Masonic Biography

RW Bro. Ralph D. Seligman
Past District Grand Master

Ralph David Seligman was born in Dublin, Ireland on November 29th, 1919. He was initiated into Freemasonry in Dublin, Ireland in Tudor Lodge No. 552 during April 1942, was Passed and Raised that same year, and subsequently became Master of his Mother Lodge in 1956.

He practiced law in Ireland from 1942 to 1957, when he accepted the post of stipendiary Magistrate (Acting) in The Bahamas, in which capacity he served until 1967, when he was called to the Bahamas Bar, and entered private practice. In 1996, in recognition of a long and distinguished legal career, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel.
After arriving in Nassau, he joined Royal Victoria Lodge No. 443, became very active in the Lodge, and was duly installed as Master in 1972. He was a Founder Member and Past Master of Bahamas Installed Masters Lodge No. 8764, and a Founder Member of the Lodge of unity No. 8760 in Nassau and Arawak Lodge No. 8877 in Freeport. In 1983, after the untimely passing of the RW Bro. Sidney Larkin, he was appointed to succeed him as District Grand Master of Bahamas and Turks, in which position he served until 1993.

In the Scottish Constitution, he was a Founder Member of Lodge St David No. 1741, and Honorary District Grand Senior Warden of the District of the Bahamas (SC).

In 1966 he was installed as First Principal of Royal Victoria Chapter No. 443 and he was appointed Past Grand Standard Bearer by Grand Chapter in London 1982. At that time, he was also appointed as Grand Inspector of the Bahamas and Turks Island Group of Chapters, and became our first Grand Superintendent when the District Grand Chapter was inaugurated in 1986. He was married to the former Lorna Duke, and they had three children, Arthur, Helen, and Edgar, all born in the Bahamas.

He was a noted Masonic scholar, and was a full member of the Irish Lodge of Research No CC., having published many articles and given many lectures on various subjects of Masonic interest. A notable work was on Governor Carleton, after whom the first Settlement in Abaco, as well as the Craft Lodge in that island, are both named. His Irish Masonic career had been re-activated by his appointment as Provincial Grand Master of Bermuda, for various special reasons, including the resolution of litigation amongst the Irish Masons in that Colony, the settlement of which he had accomplished as of February 2002, after which he resigned and installed his successor to that Office.

He was active in the Degrees Beyond the Craft in Ireland, England, and Israel, and travelled extensively throughout the world, visiting numerous Lodges where he carried The Bahamas banner.

He served as Honorary Consul for the State of Israel in The Bahamas from 1973 until his demise on 26 December 2007 and was also a prominent member of Chaines des Rotisseurs and the International Wine and Food Society.