Masonic Records 1717-1894

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John Lane was a Masonic historian who first published his magnum opus Masonic Records in 1886, the work being a listing of all the lodges formed under the English Grand Lodges (both Antient and Modern), including the numbers and various locations of the lodges, from 1717 to 1886. Lane collected information from a variety of sources; Grand Lodge registers, minute books, Grand Lodge Proceedings, Warrants and Warrant Books, engraved lists, Masonic calendars, various lodge histories and various lodge minute books. The book was later revised in an updated edition to include lodges up to 1894. Freemasonry was growing fast in the later Victorian period. https://museumfreemasonry.org.uk/lodge-family-tree (Museum of Freemasonry: Lodge Family Tree Charts: Search the histories of individual lodges of England and Wales up to 2019)

The movement of men is just one of the aspects that can be discovered about our ancestors’ lives through Masonic Lodge records: well worth delving into if there are Lodge members in your families. www.ugle.org.uk (United Grand Lodge of England. The Lodge is the governing body of Freemasonry in England, Wales, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and some Districts overseas. The headquarters is Freemasons’ Hall, London which houses the Museum of Freemasonry)

John Lane’s Masonic Records 1717-1894 is an authoritative listing of all the lodges established by the English Grand Lodges from the foundation of the

www.ancestry.co.uk (Ireland, Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland Membership Registers, 1733-1923. This collection includes membership registers for Masonic Lodges across the 32 counties of Ireland, for Irish Lodges abroad and for those that were attached to militia and British Army regiments. The original data is held by The Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland) A rival Grand Lodge is formed principally by Irish Freemasons living in England. Dissatisfied with the actions of the 1717 Grand Lodge masons, whom they dubbed “The Moderns” because of what was perceived as a betrayal of the original rituals of Freemasonry. The Moderns were essentially well to do men of position and title. The Antients on the other hand were largely Irish freemasons, Shopkeepers and tradesmen who practised a more traditional form of masonry perhaps more aligned with those of the earlier trade based craft of masonry. For about 63 years the two Grand Lodges co-existed both in England and abroad. first Grand Lodge in 1717 up until 1894. It was published by the United Grand Lodge of England in 1895 and proved to be a very useful reference book

Lane's Masonic Records". The John Lane's Masonic Records. Published by The Digital Humanities Institute, University of Sheffield. This records the numeration of a lodge. The Premier of Moderns Grand Lodge (1717-1813) renumbered its lodges in 1729, 1740, 1755, 1770, 1780, 1781 and 1792 essentially to fill up gaps left by lodges erased from their roll. The history of the craft of masonry way well be seen as the history of building, from the earliest stone constructions through to the most magnificent cathedrals of Europe and Briton. From the earliest times men have sort shelter from the elements and as communities developed these requirements became more and more elaborate in design and permanency, this combined with religious verdancy to construct bigger and better edifices to the gods forced the development of masonry as the preferred medium to withstand the ravages of time and the elements whilst at the same time creating structures so great that the common man could well conceive that they did in fact reach the heavens. At some point, operative masonry, or the actual craft of building, turned into speculative masonry, or the moral and mystical interpretation of building, when and how this actually happened or when the structure and organisation came into existence may never be known with absolute certainty. The thoughts contained herein may stimulate the reader to search further for the answers. Lane was initiated in 1878 in Jordan Lodge, No. 1402, Torquay, he became Master of the same lodge four years later. He joined Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076 in 1887 one year after the formation of the famous research lodge.