District Grand Lodge of the Transvaal
(Double Quota Keystone District)
RW Bro D A Gurney
District Grand Master
V W Bro D R Hammond, PGJO
Deputy District Grand Master
W Bro D A McNally PJGD - W Bro J H Spiller PJGD
Assistant District Grand Masters
District Grand Secretary:
W. Bro. N A Griffin
P O Box 10138
Fourways East 2055
Phone: 082 827 7575
Email: Mark.DGL.Transvaal@gmail.comLink to the Mark Website
Mark History and Origin
While there is evidence that a form of Mark degree was extant in Scotland as early as 1599, according to earliest known English records, Mark masonry was introduced in a speculative body at Portsmouth on 1 September 1769 at Royal Arch Chapter No 257, when Thomas Dunckerley made certain brethren Mark Masons and Mark Masters, each choosing his mark.
This degree was subsequently worked in many lodges and even under the authority of the old Grand Lodge at York, but the effect of the Union in 1813 between the Antients and Moderns was the specific recognition of the three Craft degrees only, including the Holy Royal Arch and thus completely excluding the Mark degree. Nevertheless many lodges continued to work the degree and while the original circumstances would appear to have been detrimental to Mark masonry, they were eventually to cause several leading Mark masons to found their own Grand Mark Lodge in June 1856, with Lord Leigh as the first Grand Master.
Happily by 1860 a Concordat establishing a common ceremonial was entered into by the English Grand Mark Lodge and the Grand Chapter of Scotland and slowly this degree grew in popularity to make it together with the Royal Arch one of the most successfully supported degrees in freemasonry. Today there are over 1,200 Mark lodges under the English Constitution and it is interesting to note that a vast number of brethren who have attained eminence in the Craft have been no less eminent in the Mark.
Reference: 'Beyond the Craft' by Keith B Jackson. Published by: Ian Allan Publishing
Also see Freemasonry Today - Mark
| Mark Lodge | Meeting Place |
|---|---|
| Ashlar No: 424 | Park Lane |
| Austral No: 1302 | Mafikeng |
| Bryanston No: 1545 | Johannesburg, Morningside Country Club |
| Cinderella No: 621 | Boksburg |
| Cornerstone No: 217 | Kimberley |
| Corona No: 557 | Park Lane |
| Doornfontein No: 1337 | Park Lane |
| Friendship No: 900 | Phoenix, Mauritius |
| Golden Harvest No: 1696 | Park Lane |
| Hillbrow No: 741 | Park Lane |
| Jeppestown No: 863 | Park Lane |
| King Edward No: 941 | Carletonville |
| Kosmos No: 848 | Park Lane |
| Northern Transvaal No: 966 | Polokwane |
| Orkney No: 1335 | Gaborone |
| Prosperity No: 905 | Park Lane |
| Rising Star No: 885 | Bloemfontein |
| Royal George No: 608 | Kensington |
| Springs No: 707 | Springs |
| Sunbeam No: 508 | Massonic Hall, Cnr Fanny Ave & Arthur Rd, Norwood |
| Swaziland No: 1298 | Manzini |
| Trichardt Evander Kinross Secunda No: 1456 | Secunda |
| Transvaal Installed Mark Masters No: 1570 | Park Lane |
| Travellers No: 1153 | Park Lane |
| United No: 720 | Krugersdorp |
| United Service No: 588 | Pretoria |
| Waldie Peirson No: 904 | Kensington |
| White River No: 1621 | White River |