From the moment the doors opened and the low murmur of voices filled the bar, there was already a sense that this would not be a typical Masonic gathering. Crime and the Craft promised a night where scandal, secrecy, and the shadowy intersections of history would collide—and it delivered with theatrical force.
WBro Mike Neville, a true master of both the Square and the Scotland Yard case file, took the audience on a tour through Britain’s darkest corners. He wove together tales of blood and brotherhood, where whispered Masonic connections entwined with some of the country’s most infamous crimes.
The highlights were as sharp as a dagger’s edge:
Jack the Ripper was reimagined not only as London’s most elusive killer but, perhaps, as “Jack the Mason.”
The murdered Grand Master raised questions of power, politics, and peril lurking even at the highest levels of the Craft.
In the hallowed halls of the Old Bailey, Neville revealed how Masonic signs may have shaped verdicts and sentences.
Tales of the Moors Murderers’ arrest, in which a brother Mason played his part, brought the chilling touch of modern crime into the lodge room.
And when the Kray Twins appeared in the narrative, their connections to the Craft made the evening feel like a film noir unspooling before our eyes.
Delivered with authority, wit, and a detective’s flair for revelation, Neville’s lecture kept the audience gripped from start to finish. Each story was both unnerving and fascinating, leaving us questioning how much of Britain’s criminal underworld might truly be intertwined with the hidden hand of Freemasonry.
Dinner afterwards provided the perfect balance—fine food, wine, and conversation that buzzed with speculation about the night’s revelations. By the time carriages were called at 9:30, it was clear this was more than a lecture: it was an initiation into the secret history of crime.
For those drawn to the mysteries of the Craft, or the macabre intrigue of criminal history, Crime and the Craft was an unmissable event. In the candlelit shadows of fellowship, we all became detectives, chasing after the echoes of secrets never fully told.
Click the link below to see some photos of this fabulous night.