LONDON.- A number of members of parliament have been freemasons over the years, including Sir Winston Churchill. In 1902 Winston Churchill, half way through his first term as member of parliament for Oldham, placed an order for his apron from H.T. Lamb’s catalogue, a copy of which can been found at ‘The Masonic Emporium’ which opened at the Library & Museum of Freemasonry in Freemasons’ Hall in London’s Covent Garden from Thursday 1 July until Thursday 23 December 2010. Costing £1 15s 0d (approx £142.00 in today’s money) records on show at ‘The Masonic Emporium’ infer that the future prime minister did not in fact pay the bill for his purchase until 1904.

Sir Winston Churchill’s apron, and the case in which it was kept, are amongst the items on display in ‘The Masonic Emporium’ at the Library & Museum of Freemasonry. The apron case is inscribed - Bro. Winston L.S. Churchill Studholme Lodge No 1591 - in gold lettering.

Every lodge and every mason could acquire their full complement of required clothing and equipment from a single supplier. ‘The Masonic Emporium’ exhibition at the Library and Museum of Freemasonry explores the development of this market, telling the story of its suppliers and customers. It also explores how manufacturing for this market changed from a small scale cottage industry to larger scale production and how Masonic manufacturing took full advantage of increasing industrialisation.