 Coat of arms of the United Grand Lodge of England | |
| Established | 27 December 1813; 211 years ago (27 December 1813) |
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| Location | |
Region | England and Wales |
Grand Master | Prince Edward, Duke of Kent[1] |
| Website | www |
TheUnited Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governingMasonic lodge for the majority offreemasons inEngland,Wales, and theCommonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic Grand Lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron Tavern inLondon, it is considered to be the oldest MasonicGrand Lodge in the world, together with theGrand Lodge of Scotland, and theGrand Lodge of Ireland.
Prior to 1717 there were Freemasons' lodges in England, Scotland, and Ireland, with the earliest known admission of non-operative masons[clarification needed] being in Scotland. On St John's Day, 24 June 1717, three existing London lodges and a Westminster lodge held a joint dinner at the Goose and Gridiron alehouse inSt Paul's Churchyard, electedAnthony Sayer to the chair as Grand Master, and called themselves theGrand Lodge of London and Westminster. TheCity of London Corporation has erected aBlue Plaque near the location. Little is known of Sayer save that he was described as aGentleman (a man of independent means) when he became Grand Master, but later fell on hard times, receiving money from the Grand Lodge charity fund.
Historian Marsha Keith Schuchard notes that the Whig administration of England organised the Grand Lodge as a Hanoverian-loyalist counter to theJacobite rising of 1715, since the Whigs were concerned at the previous Jacobite influence in Freemason lodges. The Freemasonry that predominated in Hanoverian England was hence closely linked withWhiggism.[2]
In 1718 Sayer was succeeded byGeorge Payne, a successful Civil Servant. The society then passed into the care ofJohn Theophilus Desaguliers, a scientist and clergyman, then back to Payne. In 1721, the Grand Lodge managed to obtain a nobleman, theDuke of Montagu to preside as Grand Master, and so was able to establish itself as an authoritative regulatory body, and began meeting on a quarterly basis. This resulted in lodges outside London becoming affiliated, accepting sequentially numbered warrants conferring seniority over later applicants.
In 1723, by authority of the Grand Lodge,James Anderson published theConstitutions of Masonry[3] for the purposes of regulating the craft and establishing the Grand Lodge's authority to warrantLodges to meet. The book includes a fanciful history of the Craft, which nevertheless contains much interesting material.[4]
Throughout the early years of the new Grand Lodge there were any number of Masons and lodges that never affiliated with the new Grand Lodge. These unaffiliated Masons and their Lodges were referred to as "Old Masons", or "St John Masons", and "St John Lodges".[5]
During the 1730s and 1740santipathy increased between the London Grand Lodge and the Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland. Irish and Scots Masons visiting and living in London considered the London Grand Lodge to have deviated substantially from the ancient practices of the Craft. As a result, these Masons felt a stronger kinship with the unaffiliated London Lodges. The aristocratic nature of the London Grand Lodge and its membersalienated other Masons causing them also to identify with the unaffiliated Lodges.[6]
On 17 July 1751, representatives of five Lodges gathered at the Turk's Head Tavern, inGreek Street,Soho, London and formed a rival Grand Lodge: "The Grand Lodge of England According to the Old Institutions". They considered that they practised a more ancient and therefore purer form of Masonry, and called their Grand LodgeThe Ancients' Grand Lodge. They called those affiliated to the Premier Grand Lodge, by thepejorativeepithetThe Moderns. These two unofficial names stuck.[7]
The creation of Lodges followed the development of the Empire, with all three home Grand Lodges warranting Lodges around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa, from the 1730s.
In 1809 the Moderns appointed a "Lodge of Promulgation" to return their own ritual to regularity with Scotland, Ireland and especially the Ancients. In 1811 both Grand Lodges appointed Commissioners; and over the next two years, articles of Union were negotiated and agreed upon. In January 1813 the Duke of Sussex became Grand Master of the Moderns on the resignation of his brother,the Prince Regent; and in December 1813 another brother,Duke of Kent became Grand Master of theAntients. On 27 December 1813 the United Grand Lodge of England ("UGLE") was constituted atFreemasons' Hall, London with theDuke of Sussex (younger son ofKing George III) as Grand Master. A Lodge of Reconciliation was formed to reconcile the rituals worked under the two former Grand Lodges.[8]
The new Grand Master had high hopes for Freemasonry, having a theory that it was pre-Christian and could serve the cause of humanity as a universal religion. However, his autocratic dealings with ordinary lodges won him few friends outside London, and sparked open rebellion and a newGrand Lodge of Wigan in the North West. Within Grand Lodge, opposition centred on Masonic Charity. Robert Crucefix launched theFreemason's Quarterly Review to promote charity to keep Freemasons from the workhouse, and to engage masons in the broader argument for social reform. TheEarl of Zetland's complacent and inept management of Grand Lodge played into the hands of the reformers, and by the end of the 1870s English Freemasonry had become a perfect expression of the aspirations of the enlightened middle classes.[9]
In response to conspiracy theories about Freemasons and generally hostile views gaining new life, due to the works ofStephen Knight andMartin Short, the United Grand Lodge of England began to change the way it dealt with the general public and the media from the mid-1990s, emphasizing a new "openness."[10] This presentation was summed up by Provincial Secretary of East Lancashire, Alan Garnett who declared, "we're not asecret society or a society with secrets, but we are a private society."[10] Lodges across England and Wales began holding open days, to allow the general public to see what they do.[11]Freemasons' Hall, London and the Library and Museum of Freemasonry also opened to the general public, including guided tours.[11]
Today, the United Grand Lodge of England or Grand Lodge currently has over 200,000 members meeting in over 6,800 Lodges,[12] organised into a number of subordinate Provincial Grand Lodges which are approximately equivalent to thehistoric counties of England.
When the Grand Master is a member of theroyal family it is customary to appoint aPro Grand Master. The Pro Grand Master fills the role of the Grand Master when he is not available due to his royal duties. It is distinct from the Deputy Grand Master who acts as the Grand Master's deputy rather than as acting Grand Master.[13]
In October 2022, the United Grand Lodge of England launched an official podcast titled "Craftcast: The Freemasons Podcast".[32] The show is presented by three Freemasons from across the UGLE constitution:
In English politics, freemasonry has often been criticised by those associated with theLabour Party andtrade unionism, because of a perception that freemasonry is aligned with theConservative Party.[33][34] The Labour Party became the second party of theUnited Kingdom from 1922 onward and stood on a platform of representingworking-class interests, while the Conservatives and Liberals were largely based in themiddle-class and upper-class (similar to Freemasonry). After a number of Labour MPs wereblackballed from joining Masonic lodges, thePrince of Wales who was concerned by the potential conflict, intervened and had theNew Welcome Lodge created for Labour members in 1929.Herbert Morrison claimed that his1935 bid for the Labour leadership was sabotaged by Lodge members who preferred firstArthur Greenwood and thenClement Attlee.[35]
Despite the creation of the New Welcome Lodge, there remained an element of hostility to Masonry within the Labour Party. As well as the alleged Tory connections, they accused Freemasonry of having unaccountable influence within the judicial system. This issue was brought to the forefront of English politics in the 1990s whenJack Straw, Home Secretary in theTony Blair government attempted to force all Freemasons who worked as police officers,[36][37] judges or magistrates to publicly declare membership in the organisation. In 2009, the ruling that freemasons had to declare if they were judges or magistrates was scrapped by Straw after fears that he would lose a court case at theEuropean Court of Human Rights.[38][39] Critics regard the groupCommon Purpose as an attempt to set up a pro-Labour freemasonry equivalent.[40]
As with freemasonry in other countries, the United Grand Lodge of England has featured as the subject ofMasonic conspiracy theories; the most persistent of these attempts to link freemasonry to a "cover-up" orwhitewash of theJack the Ripper case (in some cases, conspiracy theorists have claimed that the killings were masonicritual murder), the inquiry into theSinking of the RMSTitanic (thoughLord Mersey,Sydney Buxton andLord Pirrie), andBloody Sunday (thoughLord Widgery).[41][42][43]
In the Ripper case,Stephen Knight'sJack the Ripper: The Final Solution (1976) attempted to implicate freemasonry and theBritish royal family in the murders through the personage of theDuke of Clarence and Avondale. Elements of this theory, through the novel ofAlan Moore andEddie Campbell, even made its way into a major American film,From Hell (2001). TheHughes Brothers who produced the film, even approached the United Grand Lodge of England to get the "masonic bits" right, but, they were rebuffed due to the anti-masonic nature of the storyline.[44] Another thesis, promoted byBruce Robinson in hisThey All Love Jack (2015), attempts to link the case to freemasonry throughMichael Maybrick.[45]
Some native proponents of more generic anti-masonic conspiracy theories involving theIlluminati (based onJohn Robison andAugustin Barruel) have typically sought to implicate onlyContinental Freemasonry as a subversive force, while claiming to not be attacking the United Grand Lodge of England itself or British freemasonry more generally.[46] This is the case withNesta Helen Webster in herSecret Societies and Subversive Movements (1924). The American-born but English-domiciledLady Queenborough pulled fewer punches with herOccult Theocrasy (1933), claiming that English freemasonry was founded as a front for the "Manichean"Rosicrucians.[47] Many of these conspiracy theorists also attempted to implicateJews orJesuits as working hand in hand with masonry[47] (such asBarry Domvile, coiner of the epithet "Judmas").
KingGeorge V granted UGLE the following coat of arms through Royal Warrant[48][49]:
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1. Mark: a lion - indicative of one who, prior to this contact with Christianity, was weak but later became strong. It symbolically expresses resurrection and courage.2. Luke : a bull - an animal used for sacrifice - symbolic of sacrifice and renunciation.3. Matthew : a man - symbolic of incarnation.4. John : an eagle - the Ascension of Christ - symbolic of immortality.Between the four Evangelists stands the Cross. The bordure shows the tincture and lions of England. The crest is a combination of the motto of the Atholl masons and an Ark, a reference to the Mosaic antiquity of the Craft. The cherubs face one another (Exodus 25:20) and guarded and denoted Divinity. They were also used in the decoration of King Solomon's Temple. |
The Lodge of Reconciliation was thus formed on 7 December 1813, a few weeks before the actual Union ceremonies and the installation of the Grand Master of the new United Grand Lodge of England were to take place.
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