In the course of its history, St Laurence Lodge has had several members of note.
Revd. Alfred Naylor
The story of how one Freemason was instrumental in maintaining the morale of troops stranded on the beach at Dunkirk in 1940.
Alfred Thomas Arthur Naylor was born on the 27th December 1889. He studied at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge and was ordained as a Priest in 1913.
Throughout WW1, he served overseas as an Army Chaplain, was gassed and wounded at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, and awarded the OBE and mentioned in dispatches for his service and bravery.
During the Second World War, Naylor was captured by the Germans during the British retreat to Dunkirk in 1940, but managed to escape, amazingly swimming a canal to get away. Naylor’s actions during those fraught days at Dunkirk are one of the great untold stories of the Second World War. Known to the troops as The Bishop, Naylor would make speeches to all who could listen, and is widely credited as having maintained the morale of the troops even as German warplanes flew overhead. He was evacuated and returned home, where he rose to become Deputy Chaplain General. For his actions on the beaches of Dunkirk, Brother The Reverend Naylor was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).
Reverend Naylor was initiated in 1914 into St Laurence Lodge No. 2330. He was a member of many lodges including Lodge of Antiquity No. 2, and served as Provincial Grand Master of Sussex from 1947-1959.
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| Revd. Alfred Thomas Arthur Naylor |
Citation following Dunkirk |
Revd. Naylor’s medals |
Sir Leonard Hutton
Len Hutton was born in the Moravian Community of Fulneck, Pudsey on 23rd June 1916. He joined St Lawrence Cricket Club, Pudsey in 1928 and by 1929 he was in the first team. By 1933, he was opening batsman and made his first class debut for Yorkshire in 1934, aged 17. In 1937 he was chosen to play for England, and made his debut at Lords on 26th June against New Zealand.
At the outbreak of war, he volunteered for army service and was recruited into the army physical training corps as sergeant instructor.
On 20th March 1940, Len was initiated into St Laurence Lodge No 2330 in Pudsey, then passed and raised during 1941. No first class cricket was played during the war, however he was involved in league and charity matches. Following an injury in the gym in 1942, he was discharged from the army. He resumed his professional cricket career in 1943 and was chosen to play for the MCC in 1946, going on to captain England in 1952. He retired from first class cricket in 1956 and was knighted for his services to cricket in that year.
Len Hutton scored 40,140 first class runs during his career, an average of 55.51 with 129 centuries. He suffered poor health in later life and died on 6th September 1990, aged 74.
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| Sir Len Hutton in action | Sir Len Huttons’ masonic regalia |
Connections with wool and textiles
Several members in the early days of the Lodge were prominent in the wool and textiles industries, which were very important to the wealth of Pudsey.