Freemasonry in Canada

Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation

Freemasonry in Canada

Done by

N. Novgorod

2013

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 The history of Freemasonry in British North America
1.1 Nova Scotia
1.2 New Brunswick
1.3 Quebec
1.4 Ontario
Chapter 2   Tradition and surmise of Canada's Masonic history
2.1 The Masonic stone of 1606
2.2 The habitation
Chapter 3 Formation of the First Lodge in Canada
3.1 The Quebec lodge of 1721
3.2 Annapolis Royal and early masonry
3.3 Important members of the First Lodge

Chapter 4 The practical part of sociological experiment about freemasonry in Russian Federation

4.1 The sociological experiment

4.2 The analysis of sociological research

CONCLUSIONS

Bibliography 

Annex 

INTRODUCTION

Many people subscribe to the belief that modern Masonry began on 24 June 1717, when four Lodges in London England constituted themselves into a Grand Lodge. This Lodge eventually was to become the Grand Lodge of England.

Other people would believe that Masonry dates back even further to the Middle Ages and was conceived from the British stone masons.

In reality, both statements would be correct depending on the context in which it was given. When a person states that Freemasonry began in 1717 they are referring to modern constituted masonry in the form with which we are familiar with today. Since historical documents indicate that Craft Lodges existed prior to this date, then, the other statement, too, is correct.

To unconditionally accept the date of 1717 as the absolute beginning of Masonry is about as accurate as to state, for example, that the history of the USA began in 1776, or the history of any Country began with the reign of any given Monarch. Please keep in mind that this statement is based on my own humble opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other Masons, My Grand Lodge or Freemasonry in general.

The problem with tracing Freemasonry back even further is the absence of irrefutable documentation. Many people would like to connect modern Masonry with the legendary Knights Templars or the craftsman of King Solomon's Temple. Unfortunately, irrefutable proof in the form of historically accurate documents for these alleged connections do not exist and therefore cannot be claimed.

The story of Freemasonry in Canada is considered to begin with the first conquest in 1710 by the British of that portion popularly known as the Atlantic Provinces of Canada (comprising Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland). Until about seventy-five years ago, their Masonic histories were more or less closely interwoven. In what is now Quebec, Freemasonry came upon the scene simultaneously with the Conquest in 1759 and spread westward along the shores of the St. Lawrence.

Freemasons, or simply "Masons," have been present in Canada since at least 1634 and today can be found throughout the nation in civic and community roles. A detailed timeline of Freemasonry in Canada can be found via the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon's website.

Although the most famous Freemasons have been presidents, CEOs, and other public figures, the vast majority of Freemasons were and are small-town members working in their own communities to advance Masonic principles and traditions. Due to their esoteric nature, they have also been the recipients of much inquiry and curiosity over the years. More information on Freemasons can be found via Wikipedia.

This project does not seek to determine whether Masons are "good" or "bad," and instead is merely interested in Masons for historical and genealogical purposes.

The aim of this writing work is to describe the history of Freemasonry in Canada.

According to this writing work, some goals were determined.

1. To clarify the development of Freemasonry’s history in British North America.
2. To define some traditions and surmise of Canada's Masonry
3. To describe the formation of the first lodge in this country
4. To determine the important members of the First Lodge

CHAPTER 1 THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA

The history of Freemasonry in British North America, or that part of the continent now better known as the "Dominion of Canada," is a most interesting one. Upon the advent of Confederation, July 1, 1867, local control in each Province for the government of the Masonic Fraternity of the Dominion took a strong hold as a predominant idea, and prevailed. Each Province has now a Grand Lodge, and in order of their organization are as follows: Canada, having jurisdiction only in Ontario, 1855; Nova Scotia, 1866; New Brunswick, 1867; Quebec, 1869; British Columbia, 1871; Manitoba, 1875; Prince Edward Island, 1875; Alberta, 1905; Saskatchewan, 1906. The first marks of the Ancient Craftsman have been found in Nova Scotia. A mineralogical survey in 1827 found on the shore of Goat Island in the Annapolis Basin, partly covered with sand, a slab of rock 2 1/2 X 2 feet, bearing on it those well-known Masonic emblems, "the Square and Compasses," and the date 1606. Who were the Craftsmen, and how the stone came there, must be left to conjecture.

1.1 Nova Scotia

The records of the Craft in Boston, Mass., state that Bro. Henry Price was appointed Provincial Grand Master of New England by Viscount Montague, Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England (Moderns), and that his authority was subsequently extended to all North America.

On the 13th of November, 1737, Erasmus James Phillips, an officer of the Fortieth Regiment, then stationed at Annapolis Royal, visited Boston and was made a Mason in the "First Lodge in Boston." This Bro. Phillips was a nephew of Col. Richard Phillips, the first governor of Nova Scotia and the secretary of the governor's council, and evidently obtained an appointment as Deputy from Bro. Price, the Provincial Grand Master at Boston.

The first lodge established in Nova Scotia was at Annapolis and under authority from Boston by the St. Johns Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.

Bro. Phillips, having organized this lodge at Annapolis as stated, later on - on the petition of the Brethren at Halifax in 1750  - granted a Warrant for a lodge and appointed Bro. Edward Cornwallis, the founder of Halifax, 1749, and first governor of Nova Scotia (and an uncle of the Lord Cornwallis who figured in Revolutionary times in the United States), as its first Master. This lodge was instituted at Halifax July 19, 1750.

The Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia is in possession of a large amount of valuable and interesting Masonic documents, among them a Charter to form a Provincial Grand Lodge, dated December 27, 1757, from the Grand Lodge of the "Ancients," signed Blesington, Grand Master, and Laurence Dermott, Grand Secretary.

From 1786-1791, His Excellency, John Parr, Governor-in-Chief of Nova Scotia, was Provincial Grand Master, followed by the Hon. Richard Bulkeley, 1791-1800; Duncan Clark, 1800-1; Hon. John Wentworth, LL.D., 1801-10; and John Geo. Pyke, 1810-20. At this time, after thirty-six years, there were thirty-one lodges on the Provincial Registry.

Trouble then arose over a successor to Bro. Pyke and he continued in office another year, followed by John Albro from 1821 to 1829. At this period the number of lodges had been reduced to sixteen. For another forty years this Provincial Grand Lodge continued its work until, after an existence of eighty-five years, its lodges united with the new Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia in 1869.

The subject of an independent Grand Lodge had been agitated for five years, for the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland, and Scotland had lodges chartered under their authority in this Province.

From 1866 to 1869 the Grand Lodge increased to twenty-five lodges. In this latter year, the District Grand Lodge under the English Registry decided to affiliate, as did also the remaining lodge under Scotland. On the 23d June, 1869, the amalgamation took place, the twenty-five English and one Scotch Lodge uniting with the twenty-five Nova Scotia lodges under the designation of "The Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Nova Scotia." The three oldest lodges now working under this jurisdiction are in Halifax and are "St. Andrew's," chartered March 28, 1768, London, Laurence Dermott, Grand Secretary; "St. John's," chartered June 30, 1780, London, and "Virgin" Lodge, February 18, 1782.

In 1906 Nova Scotia has sixty-six lodges on the roll and a membership of 4,500.

1.2 New Brunswick

The Province of New Brunswick previous to the year 1786 formed a part of Nova

On August 22, 1792, a Warrant was granted by the Provincial Grand Lodge at Halifax for Solomons Lodge, No. 22 (now No. 6 on the Registry of New Brunswick), to be located at "St. Anns," now Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick. On June 7, 1826, J. Albro, Provincial Grand Master at Halifax, appointed Benjamin L. Peters Deputy Grand Master for the city of St. John and the town of St. Andrews in New Brunswick. On March 10, 1829, a Warrant, No. 52, was made out by the Provincial Grand Lodge at Halifax for Albion, No. 841, St. John. This lodge, formerly also under the English Registry as No. 400, is now No. 1 on the Registry of New Brunswick.

The Act confederating the Provinces into the "Dominion of Canada" came into force July 1, 1867. This new state of political existence brought prominently to the front the Masonic status in each Province, and the formation of an Independent Grand Lodge for the Province of New Brunswick was agitated. On the 16th of August, 1867, a meeting of the Masters and Past Masters in the city of St. John was held and it was resolved to address a circular to every lodge in the Province. On the 10th day of October, 1867, the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of New Brunswick was formed by representatives of fourteen lodges. There were nineteen lodges represented, but the delegates from St. Andrews Lodge, 364 R.S. retired from the convention, while those from Howard, 668 and Zetland, 886 E.R., though favoring the movement, stated they had no authority to vote for a new Grand Lodge.

The representatives of two others were not present when the vote was taken. V.W. Bro. Robert T. Clinch, District Grand Master, E.R., was elected Grand Master but declined, as he had not resigned his office under the English Registry. Bro. B. Lester Peters was then unanimously elected Grand Master, the installation taking place on the 22d of January, 1868. During the year 1867- 68 ten lodges holding under the English Registry became of allegiance to the Grand Lodge of New Brunswick, and in September, 1872, St. Andrews Lodge, at Fredericton, also affiliated, rendering the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge complete. 1906. There are thirty-five lodges on the roll, with a membership of 2,200.

1.3 Quebec

Although it has been affirmed by French and other writers that a lodge of Freemasons existed in the city of Quebec in the year 1755, no records or other evidences are known to be in existence, and Masonry in the Province only dates its existence from the time of "Wolfe," when the "Lily" flag of the Bourbon was replaced by the "Union Jack" over the citadel of Quebec.

The following extracts from a document in possession of the Grand Librarian of England succinctly tell the story of the formation of the first "Lower Canada" Grand Lodge on December 27, 1759, in the city of Quebec.

"In the winter of 1759 the Masters and Wardens of all the Warranted Lodges held in the Regiments garrisoned there, assembled together and unanimously agreed to choose an acting Grand Master to preside over them. Agreeable thereto they made choice of Bro. Guinnett, Lieutenant in the Forty-seventh Regiment, and drew out, signed and sealed, a Warrant empowering him and his successors elected, to congregate them together as a Grand Lodge for the intent before mentioned, they having the Constitution as their chief guide."

"The 24th June, 1760, Brother Simon Fraser, Colonel of the Highland Regiment, was elected to preside over the Lodges, and Brother T. Dunckerley of His Majesty's Ship the 'Vanguard,' who was possessed with a power from the Grand Lodge of England to inspect into the state of the Craft wheresoever he might go, installed Brother Fraser in his high office."

This Provincial Grand Lodge for the "Province of Quebec," annually elected a Grand Master and officers, and was in existence for thirty-two years, 1759-91. Among the Grand Masters following the Hon. Simon Fraser were, Capt. Milborne West, 1761; Lieutenant Turner, 1763; Hon. John Collins, 1765; Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester), 1786, and Sir John Johnson, Bart., who resided at Montreal, 1788.

According to M.W. Bro. John Hamilton Graham, LL.D., who compiled that valuable work The History of Freemasonry in Quebec, there has been traced some forty lodges holding under or emanating from this Grand Lodge. The first lodges it chartered were in the city of Quebec: "Merchants," No. 1, "St. Andrews," No. 2, "St. Patrick's," No. 3, and Select, No. 0 1759-61. The next warranted was No. 4, St. Peter's, Montreal, instituted 1761, and lapsed about 1792. The next Montreal charter was St. Paul's, No. 10, and of date November 8, 1770, which had an existence up to 1796. Among other lodges warranted was one at Vergennes, Vt., U.S.A., named "Dorchester," and of date May 5, 1791, granted by Sir John Johnson, Bart., Prov. G.M., and still in existence as No. 1, Vermont.

April 2, 1823, marked another era in the history of the Craft in the Province of Quebec. The lodges in Montreal as well as others in the Province forwarded their provincial or Canadian Charters to the "United Grand Lodge of England," and exchanged them for Warrants under that body. They then petitioned said Grand Lodge to establish a Provincial Grand Lodge for Montreal and the Borough of William Henry, now Sorel; and the Grand Lodge across the ocean saw fit to grant the request, and the Hon. William McGillivray was appointed Provincial Grand Master. The lodges in the cities of Quebec and Three Rivers being also formed into another Provincial Grand Lodge under the Hon. Claude Denechau.

From 1855 to 1869 the Grand Lodge of Canada was the controlling Masonic power in the Province of Quebec, but with the birth of the Dominion came also the agitation for separate Grand Lodges. Several meetings were held, and finally, on the 20th October, 1869, the Grand Lodge of Quebec was formed by twenty-eight of the Warranted Lodges then in the Province, with M.W. Bro. John Hamilton Graham, LL.D., as Grand Master.

A number of the lodges did not at once join in this movement, but gradually were absorbed. Those remaining under the Grand Lodge of Canada (which Grand Lodge vigorously and strenuously opposed the formation of the new Grand Lodge) continued until September 23, 1874, when "Canada" withdrew, and its lodges affiliated with Quebec.

On the 27th of January, 1881, three lodges holding under warrants from Scotland also affiliated, leaving three claiming allegiance to the Grand Lodge of England.

 In 1906 The Grand Lodge of Quebec has now on the roll fifty-eight lodges and a membership of 5,000.

1.4 Ontario

The history of the Craft in the Province of Ontario has been exhaustively compiled by Most Wor. Bro. John Ross Robertson in his admirable work, The History of Masonry in Canada. Lodge No. 156 in the Eighth Regiment of Foot appears to have been the first lodge to hold meetings in this Province, at Fort Niagara, about 1755-80. From 1780 to 1792 some ten lodges appear to have worked in what was called "Upper Canada."

Some chartered by England, others by the Provincial Grand Lodge at Quebec, among them St. James in the King's Rangers, No. 14, at Cataraqui (Rintrston), 1781; St. John's, No. 15, at Michilimakinac (Michigan), then part of Canada; St. John's, No. 19, at Niagara, and Oswegatchie Lodge, 1786, at Elizabethtown (Brockville).

On March 7, 1792, Bro. William Jarvis was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Upper Canada by the "Ancient" or "Athol" Grand Lodge of England. Bro. Jarvis resided at Newark (Niagara), the then capital of the Province. During his Grand Mastership, 1792 to 1804, twenty warrants for lodges were issued for various parts of the Province.

In 1797 Bro. Jarvis removed from Newark to York (now Toronto), when the capital was transferred to the latter place. The Brethren at Niagara continued to be active and enthusiastic, and urged Bro. Jarvis to assemble Grand Lodge there, but he refused. This refusal caused much dissatisfaction, and the Brethren of Niagara District met in 1803 and elected Bro. Geo. Forsyth as Provincial Grand Master, and trouble and friction ensued.

In 1817, at Kingston, a Grand Convention was called by the Lodges in the Midland District under R.W. Bro. Ziba M. Phillips. All the lodges attended excepting those in the Niagara District. This convention was held annually during the years 1817, 1818, 1820, 1821, 1822.

In 1886 the words "in the Province of Ontario" were added to the title of the "Grand Lodge of Canada," owing to the representations of other Grand Lodges that the title did not represent the jurisdiction of that Grand Body.

In 1906 The Grand Lodge of Canada has now 395 lodges and a membership of 37,628.

CHAPTER 2   TRADITION AND SURMISE OF CANADA’S MASONIC HISTORY

2.1 The Masonic stone of 1606

The reader will recall that in 1605 Champlain, the French explorer established the settlement of Port Royal on the west side of Annapolis Basin.  This settlement was the predecessor of the more noted Port Royal and Annapolis Royal, built some miles to the northward, the scene of many sieges and history making events, including the organization of the first Masonic lodge on Canadian soil.

On this first site was discovered in 1827, what some Masonic students and historians have regarded as the earliest trace of the existence of Freemasonry on this continent, namely certain marks on a stone found on the site of this early settlement.

There are two accounts of the finding of this stone.  The first, from the pen of the Hon. Thomas Chandler Haliburton (the famous author of "Sam Slick the Clockmaker") was written in the year of the finding of the stone or very shortly afterward, and is to be found in his History of Nova Scotia, published in 1829.

The stone is described by Haliburton as "about two feet and a half long and two feet broad, and of the same kind as that which forms the substratum of Granville Mountain. On the upper part are engraved the square and compass of the Free Mason, and in the centre, in large and deep Arabic figures, the date 1606. It does not appear to have been dressed by a mason, but the inscription has been cut on its natural surface."

"The date is distinctly visible, and although the figure o is worn down to one-half of its original depth and the upper part of the figure 6 nearly as much, yet no part of them is obliterated - they are plainly discernable to the eye and easily traced by the finger."

The other account of the finding of the stone is from the pen of Dr. Charles T. Jackson of Boston, the celebrated chemist and geologist, and was written in June 1856.

"When Francis Alger and myself made a mineralogical survey of Nova Scotia in 1827 we discovered upon the shore of Goat Island, in Annapolis Basin, a gravestone partly covered with sand and lying on the shore. It bore the Masonic emblems, square and compass, and the figures 1606 cut in it.

"Judge Haliburton, then Thomas Haliburton, Esq., prevailed on me to abandon it to him, and he now has it carefully preserved."

About 1887 the stone was given by Robert Grant Haliburton (son of Judge T.C. Haliburton) to the Canadian Institute of Toronto with the understanding that the stone should be inserted in the wall of the building then being erected for the Institute.

Sir Sanford Fleming wrote that he received the stone from Mr. R. G. Haliburton in order that it might be properly cared for.  There is an entry respecting it in the minutes of the Institute, acknowledging its arrival and receipt.

"When the building was erected on the northwest corner of Richmond and Bertie Streets, Toronto, instructions were given by Dr. Scadding to build it into the wall with the inscription exposed; but, very stupidly, it is said the plasterer covered it over with plaster, and even the spot cannot now be traced, although the plaster has been removed at several places to look for it."

I further offered a reward of $1,000 for the stone if it could be found, but it was all to no purpose.

If ever the present building be taken down, diligent search should be made for the historic store, perhaps, the oldest inscription stone in America."

The theory that the stone might commemorate the establishment of a lodge of Freemasons has virtually nothing to support it, though there are some who profess to see such a lodge in the famous "Ordre de Bon Temps," established there by Champlain in the winter of 1606-7.

The theory that the stone marked the last resting place of one of the settlers would seem to have more to support it than any other.  It was apparently found in or near the burying ground shown on Champlain's map of the settlement, and we know, too, that at least one of the colonists died in the year 1606 and Champlain gives the date of his decease, November 14, 1606.

2.2 The habitation

In the spring of that year (1606) Poutrincourt, who had gone home with DeMonts in the autumn of 1605, induced Marc Lescarbot, an advocate of Paris, to join the colony.  They reached Port Royal on July 27th, where they remained until August 28th, when Poutrincourt started on an exploratory voyage down the American coast, as far as Cape Code leaving Lescarbot behind in charge of the colony.  We learn from Lescarbot's "New Fiance" that among the setters were "numerous joiners, carpenters, treasons, stone cutters, locksmiths, workers in iron, tailors, wood sawyers, sailors, etc., who worked at their trades."

In a battle with the Indians at Cape Cod, one of the settlers was wounded.  He was brought back to Port Royal and died on November 14, 1606.

At this time the carpenters of France had their own mystery or trade guild, worked on lines somewhat akin to operative Masonry and using the square and compasses as their emblem.

It would seem that the stone marked the grave of a member of a French trade, or craft guild, who died in 1606, and to this extent the stone may be regarded as the earliest known trace of Freemasonry in the New World.

CHAPTER 3 FORMATION OF THE FIRST LODGE IN CANADA

3.1 The Quebec lodge of 1721

Dr. Emmanuel Rebold, last Deputy of the Grand Orient of France, in his "General History of Freemasonry" published in 1860, asserts that, "The activity of the three Grand Lodges of Great Britain, and, above all, of that of London, was not confined to the establishment of lodges in Europe between 1727 and 1740; they had already transplanted Masonry to Bengal, to Bombay, the Cape of Good Hope, New South Wales, New Zealand and Java, and as early as 1721, lodges of Masons were established in Canada." Apart from Bengal, where Masonry had a beginning in 1728, nothing has been found to support the statement.

By "Canada," Rebold undoubtedly meant the present Province of Quebec and Ontario constituting the former Province of "Canada." It is a curious fact that in 1851 nine years before the publication of Rebold's work, Albion Lodge No. 17, Quebec, received a letter from LaLoge Clemente Amitie of Paris, France, which begins with the statement "You have one of the most ancient Temples of Freemasonry, since its erection dates from 1721."

Quebec in 1721 was in the hands of the French. It is of course possible that Freemasonry may have been transplanted into New France by military officers, or the governing or merchant class of whom there was a large number at the time in Old Quebec.  If there is any substratum of fact in the 1721 tradition, the proof must be found in the archives of the Grand Orient of France where rest the unsorted and unclassified records of scores of lodges, civil and military, existing prior to the formation of the Grand Orient. Until an exhaustive examination of these records has been made, the Quebec lodge of 1721 must remain a tradition.

In the same category must be placed the statement of Jean d'Ebrie who, writing in 1883 on "Freemasonry in the Province of Quebec" stated that a lodge of Masons was in existence in Quebec 1755.  Nothing to support this statement has since been found.

3.2 Annapolis Royal and early masonry

Between 1710 when Port Royal (renamed Annapolis Royal) fell to the besieging forces from New England under Col. Francis Nicholson until the American Revolution, there was the closest sort of intercourse, military, civil, commercial and social, between Annapolis Royal and Boston.

In 1717 Col. Richard Philipps of South Wales was appointed Governor of Nova Scotia and of Placentia in Newfoundland, continuing to hold office until 1749, although for most of that period he resided out of the Province, governing the country by means of lieutenant-governors.

At the time of Philipps' appointments in 1717, Annapolis Royal was garrisoned by four independent companies of Foot.  These companies with four others at Placentia and two additional companies were in that year organized as one regiment under the command of Col. Philipps, and later known as the Fortieth Foot, the first of several British regiments organized in Canada.  The regiment continued in the service in Nova Scotia until 1758, when it formed part of the expedition against Louisbourg.  In the intervening years it garrisoned Annapolis Royal, Canso and Placentia.

In 1720 Col. Philipps organized the first Council for the Province of Nova Scotia composed almost entirely of Boston men and it is a curious fact that these Boston men were all closely identified with King's Chapel, and it is the writers theory, after exhaustive investigation, that there was a Masonic Lodge, or at least Masonic activity, at Annapolis Royal between 1721 and 1725, owing its origin to men from Boston such as John Adams, Paul Mascarene, Edward How, Arthur Savage, Captain Cyprian Southack and Hibbert Newton, who along with Rev. John Harrison and his successor, Rev. Robert Cuthbert were, all to some degree, and several, very intimately, associated with King's Chapel, Boston, where tradition says Masonic meetings were held in the same period.

In the "Concise account of the Rise and Progress of Freemasonry in the Province of Nova Scotia, 1786," it is stated that "it is certain that as soon as the English took possession of the colony they took care to encourage this charitable institution." There is a sort of corroboration of this in the statement of M. W. Bro. Major-General J. Wimburn Laurie, Grand Master of Nova Scotia, in his address to the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia in 1884, who after referring to the receipt by him of a photographic copy of the ledger of St. John's Lodge, Philadelphia, dated 1731, forwarded as evidence that it was the first Masonic lodge organized in America during the colonial period, proceeded;

"From circumstances that have come to my knowledge, I believe it to be quite within the bounds of possibility that evidence will in due time be forthcoming, that a Masonic Lodge regularly met and transacted Masonic business at a much earlier date than 1731 in our own Province.  I have been for some time promised the documents by a gentleman who is not a member of the craft, and I trust his disinterested efforts to obtain them will be successful. I may be disappointed either in obtaining the documents or their authenticity, so hesitate to say more."

Bro. Laurie had previously made a similar statement when addressing the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in 1883 when he stated that "certain antiquarians** had recently discovered what they were inclined to believe were the vestiges of a Masonic lodge which had existed in Nova Scotia very early in the eighteenth century."

Any Masonic activity prior to 1731 in Nova Scotia must have been either at Annapolis Royal (then the capital) or possibly at Canso, where during the fishing season some 2,000 New Englanders made their base of operations.

3.3 Important members of the First Lodge

Although a list of members of the Lodge is not obtainable, yet among the residents of Annapolis in the period 1738-55, were a considerable number who, we believe on most convincing evidence, were Masons.

WILLIAM SHIRREFF already mentioned, an officer in the garrison sometime previously to 1715, was a member of the Council from 1720 until 1742. He removed to Boston, dying there in May, 1768.  He is said to have been a descendant of James, Marquis of Hamilton.

His son, CAPT. WILLIAM SHIRREFF, of the 47th Regiment, Deputy QuarterMaster-General of the Forces in America and aide-de-camp to General Gage, is mentioned as being present at a meeting of the Grand Lodge, Boston, in 1763.

OTHO HAMILTON of Philipps' Regiment from 1727, was Secretary of the Council and a member from 1731.  He was Lieut.-Col. of the 59th Regiment in which from 1754 to 1797, there was a Masonic Lodge,

His son OTHO HAMILTON, JR. also an officer in the 40th, was wounded at Quebec 1759.  He succeed to the command of the Regiment in 1770,

JOHN, HAMILTON, a brother, was Lieut. in the 40th in 1734, in which year he was also appointed "naval officer" for the port of Annapolis.  In 1752 he was Captain-Lieutenant in the 40th.

DR. WILLIAM SKENE, a member of the Aberdeen family prominent in the records of the Aberdeen Lodge of Aberdeen No. 1 ter, was attached to the garrison at Annapolis as surgeon, as early as 1715.  He became a member of the Council in 1720, and along with John Adams and Shirreff, was a member of the first Court of Justice in 1727.

GEORGE AND SAMUEL COTTNAM were lieutenants in the 40th in 1752. George was later a magistrate at Louisbourg.

HIBBERT NEWTON, son of Thomas Newton, Attorney General of Massachusetts and member of the First Lodge, Boston, was a member of Council and Collector of Customs at Annapolis in 1720.

CHARLES MCRRIS, a native of New England, made a survey of the whole Province in 1745-6. He commanded a company at Grand Pre under Col. Arthur Noble in 1746-7, distinguishing himself before the enemy. In 1749 he helped to lay out the Town of Halifax.  Appointed Councillor in 1755 he was the first surveyor-general of the Province, and a judge of the Supreme Court in the time of Chief Justice Belcher.

JOHN ADAMS who came from Boston with Sir Charles Hobby's Regiment to the capture of Annapolis in 1710, was for thirty years a conspicuous figure. His daughters married Hibbert Newton, Dr. William Skene, and Major Otto Hamilton.  Adams was a trader between Annapolis and Boston between 1710 and 1720, and a resident councillor at Annapolis between 1720 and 1740.

PAUL MASCARENE, born at Castras, France, in 1684, of Huguenot parents, joined Nicholson's forces against Port Royal in 1710, commanding the grenadiers of Col.  Waldo's New Hampshire Regiment. He commanded the garrison at Placentia in 1720.  He was a member of Philipps' Council from 1720. During this period he made frequent trips to Boston, where he was closely associated with King's Chapel. In 1749 he came to Halifax as senior member of Cornwallis' Council. He retired from active service about 1750; was gazetter Major- Gen'l in 1758, and resided in Boston from that date until his death in January 1760.

COL. JOHN GORHAM of Gorham's Indian Rangers, was Lieut.-Col. of his father's regiment in the expedition against Louisbourg in 1745, and on the death of his father at Louisbourg was promoted Colonel. He commanded the Boston troops at Minas with Col. Noble.  He was a member of Cornwallis' first Council July 31st, 1749.  It is probable that he returned home to New England about 1752.

WILLIAM WINNIETT "the most considerable merchant and one of the first inhabitants of this place and eminent in his zeal for His Majesty's service," came with Nicholson in 1710, and remained as a trader.  His daughters married Lt. Col. Alex Cosby, Capt. John Handfield and Edward How.  He died in 1741.

JOHN DYSON, Sergeant in the 40th Reg., later Lieut. in the Royal Artillery and Storekeeper, whose daughter Ann married Erasmus James Philipps.

EDWARD HOW, a member of the Council at Annapolis in 1736, was severely wounded at the Grand Pre affair in 1747. He was frequently employed in difficult negotiations with the Indians and French authorities, and was treacherously murdered by Indians near Beausejour in 1751.  He married the daughter of William Winniett.

EDWARD AMHURST, an officer in the 40th, became a member of the Council in 1736.  He was in England in 1749 and came out with Cornwallis. He was Governor at Placentia in Newfoundland.

ALEX COSBY was a Major in Philipps' Regt. on its organization in 1717, and was for a time Lieut-Gov. under Governor Richard Philipps, who married his sister.  Cosby married An, daughter of William Winniett.  He became a member of the Council in 1727, and was Lieut-Col. of the 40th from 1739 until his death Dec. 27, 1742.  Cosby was the ancestor of the Cosby Family of Queens County, N.Y., and brother of Brig-Gen'l Wm.  Cosby, Governor of New York.

JOHN HANDFIELD, an officer of Philipps' Regiment from 1720 to 1750, was a member of Gov. Armstrong's Council in 1736.  He assisted in the deportation of the Acadians in 1755 and became Lieut Col. of the 40th in March 1758.  He married Elizabeth, daughter of William Winniett, merchant of Annapolis, and his daughter married Lieut. John Hamilton of the 40th.

JOHN BRADSTREET appointed Lieutenant in the 40th in 1735, served as a Colonel in the Louisberg expedition of 1745. In 1746 he was made Governor of St. John's, Newfoundland. In 1755 he was Adjutant-Gen'l under General Shirley, and in 1758 took part in the attack on Fort Ticonderoga. A few months later he led the expedition which captured Fort Frontenac, and still later a relief expedition to Detroit during the investment of that place by Pontiac. Promoted Major-General, he died in New York in 1774.

Three other members of the Lodge whose names have come down to us are John Easson "made" in 1738; Isaac DeCoster later the first Master of St. Andrew's Lodge, Boston, also "made" in 1738, and Francis Barclay LeCain "made" in 1751; all Master Artificers in the employ of the Board of Ordnance.

As the Lodge was practically a regimental lodge it is not surprising to find the brethren of Philipps' Regiment applying to the Grand Lodge of England ("Ancients") in 1758 for a warrant, which was numbered 42. Apart from this fact, however, no other information is obtainable from the English Grand Lodge records, but it would seem clear that the warrant was merely the re-chartering of the old Lodge which has been established in 1738 by Philipps, and which was undoubtedly being carried on under his watchful eye.

The Lodge continued to be mentioned in the minutes of St. John's Grand Lodge, Boston, between 1738 and 1767.

In 1751 the Regiment was designated as the 40th Foot, and was familiarly known as the "Fighting Fortieth." Detachments from the Regiment served at the capture of Fort Beausejour in 1755, and in Loudoun's abortive expedition against Louisbourg in Cape Breton in 1757.  The 40th marched to Halifax in 1758 and proceeded under the command of Major-General P.T. Hopson with the expedition to Louisbourg under Boscawen and Amherst.  After the capture of that fortress the regiment wintered there; in 1758 the grenadier company participated in the siege of Quebec along with other similar companies from the garrison.

After service in the West Indies the Regiment served from 1775-8 in the American War, when it was again transferred to the West Indies, returning to Halifax in 1782.  The Lodge apparently became dormant before 1810 as in that year we find the brethren (engaged at that time in the Peninsular War in Spain) applying for an Irish warrant, No. 204.  In 1811, the Regiment, then known as the 2nd Somersetshire Regiment, was amalgamated with the 82nd Prince of Wales Volunteers as the line battalions of the South Lancashire Regiment.