Knights of St Columba, their friends and families will mark nine decades of Charity, Unity and Fraternity in Middlesbrough with a celebratory dinner at the Riverside Stadium on 12th October.
It’s 90 years since Council 29 was established in the town, and since then hundreds of men have played their part in supporting the Church’s mission in the town, while also working for the spiritual and material good of fellow Brothers and their families.
Council 29 is still thriving, although sadly, the Knights Club on Southfield Road that was its base for so many years recently closed.
Mike and Theresa Condren, from Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, owe a huge debt to the Knights – they met through Council 29 and later married.
Theresa’s father, John Muir, was the founding father of Council 29 back in 1921. He had returned to Teesside with his family after emigrating to Canada and had been inspired by the work of the Knights of Columbus, as the Order is known in North America.
She recalls how when she was a little girl, everyone in the family was expected to do their bit for the good of the Order.
“They never used to send anything by post, we used to go round and deliver letters to all the Brothers by hand so they saved on stamps!” Theresa said. “Mam used to make teas for the Provincial meetings. But what went on in the meetings was always very hush, hush, we never found about that.”
The Knights quickly became a focal point for much of the good work done by Catholics in the town, playing a key role in the establishment of the Diocese of Middlesbrough Pilgrimage to Lourdes.
“The Knights were always there to give support to a brother or family who were in need” Theresa adds.
“When dad died in 1956, they were there to support mam. Dad was a foreman plater in the shipyards but when he came back from living in Canada, there wasn’t much work in the shipyards and he wasn’t a strong man during the years when I was growing up.
“When dad was bad, during the war, and we needed some whisky for him, I would take a bottle down to the club and Mrs Monaghan would let me buy a measure for him.”
The couple met at an evening held to present a crucifix in John’s memory. He had been a member of the Hartlepool Council but after they married in 1962, he moved to Council 29.
Mike remembers how formal meetings were when he first joined in 1949 at the age of 24.
“They used to have the meetings on a Sunday afternoon and you had a doorkeeper and various other officers in a specific seating arrangement” he said.
“The Council sat in an oval shape with Grand Knight sitting at the head and Deputy Grand Knight at the foot. The Chancellor sat at one side and it more or less made a cross.
“You always stood up and saluted the Grand Knight with one arm raised and said, “Worthy Grand Knight”, and then would be given permission to speak.
“You made the upward part of the cross with one hand and he would put his hand across to make the sign complete. There would be about 20 or so at meetings and the quorum was 11.
“If anybody came to the meeting late, they had to give the password, which was Tempus Fugit, Memento Mori (the KSC motto, Time Flies, Remember Death).
“You had to have two sponsors within the Council you wanted to join. There would be a vote and there were white balls and black balls. If you had I think it was two black balls, then you were out. If there was only one you were all right!”
“I would say it was in the 1970s when it started to be less formal.”
Founded in Glasgow in 1919, the KSC is an Order of Catholic Laymen dedicated to the Service of the Church and fellow man.
It is non-political and essentially democratic and in accordance with the Church’s social teachings, members work for the Moral and Social Welfare of our Country and in particular to help young people develop in the likeness of Christ.
The KSC is not a secret society but is completely open and potential members may attend meetings.
Numbers have fallen in recent years but it has 8,000 members in 340 councils in the UK.
Middlesbrough once had its own Province within the Knights organisation and included Stockton (Council 39), Darlington (59), Redcar (77), Hartlepool (89), Middlesbrough (South Bank) (523), Eston (537) and Scarborough (552).
Although many others have now closed, Council 29 is still going strong and has one of the youngest membership profiles in the country.
Meetings are held after 7.00 pm Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral in Middlesbrough on the first Tuesday of every month.
Council 29 extend a warm invitation for anyone with a connection to theKnights, past or present, to join them in celebrating the important contribution the Order has made to the Catholic community in the town.
Brothers’ wives and families will be in attendance as well as widows of deceased members, who are always remembered at meetings.
Speakers will include Supreme Knight Ron Lynch as well as John Buckton, Grand Knight of Council 29. The Bishop of Middlesbrough, the Right Reverend Terry Drainey, is attending, as well as many clergy.
Tickets are £25.00.
If you are interested in joining Council 29 or buying tickets for the dinner, please contact Deputy Grand Knight Tony Kirk on (01642) 270968.
A message from Council 29 Grand Knight John Buckton…
Council 29 of the Knights of St Columba was formed in 1922, just three years after the first Council was established in Glasgow.
Back then, Middlesbrough – which Prime Minister William Gladstone famously described as an ‘Infant Hercules’ on a visit in 1862 – was still a growing town.
Like the rest of the United Kingdom, the area was recovering from the ravages of World War.
However, large numbers of peoples, including foreign nationals, moved here to seek employment in the steel and shipbuilding industries that lined the River Tees.
They also came to help kick-start the new concept of chemical engineering, which was in its infancy to the north of the river and would soon spread south of it to Wilton.
Lots of these new settlers were, of course, Catholics. Consequently, new Catholic churches were built to help serve the spiritual needs of this growing population.
To help with this influx, new Knights Councils began in most of the major communities along both banks of the Tees.
Sadly, partly because of the decline of manufacturing, most of those towns are now far smaller communities and one by one their Councils closed due to falling numbers.
Council 29 is the last one remaining in this area and the vast majority of our work is centred in the Northern Vicariate of the Middlesbrough Diocese.
Our aim has always been to help our Bishop and the clergy in whatever they ask of us and to work diligently for the moral and social welfare of our country, and in particular to help young people develop in the likeness of Christ.
Members of our Order will always strive to achieve these principles through the fundamental virtues of Charity, Unity and Fraternity.
Twelfth October 2012 sees Council 29 celebrate its 90th anniversary. As Grand Knight, I, along with my fellow brothers, cordially invite you to help us celebrate this special occasion.
Our celebration is a chance for those who have an affinity with the Knights to join us at the Riverside Stadium and remember the good works we as Knights do.
I hope as many of you as possible will join us for what we’re sure will be a memorable evening.