TIME LINE OF ALL CRAFT GRAND LODGES IN ENGLAND
926AD - THE ASSEMBLY OF MASONS AT YORK - The Assembly of 926 meeting since time immemorial at York.
1705 – OLD TI LODGE OF YORK
1717– GRAND LODGE OF LONDON - It is said that an Assembly of Masons at London was formed in 1717 out of which sprang the formation of the "Grand Lodge of London". There are no records of this ever happened and there are no records of "Four Old Lodges", as a known fact some of this "Four Old Lodges" where not a Masonic Lodge as such in 1717. This new organization at London is described as either an Assembly or Grand Assembly of Mason at London until 1720. Originally this Grand Assembly of Masons at London restricted its influence to the three square miles of the City of London and Westminster.
The London Grand Lodge of Masons, minutes of this new organization only commence on the 24th of June 1723.
And by the end of 1723 it began legislating for Lodges in or near London, “within the Bills of Mortality” and within ten miles of London.
Brother Robert Freke Gould, (1836 - March 26, 1915) Barrister-At-Law Past Senior Grand Deacon of England, and Author of the History of Freemasonry a founding member and the second W. Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, London, says the following: "The date of the earliest entries in the existing minutes of “Grand Lodge”, and of the first “Book of Constitutions” – it must be as frankly admitted, that the evidence forthcoming, upon which alone any determinate conclusion can be based, is of too vague and uncertain a character to afford a sure foot-hold to the historical inquirer.
Brother Robert Freke Gould contributed twenty-five papers and many notes to Ars Quatuor Coronatorum. A lieutenant in the 31st Regiment, English Army and later a barrister from 1868, he is best remembered as an early proponent of the authentic school of masonic research and for his three-volume History of Freemasonry (1883-1887).
It is known that two out of the supposedly “Four Old Lodges” only two where in fact Lodges as the third and fourth where not constituted as such the third Lodge if one is to believe they where at the time in existence as a Lodge or something resembling what one could consider to be some sort of a Masonic Lodge has actually been constituted on February 27th, 1723.
Further no knowledge is known if the mythological fourth lodge had ever been a lodge and its status or even consecration date is unknown.
The dates of constitutions of those "lodges" are found for the first time in an Engraved List of Lodges or more precisely "A List of Regular Lodges according to their Seniority & Constitution, printed in 1729, i.e., nine years before the publication of the Book of Constitutions of 1738:
According to this list, the date of constitution of the original No. 1 lodge which met at Goose and Gridiron, St. Paul's Church-yard in and at King's Arms, St. Paul's Church-yard in 1729 is given as 1691;
That of the original No. 2 lodge which met at Crown, Parker's Lane and at Rose and Buffalo, Furnival's Inn, Holborn in 1729 is 1712;
That of the original No. 3 lodge which met at Apple Tree Tavern, Charles Street and at Queen's Head, Knave's Acre in 1729 is February 27, 1723;
That of the original No. 4 lodge which met at Rummer and Grapes, Channel Row and at Horn Tavern, Westminster in 1729 is not given.
MW Bro. John Theophilus Desaguliers, Grand Master of England
(13 March 1683 – 29 February 1744)John Theophilus Desaguliers a Frenchman was elected the third Grand Master in 1719, Deputy Grand Master in 1723 and 1725 to the newly formed Grand Lodge of England. He born in La Rochelle, France, into a Huguenot (Protestant) family and fled to England at the age of 11 (1694).
1725 – GRAND LODGE OF ALL ENGLAND – The Old Lodge at York adopts the name Grand Lodge of All England in 1725.
1725 - The GRAND LODGE OF LONDON becomes the GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND.
1751 – GRAND LODGE ACCORDING TO THE OLD CONSTITUTIONS - Formation of "Grand Lodge" according to the Old Constitutions know as the Ancients Grand Lodge at London.
1779 – GRAND LODGE SOUTH OF THE RIVER TRENT - Formation of Grand Lodge of England South of the River Trent.
1813 – UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND - Formation of "United Grand Lodge of England" at London.
(Please note: The Masonic High Council the Mother High Council of the World and the United Grand Lodge of England do not officially recognise each other).
1825 – GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF ENGLAND – Formation of "Grand Lodge" of Free and Accepted Masons of England According to the Old Constitutions later to become the Grand Lodge held at Wigan.
1851 – GRAND LODGE OF THE PHILADELPHES - Formation of the Grand Lodge of the Philadelphes.
2005 – REGULAR GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND – Formation of the Regular Grand Lodge of England in Accordance with the Ancient Constitutions of Freemasonry. The Regular Grand Lodge of England was formed by Freemasons who no longer found what they were looking for in other Masonic orders. Transparent Masonry and away from corporate style running Masonic bodies.
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