United Grand Lodge
of Antient, Free and Accepted Masons
of England


 
Province of
South Wales Eastern Division

Feature

Tony Ough Photograph by Anthony Howell Masonic History  A Connective History of English Freemasonry by Tony Ough, PAGDC Part One - First published in Issue 21  of the Province's magazine Guildford Gazette  In the course of a recent conversation with the Editor it transpired that we shared the opinion that whilst many Masons had neither the time nor inclination to devote themselves to an in-depth study of Masonic history, as contained in research papers and the like, they would welcome an 'overview'. This would help towards an understanding of how our present-day organisation, government, and ritual practices came into being. Such is the Editor's power of persuasion that, almost before I knew what was happening, I had agreed to provide a series of articles based on that objective. The opinions expressed will be my own, and they are not endorsed by U.G.L.E., Supreme Grand Chapter, or the corresponding Provincial Executives. As an 'overview' there will be certain generalisations which would require qualification in a more detailed study. Many Freemasons hold the opinion that our Fraternity literally has its roots in the principles and practices of the stone masons who built the castles, abbeys, cathedrals and other edifices of medieval times. But the evidence of a lineal descent is sparse and unsatisfactory and the widely held theory of a continuous transition from operative through non-operative to accepted, or speculative, masonry is not now generally supported by Masonic historians. Perhaps in the late 17th century, when Freemasons lodges were coming into existence, their originators borrowed from these earlier traditions as the basis for a claim to an antiquity which they could not otherwise sustain. One thing is certain, there are events in our past which can neither be ignored nor satisfactorily explained and it is my view that to dwell on trying to find links or conclusive answers is not as profitable as devoting time to making progress towards the future. The late 17th century lodges were not only independent of each other but also independent, in the regulatory sense, of the mason trade and hence were non-operative in character. They were widely spread geographically with small membership, rudimentary ceremonial, and conviviality as an important aspect. They kept no records so that what we know of them is gleaned from individual diary entries, local histories, and oral traditions eventually committed to writing and absorbed into our surviving history, but no longer surviving. In 1717 four lodges meeting at taverns in London and the City of Westminster held joint meetings at which it was resolved that they would give up a portion of their traditional independence and in addition to their regular meetings, would meet in quarterly communication, and at an annual meeting would install a Grand Master to preside over them. Whilst it was probably not the original intention, this body was the first or Premier Grand Lodge in the history of Constitutional Freemasonry. Other lodges sought to join them and, rather like the ripples from a pebble thrown into a pond, their influence became more widespread. In 172 1, John, 2nd Duke of Montague accepted the office of Grand Master and in the class ridden society of the time this caused great public interest and advanced the status of the Fraternity. By 1723 with the Grand Lodge now constituting private lodges it was necessary to provide formal regulations and James Anderson was instructed to prepare a Book of Constitutions. It is interesting to note that it was only by a digest of recollections of people present from the outset that the history of the first six years was committed to record. In the same year William Cowper, Clerk to the Parliaments, was made a mason and due to his influence the practice of keeping lodge minutes was introduced. Hence the connective history of English Freemasonry dates from this time. By the time that Anderson published the second edition of the Book of Constitutions in 1738 he acknowledged the establishment of Grand Lodges in Ireland [1725] and Scotland (1736) and made reference to the Old Lodge at York although he did not acknowledge its claim to Grand Lodge status. It is evident from the Books of Constitutions, supported by other sources, that Constitutional Masonry had commenced as a bi-gradal system and developed into a tri-gradal system, with the introduction of the Hiramic legend, between the respective dates of publication. The Premier Grand Lodge always held fast to the principle that only the three degrees could be worked under its lodge warrants and it recognised no others. At this time it was an insular body and made no attempt to establish fraternal relations with its sister Grand Lodges. In the world at large this period was one of economic depression in Ireland. There was a decline in its glass making industry, a major source of exports, and successive crop failures, leading to widespread privation for the population. This in turn led to a substantial migration mostly to North America but also to mainland Britain. Obviously those who were Masons took their Masonry with them. Having left a situation of great privation they were prepared to work for subsistence level wages and employers were quick to exploit this source of cheaper labour so that there was hostility on the part of the native populace. So the newcomers were unwelcome and this attitude spilled over into lodges which the Irish Masons sought to join. There was also apprehension that the Charity of the Grand Lodge, which was finding it difficult to obtain contributions from private Lodges, would be unable to sustain petitions for relief on behalf of members from another Constitution. Hence it was inevitable that the Irish Masons would band together and either constitute their own lodges or join those independent lodges that were still in existence. In 1751 five such Lodges set themselves up as the Grand Lodge of Antient Masons Over the next sixty-two years they provided substantial opposition to the Premier Grand Lodge although neither body was able to attain a position of supremacy and eventually in 1813 they achieved an Act of Union. Our archives contain the register of the original lodges which was made by John Morgan their first Secretary. After about a year Morgan left the office on taking up a seafaring appointment and he was succeeded by Laurence Dermott a Past Master of Lodge No 21, and a Royal Arch Mason, under the Irish Constitution. Dermott was a truly remarkable man and Mason, self educated, streetwise, and the epitome of a spin-doctor, he was more than a match for anyone the Premier Grand Lodge could pit against him. He had to establish a raison d'etre for the new body and he sought to establish an insurmountable barrier between it and its established rival, so he claimed that the Antients possessed secrets not known to the Premier Grand Lodge, and hence whom he dubbed the 'Moderns', who 'had not the slightest knowledge of the Royal Arch which I believe to be the root heart and marrow of Masonry'. In this period of time there was much publicity in the press and in spite of protests by the Premier Grand Lodge that they were of earlier date of constitution and that the Royal Arch was an 'innovation designed to seduce the brethren, the term 'Moderns' caught the public imagination and this became a description of Premier Grand Lodge that has survived to the present day. In drafting the Constitutions of the Antients, Dermott adopted the practice of the Grand Lodge of Ireland which permitted any degree to be worked under a lodge warrant and hence the Royal Arch was controlled by the Antients Grand Lodge and worked as a fourth degree under their private lodge warrants. This was diametrically opposed to the practice of the Premier Grand Lodge and was the fundamental difference between their respective philosophies. In the next article I will deal with the way in which the Moderns eventually adopted the Royal Arch, discuss the rise of additional degrees beyond the Craft in the pre-Union period, and show the cause of the impetus towards Union.. © 2003 - Anthony R Ough

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