An old Masonic friend who collects Masonic Postcards, certificates and other ephemera recently telephoned me to ask if I could find out if Tom Browne was a member of a Lodge in Nottingham in 1901. My friend had found illustrations by “Tom B” of the Installation of the Duke of Connaught as our Grand Master (HRH Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the third son of Queen Victoria, was Grand Master from 1901 to 1939, succeeding his brother when the latter became King Edward VII).

A quick visit to the Library enabled me to consult the 1901 Nottinghamshire Year Book where I found T A Browne a member of Newstead Lodge No. 47. I then spoke with W. Bro. Colin Shock (the Historian of Newstead Lodge) who quickly found that Thomas Arthur Browne, an Artist aged 26 years, was balloted for in February 1898 and initiated the next month. He remained a member until 1905 but apparently held no office (quite common in those days when Lodge membership numbers were large, e.g. Newstead Lodge had more than 120 members).

My appetitive being wetted, I searched the Probate Registers and found that Tom Browne otherwise Tomas Arthur Browne of Westholme Park, Kent, had died in 1910 leaving an estate of £18,000 ( a very large sum in those days, probably about £1.5 million in todays terms); he was but 38 years of age. Further enquiries revealed that Tom B. was apprenticed to a firm of lithographic Printers in Nottingham from 1884 to 1891. He moved to London in 1895, and also founded the colour printing firm of Tom Browne & Co, in Nottingham in 1897. He personally produced many black and white drawings and worked for Punch, The Weekly Telegraph etc.. He also produced comic postcards as well as Masonic work; He created the characters “Wearie Willie” and Tired Tim” amongst others.

Obviously a distinguished and successful artist.