A History of Mark Masonry
THE GRAND MARK LODGE (GML) OF ENGLAND
PART IV
Introduction
We have previously looked at the origins of Mark Masonry
amongst old European operative masons and the state of Mark Masonry before the
formation of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813. In the preceding module
an examination was made of Mark Masonry between 1813 and immediately prior to
the formation, in 18%6, of the Mark Grand Lodge.
This module deals with the English Grand Mark Lodge and its
officers, from its formation until 1857, when the new Grand Lodge was under
attack.
By this time pressures of royal succession, parliaments and
religion had fallen away. The Industrial Revolution had triumphed - although at
social cost - in Britain, and the mighty British Empire was in place. The stage
was set for the blossoming of science, the arts, culture - and Freemasonry.
BACKGROUND TO THE FORMATION OF THE GRAND MARK LODGE OF
ENGLAND
Complaints From The Colonies
In North America and throughout the growing British Empire
Freemasonry was proving popular. The Further Orders, also, found much favour.
Foremost, it seems, was the Mark.
The Grand Lodge of England, however, supported only the Craft
and Royal Arch degrees. It had actively tried to suppress all other orders and
degrees. This meant that an English warranted lodge, in say Canada, could not
work the Mark, while nearby Scottish or Irish groups could, and did. This was a
situation which was not liked.
Letters of complaint arrived in London. In August 1855 the
Grand Secretary reported to the Board (Cryer:229) that the Mark was ‘much
practised in America’, and that Scottish and Irish liberalities as compared with
the official English position had ‘led to unpleasant feelings’.
It was in November of that year that the Grand Lodge received
an address from the Grand Lodge of Canada (Cryer:230) saying that the ‘first and
most important grievance’ leading to its breaking away was a want of agreement
between the various constitutions regarding the degrees worked.
Grantham (1960:30) reports that the then current opinion was
that, overseas, "Unless a liberalisation of outlook were brought about, so it
was considered, partial or possibly total isolation of English Freemasonry might
occur."
Home Unease
Throughout England (and the always-overridden Wales) there were
Freemasons who wanted to gain further degrees, including the Mark. As examined
in the previous module some managed to do this, particularly after the departure
of Essex, but it was never at an openly accepted or supported level.
"Between 1845 and 1855," writes Handfield-Jones (1969:19),
"according to Gould the entire English Craft was in a state of insubordination
and discontent."
Other Orders
Eventually some of the orders got themselves organised.
Grantham (30) notes that by 1851 ‘substantial advance in respect of the Order of
the Temple and of the Ancient and Accepted Rite had already been made’.
These do-it-yourself examples must have given Mark enthusiasts
ideas.
BON ACCORD MARK LODGE
Foundation
Because of its fundamental importance of the beginnings and
‘legality’ of the whole world Mark system - including South Australia’s - the
beginnings of the London Bon Accord Mark Lodge are best examined in detail
(Grantham gives the clearest account).
It was in 1851 that a Scottish doctor, Brother Robert
Beveridge, came to London to visit the Great Exhibition. He met several leading
London Masons who wished to know about the Mark. Beveridge wrote to his home
chapter, the Bon Accord Royal Arch Chapter 70 SC, Aberdeen, to get authority to
confer the Mark Master degree in London. Conferral of such a degree away from
home was, by Scottish custom and mandate, legal providing there were two others
to help (the old European triangle lodge), and it was not encroaching into the
territory of another chapter or similar body. Just to make it obvious to the
English, however, Bon Accord Chapter wrote out a formal commission and sent it
to Beveridge to ‘form, open and hold’ (Cryer:221) a Mark Lodge.
On the 26 Aug 1831, with the help of two Mark Masters with
Scottish credentials, the first London Masons were made Mark Masons. News of the
advancements rapidly spread and more Londoners wanted the degree. Bon Accord
Chapter, foreseeing a fairly strong on-going demand, on 5 Sep 1851 decided to
issue ‘a charter or warrant for holding a Mark Master Lodge in London’
(Grantham:20).
One of the assistants, Dr. William Jones of London, well known
in Aberdeen Masonic circles, then visited the Bon Accord Chapter and on 12 Sep
1851 was made the master of the London Mark extension of the Chapter. On the
13th the Chapter drew up a charter for "The London Bon Accord Mark Master Lodge"
(Grantham).
On the 19 Sep 1851 Jones consecrated a Mark Lodge and advanced
six candidates. The Bon Accord Chapter retained control. It stipulated that, for
example, only regularly made Royal Arch companions could be advanced, and that
irregular Mark Masons could not join.
The Bon Accord Ritual
The shorter form of Scottish Mark ritual, imported intact from
the Aberdeen Chapter, was used. It was supposed to be of high quality. The
longer form used overseers and the stone rejection playlet. Apart from this the
original ritual, says Cryer (179), has many basics similar to the present day
English one.
It is probable that this was the ritual compiled by Comp Hector
Gaun, Grand Treasurer of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland. He had gathered
as many Mark ritual MSS as he could and compiled them into longer and shorter
versions. In 1845 these were authorised for chapter use. Descendants of these
two versions are still used in Scotland.
Bon Accord Membership
The Bon Accord Mark lodge was ‘highly successful’ (Cryer:224).
It attracted a good numbers of highly placed craft and chapter members. This
appears to be because while other Mark ‘lodges’ existed, they were appended to
various lodges and chapters, with which those already committed did not want to
get involved. The ‘Scottish’ Mark Lodge, on the other hand, was free of
practical entanglements. Further, it had a warrant and constitution emanating
from a regular authority.
By later 1855 it had 120 members, growing by 1856 to about 150.
Scottish Intervention
In February 1855 the Bon Accord Mark Lodge advertised it
presence in the Freemason’s Monthly Magazine (FMM). In the May issue the
editor, Richard Spencer, noted that two letters had been received from a W
Gaylor claiming that the London Bon Accord Mark Master Lodge was illegitimate.
Spencer decried this, saying that the Lodge was working under the law which had
caused warranted Chair Master Lodges to be formed. Although that procedure had
now been abrogated the Mark Lodge had been formed prior to that. On this point
of argument he was wrong.
In the June 1855 issue the First Principal of the Bon Accord
Chapter made it known that William Gaylor was the Grand Scribe N of the Supreme
Grand Chapter of Scotland. He went on to say that the Supreme Chapter had
stopped issuing Chair Master Warrants, and was once more allowing chapters to
grant the degrees of Mark and Past Master, and that was all that Aberdeen had
done in the London case.
London apparently gave little credence to the Gaylor objection.
A week after his June letter the Right Hon The Lord Leigh was inducted in the
Master’s chair of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge. Who recruited him appears not to be
known, but it was a masterstroke. A noble of the realm, a sincere man and a
friend of the Craft Grand Master, he was on his way to promote the Mark’s
destiny.
The magazine row continued. Both sides used imprudent language.
Spencer’s, notes Cryer (231) undiplomatic comments helped fuel the flames.
Bon Accord Chapter On Notice
On 20 June 1855 Gaylor brought the matter to Grand Chapter. Bon
Accord Chapter’s giving of a charter to London was pronounced illegal. Gaylor
then wrote to Spencer’s magazine saying that the Aberdeen chapter had applied to
the laws of Supreme Chapter ‘a meaning they were quite incapable of sustaining’.
The chapter was asked to withdraw its warrant to London immediately or suffer
the consequences.
The Response of the Grand Lodge of England to the Mark
Turmoil
Cryer (232) is of the opinion that the complaints of the
Canadians urged the English Grand Lodge to look at taking action with the Mark,
and not the row with Scotland. However, when the events are identified and
placed in chronological order it is apparent that the Scottish brawl sequence
must have tipped the balance for early action.
The first result was that the BGP appointed, on 7 Nov 1855, a
committee, including Grand Chapter members, to look at the Mark to see if it
‘may be deemed part of Ancient Freemasonry’. The members took their job
seriously.
The Beginning of Scottish Mark Lodges
The Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland had obviously been giving
thought to the Mark problems and in December 1855 decided to issue special
warrants for the formation, in other countries, of Mark Lodges alone.
Handfield-Jones is of the opinion that this action was taken because the Grand
Chapter was ‘infuriated by the success of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge in London’.
This type of warrant was a world first.
These warrants would be issued in any particular country until
‘they can put themselves under a Supreme Body there’. The publication of these
decisions led to a lot of thinking and action.
The first Scottish Mark Lodge, ‘The St Mark’s Lodge of Mark
Masters No.1 SC’, was warranted on 18 June 1856, first meeting in London on 15
Aug 1856.
Official English Masonic Approach to the Mark
The committee (Cryer:234) commissioned to look into Mark
Masonry reported on 1 Feb 1856. In included the statement:
"That after obtaining all the information in its power, this
Committee is of the opinion that the Mark Mason’s Degree, so called, does not form a
portion of the Royal Ark Degree, and that it is not essential to Craft Masonry, but they
are of the opinion that there is nothing objectionable in such degree, nor anything
which militates against the Universality of Masonry, and that it might be considered as
forming a graceful addition to the Fellow Craft’s degree..."
The Grand Chapter stated that, "As the Mark Degree is no part
of Royal Arch Masonry, the question of its introduction into Masonry be left to
the Grand Lodge of England."
Following this, on 5 Mar 1856 (Cryer:235) the following
resolution was carried unanimously in Grand Lodge:
"That the Degree of Mark Mason or Mark Master is not at
variance with the ancient landmarks of the Order, and the Degree be an addition
to or part of Craft Masonry, and, consequently, may be conferred by all regular
Warranted Lodges, under regulations as shall be prepared by the Board of General
Purposes, approved and sanctioned by the MW the Grand Master."
English Freemasonry, at last, was recognising the Mark as a
legitimate part of regular Masonry. Some Mark Masons were delighted. Others
decided to strengthen their own line of Mark work, for example the Ashton
Travelling Lodge.
REASONS FOR THE FORMATION OF THE GRAND MARK LODGE
Stopping the Craft Absorbing the Mark
The Grand Master had approved of the Mark coming in, and Grand
Lodge had geared up (Cryer:239) to administer it.
Then some Mark Masons began to have second thoughts. Following
the on-going conservative nature of Grand Lodge the Mark could well be
sidelined. Grantham (43) writes,
"Sufficient truth was discernible to suggest that the mere
merging of the Mark with the fellow Craft Degree might result in submergence and that
Mark Masonry might be ‘regulated’ into a mere shadow of its former self."
This is not an uncommon occurrence. In the English Order of the
Red Cross of Constantine the old Order of the Knight of Rome is reduced to a
quick lustration or cleansing of hands, the Order not even being named. With the
foundation of the South Australian Red Cross of Constantine in 1984 the degree
was enlarged to a ceremony of a few minutes, but still not given the dignity of
being designated a degree. In the Knights Templar the old ‘Knight of the
Mediterranean Pass’ has been reduced to a word of recognition. Other Orders, eg
the Rose and KT Priests, confer many degrees by naming them alone.
At a meeting of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge on 21 May 1856 ‘final
steps’ were taken to ‘form a Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons’. Bon Accord
would fight for the Mark.
Plans were made. It is almost certain that the Grand Master was
spoken to. Opponents to the Mark were on hand. At the next Grand Lodge
communication, 5 June 1856, the minute approving the Mark was debated and lost.
The Mark was back out in the cold again.
Someone had to look after it.
Further Reasons to Form a Grand Mark Lodge
The Bon Accord Mark Lodge, and some other English Mark Masons,
welcomed the attention now given the Mark. But, wrote Gould (1955:65), "... not
approving what they could not but regard as a systematic attempt to introduce a
foreign masonic authority into England, resolved to constitute a Grand Lodge
with jurisdiction over the Mark Degree in this country..."
In general, also, there was widespread uncertainty on how
English Mark Masonry might function and fare in the future. There was some
apprehension (Cryer:235), also, that the Craft might go through another
shake-up, take the Mark and somehow humble it. A separate supreme Mark authority
was the only answer.
THE FORMATION OF THE GRAND MARK LODGE
Consultation
Cryer (237) thinks that the Bon Accord Mark Lodge consulted
fairly widely on the move to form a controlling body. All evidence of this,
however, has disappeared, except for a minute by the St George’s Mark ‘Lodge’ at
Bottoms, a remote corner of Yorkshire. But they certainly did not reach all Mark
‘lodges’.
Formation
Shortly after the Grand Lodge’s rejection of the Mark, on 23
June 1856, Bon Accord held a meeting at which three other Mark ‘lodges’ were
present. These were: Royal Cumberland, from Bath; Northumberland and Berwick,
from Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Old Kent, of London (Cryer:243). This was to
consider "That a Grand Mark Masters Lodge of England and it’s (sic) Dependencies
be forthwith established..." Then they immediately formed it. Lord Leigh was
elected Grand Master. Lord Methuen (Mackenzie, 1912:22) became Dep Grand Master.
A General Board for the year was appointed.
Bro Dr Benjamin Kent
One of the 14 Board members is of great interest to South
Australians - Dr Benjamin Arthur Kent. A colonist visiting London, he was to
return to South Australia where he had a strong social and Masonic influence.
Kent Town was named after him.
THE AFTERMATH - 1856 TO A RESTART, 1857
Early Days
The new Mark Grand Lodge wrote to Companion Rettie, of the Bon
Accord Chapter, for advice on regalia. Rettie designed it - ‘we must assume’,
writes Handfield-Jones (33), ‘it was a new creation’.
On 26 June 1856 the Grand Lodge advertised its presence in ‘The
Times’, looking for lodge membership. This prompted a Mason to write to
Spencer’s FMM. ‘Where has the ‘Grand Mark Lodge’ sprung from?" he asked. Were
circulars sent out or announcements made? Have those who are Mark Masters been
called together, and the present movement arisen out of such convention?
"Or is this some upstart self-constituted Grand Lodge that has
called itself into existence, dignified itself with a Grand Name and by an act
of usurpation, assumed the management of this interesting Degree in England?"
Criticism of Grand Mark Lodge
Cryer shows (245-7) that Bon Accord members Dr William Jones
and Dr Robert Norton were trouble makers, earlier expelled from a Craft lodge.
They appear to have been behind the bad tactics and policy used in forming the
Grand Mark Lodge and its early running, the latter being referred to (248) as
having ‘chaotic internal affairs’.
William Collins, secretary of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge, was
appointed the Grand Lodge’s first secretary, with no clerical help. Apparently
regarding the office as a grandiose one, he neglected the duties the new Grand
Lodge demanded. Essential letters were not attended to. Certificates were
delayed or never issued. Warrants were not sent - including Kent’s new South
Australian Mark Lodge. Old Albany Lodge was sent no Warrant of Confirmation, so
pulled back from joining. Even communications were not notified or held.
Ashton Travelling Lodge
The Ashton-Under-Tyne Travelling Mark Lodge, of some fame, was
‘basically a Craft lodge’ (Handfield-Jones:100). It would arrive, on a Sunday,
at a town on its circuit and open in the third craft degree. Then it would open
in its Mark Degree.
An old lodge formed some time in the 1700’s and working under
various craft warrants, it appears to have felt snubbed by the London Mark
Masons. The Ashton Travelling Lodge had generated, over on-going decades, much
regional interest in the Mark. It had brought in hundreds of candidates.
Believing its own ceremony to be older and more authentic than Bon Accord’s, and
that it had an inherited authority to deal with Mark matters which the
‘manufactured’ Bon Accord did not, it appointed a committee to examine the
situation.
English critics were saying that the new London Mark Grand
Lodge was ‘born in sin and shapen in iniquity’ (Cryer:245). The founding
Aberdeen Bon Accord Chapter was defiant to its superior. How could such a group
have authority or respect?
The outcome was that on 19 Oct 1856 Ashton formed "The
Honourable United Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of the Ashton-Under-Tyne
District". It was generally named ‘The Grand Lodge of Mark Masonry in England’.
It included lodges it had formed or influenced.
Not Alone
Ashton was not alone in its efforts to, as it saw it, maintain
old English standards. The Old Albany Mark lodge was crudely treated by Collins,
the Bon Accord/Grand Mark secretary, and stated that as a time immemorial lodge,
working without a warrant when there were none to be had, it had sovereign
powers. No upstart could dissolve it. In 1856 it issued a warrant to a new Mark
lodge.
The March of the Scottish Mark Lodges
With the new Grand Mark Lodge’s bad publicity many of the
semi-independent Mark lodges looked elsewhere. Jones (1950:535) wrote:
‘Mark lodges began to apply to the Supreme Grand Royal Arch
Chapter of Scotland for Warrants, and within a year or two there were about
fifty (sic) Mark lodges spread over England, Wales, and also Colonies, all owing
allegiance to the Scots Grand Chapter, as did also two Provincial (Australian)
Grand Mark Lodges, those of Victoria and New South Wales."
New lodges formed themselves, also, under the Scottish
umbrella. All these lodges worked the Scottish ‘long’ working, thus paving the
way for the present English Mark working.
Lord Leigh’s Bid to Save the Mark Grand Lodge
Lord William Leigh is described by Cryer (237-8) as a
hardworking man, a careful manager, a good family man and altogether a person of
integrity. He was not of the ‘conniving’ type.
As 1857 dawned the Grand Lodge had only four lodges, two of
these being daughters of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge. The only ‘outside’ lodge
which had joined was the old Phoenix Mark Lodge, descended from Dunckerley’s
famous Friendship Chapter.
In early 1857 Leigh acted. He wrote a most diplomatic letter on
Mark Masonry and sent it to every known Mark lodge in England. In it he stated
that he was but on the same level as every other Mark Master. He invited all to
a meeting to discuss whether it would be best to let the current situation
continue, or to form a union. If a vote was taken on the latter he would step
down as Mark Grand Master and allow democracy to prevail.
A meeting occured, with about 70 present, at the Freemason’s
Tavern, London, on 30 May 1857. A widely representative committee was formed to
examine the situation. On 15 June it reported unity was favoured, and that the
existing Grand Mark Lodge was the best option.
Things looked good. Unfortunately, however, William Warren, who
had been an activist in the Scottish cause, and who was the editor of the
Freemason’s Monthly Magazine and Masonic Mirror, had been upset. Although
elected to the committee he had not been consulted on meeting times, and could
not attend any. He only discovered the committee’s findings from the rival
Masonic journal. His journal then denounced the whole business, thereby undoing
a lot of Leigh’s good work..
In the meantime the Scottish Mark Lodges continued to increase.
The situation was not good.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cryer, N: The Arch And The Rainbow, Lewis, Addlestone,
1996.
Grantham, J: History Of The Grand Lodge Of Mark Master
Masons Of England, CL of MMM, London, 1960.
Handfield-Jones, R: A New Comprehensive History Of The Grand
Lodge Of Mark Master Masons Of England, GL of MMM, London, 1969.
Mackenzie, K: The Mark Work, Lewis, London, 1912.
Gould, F: ‘Some Notes On The Mark Degree’, 1955, in GL Scot
Yearbook, Edinburgh, 1971.
Jones, B: Freemason’s Guide And Compendium, Harrap,
London, 1950-82.
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