The origins of Freemasonry are the subject of great debate. The most common thought is that there is a connection with the operative stonemasons who built the great medieval cathedrals and castles and it is this theory that is generally accepted by Masonic historians and Freemasons alike – but whether that connection was direct or indirect is the subject of much speculation.

Organised Freemasonry, as it is today, became established on 24 June 1717 in London, England, when four Freemason Lodges came together at the Goose and Gridiron Ale House, St Paul’s Churchyard, and formed themselves into a Grand Lodge, electing Anthony Sayer, Gentleman, as their Grand Master – the first Grand Lodge of Freemasonry in the world. Initially the Grand Lodge was simply an annual feast for masonic lodges in London but in 1721 John, Duke of Montagu, was elected Grand Master and the Grand Lodge of Freemasonry met in ‘quarterly communication’ and began to establish itself as a regulatory body, attracting to it freemason lodges meeting outside London.

In 1723 the first rulebook for Freemasonry– the Constitutions of Masonry – was published and William Cowper, Clerk of the Parliaments, was appointed Secretary to the Grand Lodge to keep minutes of its meetings. By 1730 the Grand Lodge had over 100 Freemason Lodges in England and Wales under its control and had begun to spread Freemasonry abroad, warranting lodges to meet in Madrid and Calcutta.

For historical reasons separate Grand Lodges were formed in Ireland (1725) and Scotland (1736). Between them the ‘home’ Grand Lodges took Freemasonry around the globe. From the 1730s Freemason Lodges were set up in Europe, the West Indies, North America and India. >> Go to History area