opposite the Wesleyan Chapel in Epworth, although he didn’t know that Elsie was his future wife. They were both real characters, and I was very privileged to have known them and to stay with them.

“Elsie died when she was 92, and remarkable was still cutting hair. The person who presented the eulogy at her funeral made reference to that fact, stating: “I stand here today with an Elsie Boggis haircut”. I shall never forget that.”

Barrie added: “Whilst the internet can sometimes have disadvantages, it can be a real power for good when used by people with honest intentions. It turns out that John Shaw used to have his hair cut by Rick’s dad. It’s a small world!”

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