Bro Charles Mosse was a key figure in the formation of our ROS Province of South Eastern England in 1952. The first PGM was Sir Reginald Spence and he appointed Bro Moss as his deputy. Then in 1959 later on the death of Sir Reginald he became our second PGM. He was born in 1887, studied Theology at Cambridge, before becoming a Curate in 1912. In the Great War he served as a Chaplain, return to the Church of England in 1919. During 1931 he was made the Vicar of Aldwick in West Sussex, where he remained for the rest of his life. The Parish then had an old wooden Chapel, so his father had a new church built for him and dedicated to St Richard, which remains in use to this day. After retiring from the Church he continued to live in the village of Aldwick, just outside Bognor Regis and remained active in his former parish for another ten years until his death in 1966 Much can be said about how well he was loved by his congregation and parishioners by their lasting tributes to him. There is a plague on the wall of Saint Richards’s church to his memory. In addition a hall for social events was built in his honour and it is still called the Mosse Hall in his memory, continuing to serve both the church and other groups from the community.
In 1920 he became a Freemason and went on to hold many high officers over the next 50 years, particularly in the Christian Masonic Orders. As well as being the ROS PGM from 1959-1966, being in his later years not only the Provincial Prior in the Knights Templar, but also the Inspector General of the District for the Rose Croix. In Christian Masonry his appointment to the Supreme Council of the Rose Croix in 1966 must rank as one of his crowning achievements. In the craft he was to become a Past Grand Chaplain and the Grand Chaplain in the Mark Grand Lodge in 1945. He was also the Mark PGM, the Deputy PGM in the Craft, Second Provincial Grand Principal in the Royal Arch. His work in these other Order did not diminish his work in the Royal Order of Scotland he Advanced and Promoted over 50 brothers on their entry into that Order.
A good man, a good Mason and a good Christian; can anyone claim a better epitaph? We should better remember his history and legacy in our Provincial Grand Lodge. Long may the memory of Right Worshipful Brother The Reverend Charles Herbert Mosse, Master of Arts, be preserved.