https://museumfreemasonry.org.uk/freemasonry-and-family-history (Museum of Freemasonry Research Guide: Freemasonry and Family History. The guide covers the records held and the services we offer) Using the same definition of Middlesex, it can also be stated that the first Grand Chapter was established in the County. This took place at the Turks Head Tavern in Gerrard Street, Soho in 1766.

Records of the men that joined the fraternal society of Freemasons. Modern freemasonry began in the late 17th century with adherents often subjected to hostility and suspicion. The origins of the society were probably connected to the craft guilds of medieval times. The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) was established in 1717 and is the governing body of Freemasonry in England, Wales and the Channel Islands and some former colonial countries. European groups emerged separately including Scotland and Ireland. In Scotland, the Grand Lodge of Scotland oversees and administers Scottish freemasonry including provincial and district grand lodges and local lodges. In Ireland, the Grand Lodge of Ireland acts as the governing body for lodges covering the north and south. The U.S. broke away from UGLE forming their own structure.Like the Halliwell Manuscript, the Cook document further reinforces the masons struggle to determine their own pay, particularly following the statutes of 1425 banning the assembles of masons.

The Lodge is still in possession of its original Warrant, presented at its Consecration (1757), by the Marquess of Caranrvon (3rd Duke of Chandos). Palatine's 1757 Warrant is the earliest document, still in existence, which can be classed as a Warrant. [8] It was the first to be issued by the Premier Grand Lodge, a founding Grand Lodge of the United Grand Lodge of England. It received its Centenary Warrant in 1864 [9] and the Bi-Centenary Warrant on 14 January 1957. On 11 January 2007 the 250th Anniversary Meeting of Palatine Lodge was held at the Wearside Masonic Temple. [10] [11] Born in 1843, John Lane had an eye for detail. As a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, he worked as an accountant but was also secretary to a cemetery company and a collector of insurance. However, we know him as a freemason and author.

Welcome to Lane's Masonic Records

The work itself became an essential reference book for the Masonic historian, and by 2003, the University of Sheffield transferred Lane’s book into digital format, and since 2008, the United Grand Lodge Library and Museum have been adding information about lodges formed after 1894. The entry for each lodge formed since then, including lodges subsequently erased, features the warrant date, number and meeting places ( Freemasonry Today, 2013). The statutes besides reinforcing the “Old Charges” of the trade and their traditional histories were designed to bring formal rules of the crown directing the industry in its performance. Schaw constantly refers to the “Ludge” or Lodge as being the place of meeting. The government of the craft was vested in the Warden, Deacons and Masters for whom the Fellow-crafts and apprentices took their instructions. These statutes ensured that the building trades via the masons was now regulated by government,