| 1770
-
the British ship HMS "Endeavour", commanded by James Cook, RN,
made
the first European exploration of the east coast of Australia.
Cook
named the land "New South Wales" and took possession in
the
name of King George III of Great Britain. Joseph Banks, a
passenger
aboard the ship, is thought to have been the first Freemason to set
foot
in the continent as at some date prior to 1768 he had become a member
of
the Old Horn Lodge No. 4. In
1717
this
Lodge met at the Rummer and Grapes tavern, being one of the
four
founding lodges of the Grand Lodge of England (it
is now known as Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge No. 4 English
Constitution). In 1778
Joseph Banks became
President
of the Royal Society (of London). He was noted for his
work
on the natural history of the new land and was awarded a knighthood in
1781. Prior to 1770 the majority of European explorations of the
Australian coast were around the arid western third of the continent
(known
as "New Holland") and the southern tip of Tasmania (known
as "Van Diemen's Land"). Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820)
advocated
the British settlement of the more fertile eastern part of
Australia.
He became the acknowledged authority on matters relating to New
South
Wales and had great influence on the study of natural history in
both
Australia and Britain.
1776 - July 4 - American
Declaration of
Independence.
The successful establishment of the United States of America created
the
need for a new destination for the prisoners of England. As a
result
the British Government eventually decided to create a penal settlement
in the Botany Bay region of New South Wales.
1788
- January
- the First Fleet arrives from England, carrying just
over
1000 people, many of whom were convicts, to establish a penal
colony.
The first settlement commenced at the site of Sydney on 26 January as
Botany
Bay was found unsuitable. The First Fleet probably
contained
some Freemasons.
1778 -
6 March - first settlers land on Norfolk Island, SW
Pacific,
from New South Wales
1789
-
14 July 1789 - the Storming of the Bastille in Paris
(French
Revolution).
1789
-
George Washington is elected first President of the United States.
1792 - Europeans begin to settle in New
Zealand
1797 -
James
Larra (who arrived per "Scarborough", 1790), a Jewish emancipist and
merchant,
was granted one of the Colony's first liquor licences and built the Freemason's
Arms in Parramatta. He was pardoned in 1800 and became the
most
successful businessman in Parramatta. After 1814 his fortunes declined
and by 1822 he was in debtors' prison [
http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/colsec/
].
1797
- 6 July - a minute of the Grand Lodge of Ireland,
meeting in Dublin, records a petition for a warrant to hold a Lodge in
the New South Wales Corps (102nd Regiment), serving at Port
Jackson
(Sydney). The petition was signed by three privates in the NSW
Corps,
George Kerr, Peter Farrell and George Black. Decision
deferred
by the Grand Lodge; nothing further heard.
1799 - 12 July - introduced as a result of major
concerns about the activities of secret societies in
Britain
following the French Revolution and the later war between Britain and
France, the Unlawful Societies
Act receives
Royal Assent after passage through the British Parliament. This
Act
became the mainstay of the relationship between Freemasonry and the
State
in Britain for nearly two hundred years, until its repeal by the Criminal
Justice Act of 1967. Considerable efforts were made to ensure
that the 1799 Act did not in effect ban Freemasonry in Britain and
Ireland, but the effect was that only those Masonic lodges which
existed prior to 12 July 1799 were permitted (and protected) by the
legislation. As a result the Grand Lodges enabled formation of
new lodges by permitting them to use warrants of extinct lodges.
Further legislation against subversive clubs was passed in 1817;
subsequently the restrictions on the formation of new Masonic lodges
were relaxed. From 1817 Masonic lodges were able to to be formed,
not only in Britain, but in the Australian and other colonies.
1800
-
27 April - on Norfolk Island (a penal settlement to the
east
of Australia) one half of an acre of land at the east end of the town
at
Sydney Bay which was originally leased to William Sherwen on 15 October
1795 for a period of 14 years (at an annual rental of sixpence) was
made
over by power of attorney by the lessee to Aaron Davis and sold by him
for £55.12s.0d to Thomas Restel Crowder and the Masonic Lodge of
St. John, No.1, on 27 April 1800. This Lodge was holding meetings
without a Warrant and seems to have been situated at Norfolk Island
from
1800 to 1807, perhaps until 1814. [ see
http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/colsec/
]
1800 -
17 November - a despatch of this date to Gov King, Sydney,
gives notice of impending proclamation of union between Britain and
Ireland
to be effective January 1801
1800 -
After the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, during the subsequent
years
ending in Decmber 1800, 43 convict ships were despatched to Sydney,
including
the wrecked HMS "Guardian" and the hijacked "Lady Shore".
1801
- 16 August - George Hales dies aged 47 years on
Norfolk
Island after being brought ashore sick. He was commander of the
American
whaling ship "General Boyd" which was in Sydney Harbour in June
1801. Bro. Hales was made a Mason on 24 December 1789 in the
Dundee
Arms Lodge No. 9 which met in Wapping, London for many years. His
gravestone on Norfolk Island bears
various Masonic symbols including an
open book below square and compasses which lie between two pillars
surmounted
by an arch.
1802
-
17 September - a French scientific expedition comprising
the
two ships "Le Naturaliste" and "Le Geographe" is in
Sydney,
under the command of Capt. Nicolas Baudin. A meeting termed a "Triangle"
was held on board the ship "Le Naturaliste", attended by
Jacques
St Cricq and Surgeon Jerome Bellefin of that ship, together with George
Bridges Bellasis, in charge of the gun battery at Dawes Point, Sydney
(Bro.
Bellasis had been transported following a fatal duel in Bombay in 1801
where he had been an officer in the army of the English East India
Company,
the duel being over the slur Bellassis felt his opponent had given to a
sister of Bellasis' wife by withdrawing a marriage
proposal).
At the meeting Capt. Anthony Fenn Kemp of the NSW Corps took part in a
ceremony and was issued with a certificate. This, the first
recorded
Masonic document issued in Australia, is now held in the Mitchell
Library
in Sydney. Kemp later moved to Tasmania and lived to an advanced
age, but there are no records of him having attended a lodge after the
ceremony of 1802. Bellasis was pardoned after several years and
left
Australia.
1802
-
reports of Masonic meetings held on board the ships HMS "Glatton"
and HMS "Buffalo" at anchor in Sydney Harbour.
1803
- 14 May - a meeting of Masonic brethren is held in
Sydney
town, attended by sailors and some settlers and the Irish convict Sir
Henry
Browne Hayes. The meeting was interrupted by the military who
arrested
those in attendance. Earlier on 6th May Sir Henry had written a
letter
to the British Colonial Secretary complaining that he had been
forbidden
to hold a Lodge and preside at initiations therein, although he was in
possession of a Warrant. Later, on 22nd May a Government and
General
Order was published in the 'Sydney Gazette' forbidding Masonic
meetings
without the express permission of the Governor (who on 21 August 1804
reported "every
soldier and other person would have been made a Freemason, had not the
most decided means been taken to prevent it").
1803
- June 9 - Matthew Flinders arrives back in Sydney
after
the cirumnavigation of Australia in HMS "Investigator", completing
23 months of exploration and mapping of the Australian coastline.
Earlier on 8 April 1802 Flinders had met the French explorer Nicolas
Baudin
in Encounter Bay, South Australia.
1803
- Lieutenant John Bowen, a British soldier, chose Risdon Cove on
the eastern shore of the River Derwent in the south-east for the first
settlement of Europeans in Van Diemen's Land (later Tasmania). In 1804
Lieutenant-Governor David Collins moved the settlement across the river
and Hobart was founded.
1804
-
9 September - an obituary is published recording the death
and funeral of a young Mason named Charles Wood. His funeral was
followed by "a numerous procession of the fraternity."
1805 -
21 October - The battle of Trafalgar (west of Gibraltar) is
won by the British Royal Navy, putting to an end Napoleon´s dream
to control the world by having command of the seas. Trafalgar can
be considered the most decisive naval battle, both tactically and
strategically,
in history. It not only eliminated Napoleon's plans to
invade
England, but had also destroyed French naval power. Trafalgar,
moreover,
established Britain´s supremacy at sea for nearly a century and a
half, during which time the Royal Navy remained the bedrock on which
control
of the far-flung British Empire rested through the age of steam and
into
the 20th century. The English commander was Admiral Lord Nelson
who
died of injuries near the end of the Battle.
1807
-
18 December - Captain John Piper, Commandant of the penal
settlement
at Norfolk Island, is recipient of a letter expressing thanks "for
the
patronage and generous protection which we in our collective capacity
as
Free and Accepted Masons have experienced under your
authority.
Jas Mitchell, Master Thos Lucas, P.M.
W Atkins,
S.W.
For the Brethren". James Mitchell, an Irishman, was
born
about 1754. He came to Sydney as a missionary in 1800,
subsequently
moving to Norfolk Island and later Hobart where he was postmaster until
1822. He died in Hobart in 1849. Thomas Lucas is said to
have
been a member of the Lodge of Temperance in London. He arrived in
Sydney in the First Fleet as a marine in the vessel "Scarborough",
later joining the NSW Corps. In August 1797 he was given a grant
of 60 acres of land on Norfolk Island. He left for Hobart in
September
1808 and settled in the Sandy Bay area where he was accorded a burial
with
Masonic honours after his death in August 1815. William Atkins
was
convicted at Peterboro in 1790, sentenced to transportation for 14
years,
and arrived in New South Wales on the "Neptune" 11 November
1791
as a convict. He is listed in the Norfolk Island records as a settler
with
the occupation of constable. As part of the evacuation of Norfolk
Island he boarded the "Estramina" on 15 May 1808 bound for Van
Diemen's
Land where he obtained a grant of land at Clarence Plains. Also
evacuated
on the "Estramina" was Michael Lee of whom the shipping
manifest
recorded that one half an acre of land shown against his name "belonged
to the society of freemasons of which he is a member". Lee
was
sentenced to seven years transportation in London in 1790, arriving in
the "Gorgon" at Port Jackson 11 November 1791. In
February
1805 the official Norfolk Island records listed him as a labourer whose
sentence had expired. It is thought that Bro. Lee may have been
the
lodge secretary.
1808
- the fourth Governor, Capt. William Bligh (remembered for the
earlier
mutiny on the ship HMS "Bounty"), is deposed by his
deputy.
Anthony Fenn Kemp was said to have been among those involved in this
controversy.
1810 -
1 January - Lachlan Macquarie takes up post as fifth
Governor
of New South Wales after serving in the British Army in North America,
Jamaica, Egypt and India. Major General Macquarie was accompanied
by the 73rd Regiment of Foot, which he commanded. Bro. Macquarie
became a Freemason in January 1793 at Bombay, India, in Lodge No. 1
(No.
139 on the register of the English "Moderns" Grand Lodge). He was
a notable Governor and served in this position until 1821, becoming
known
as "the father of Australia".
1814
-
Lands Department survey of Norfolk Island shows a Masonic
building.
The settlement was abandoned in February 1814.
1814
-
7 February - the 46th Regiment of Foot arrives in colony,
replacing
the 73rd Foot. Attached to the new regiment and holding a
travelling
warrant from the Grand Lodge of Ireland is the Lodge of Social and
Military
Virtues No. 227 I.C. holding a Warrant dated 4 March 1752 (much later
in
the 1840's this widely travelled Lodge was situated in Canada, where it
surrendered its Irish Warrant to continue as the Lodge of Antiquity No.
1 on the register of the Grand Lodge of Quebec).
1814
-
19 August - diary entry by the Reverend Robert Knopwood of
Hobart: "The Governor laid the first stone for the officers
barrack
on the hill; the masons attended him."
1815
-
1 September - diary entry by the Reverend Robert Knopwood
in
Tasmania: 'At 3.00pm I buried Mr. Lucas from Browns River. He
has been a marine that came out when the settlement at Port Jackson was
formed, then became a settler and went to Norfolk Island. There
he
remained till the island was evacuated; most of the settlers came to
this
colony. He was a Mason, and buried by the Brothers in masonic form.'
1816
-
2 November - the corner stone of Bro. John Piper's house at
Eliza Point (now Point Piper), Sydney, is laid with Masonic ceremonial
by Lodge 227. The Lodge was constituted in a glade, following
which
the members processed to the scene of the ceremony. Corn was
scattered,
wine and oil poured. The Master struck the foundation stone three
strokes of his mallet, and the sum of £6.14s.0d. was collected
and
laid upon the stone for the poor and needy. There were initial
difficulties
prior to the day as the demand for aprons and scarves had outrun the
ability
of the Colony to provide them; it is said that Francis Greenway, the
convict
architect, having some knowledge of Masonic symbols and lore, painted
the
Masonic aprons. The thirty two brethren taking part in the
ceremony
included personnel of the 46th and 39th Regiments, and a number of
local
brethren listed as members of Lodge No.227. Captain Sanderson was
the Master of the Lodge, and Colonel Molle, Deputy to the Governor, a
member.
Local brethren included John Drummond (customs officer at Hobart),
Jeffrey
Bent, John Horsley, David Allan, John Oxley, Alexander Riley, JR
O'Connor,
WH Moore and Surgeon John Harris. A report read "the Brethren
embarked in boats prepared for the purpose, from the brother's house,
and
were saluted by seven guns from the merchant vessel "Wellesley"
commanded by Brother Crosset, a Masonic ensign having been displayed at
the main Top-Mast head."
1817
-
15 February - Jeffrey Hart Bent, first judge of the Supreme
Court of New South Wales, was made a Royal Arch Mason in Mount Olive
Royal Arch chapter (attached to the 46th Foot), the first recorded
Royal Arch ceremony in Australia.
- 22
February - the Hobart Town Gazette reports: "after
a performance by the Chaplain, the Rev. Robt. Knopwood,a neat and
appropriate
Masonic oration was delivered by a member of the society" on the
occasion
of the consecration of the land intended for St David's Church, after
which "they
partook of a very handsome cold collation, all anticipating prosperity
and happiness of Van Diemen's Land".
1817
- 8 August - the 48th Regiment of Foot arrives to
replace
the 46th Foot. Lodge No.218 I.C. was attached to the new
Regiment,
holding a Warrant dated 27 December 1750. Unlike Lodge 227 this
Lodge
welcomed local settlers who wished to join. Up to 1820 No.218 had
initiated twenty eight candidates, half of whom were civilian residents
of Sydney
1817 -
Governor Lachlan Macquarie formally adopts the name Australia
for
the continent, the name earlier proposed by the first circummnavigator
of Australia, Matthew Flinders.
1819
-
June 12 - the Hobart Town Gazette records a list of
subscribers to the Auxiliary Branch Bible Society of Van Diemen's Land
at the Derwent which names twelve members of "the free and
accepted
Masons belonging to the Lodge of St. John, Hobart T."
1819 -
16 October - the Hobart Town Gazette reports that Michael
Lee (formerly of the lodge at Norfolk Island) had been granted a
licence
for the tavern, the Freemason's Arms, in Hobart.
1820
-
1 January - the Hobart Town Gazette reports that 'On
Monday last, the Freemasons resident in this Settlement assembled and
went
in procession to lay the foundation stone of a new lodge intended to be
erected in Melville Street on the plot of ground which they have
occupied
in exchange for that originally held by the lodge at Norfolk Island.'
1820
-
4 January - eight local settlers were entered into the
register
of members of the Grand Lodge of Ireland. Their names were James
Stewart, Alexander Winchester, James Brackenrig, Thomas Boulton, George
Woodford, Joseph Allan, Matthew Bacon and Thomas Shaughnessy.
- 6 January - Grand Lodge of Ireland issues warrant
for
a lodge to be established at Sydney, known as the Australian Social
Lodge
No. 260 I.C. This is the first warranted lodge resident in
Australia.
The brethren listed immediately above were among the first
members.
Lodge 218 acted as the sponsoring lodge.
- 5 August - the warrant arrives in Sydney
- 12 August - the new Lodge meets for the first time, for
dedication
and installation of the first Master, Bro Matthew Bacon. He
served
as Master for the first three and a half years following the lodge's
foundation.
1821
-
29 October - Governor Macquarie lays the foundation stone
of
St Mary's Catholic Church, adjacent to the site of the present
Cathedral.
Father Therry read an address of welcome to the Governor who said in
reply: "You
must know, Mr. Therry, that, although I never laid the first stone of a
Catholic Church before, I am a very old Mason: and I shall keep this
trowel
as long as I live in remembrance of this day, and I wish you and your
flock
every success in your pious undertaking"
1821
-
12 November - a memorial is forwarded to the Grand Lodge of
Ireland by Lodge 260 praying for a Charter whereby it could grant
dispensations
to form other lodges in the Colonies, and under which the brethren of
such
lodges could work until a regular warrant should be issued. The
memorial
stated that the inhabitants of New South Wales were considerable, there
being four towns - Sydney, Parramatta, Windsor and Liverpool - and that
in Van Diemen's Land there were two chief settlements - Port Dalrymple
and Hobart Town. The memorial mentioned that an application had been
made
to them "by Some very respectable Brethren at Van Diemen's Land (as
well as those we have reported to you who are an unlawful assembly) for
a Dispensation" but that they could not accord their request
without
authority. The memorial went on to say that by granting such a Charter
it will unite "in one strong chain the poor man and the rich man; as
well keep all party distinctions from the Masonic walls in this infant
Colony. It will prevent irregularities and disputes, and rights
of
precedency, and will at once combine the new Masonic World into one
Focus".
1822
-
15 July - following an approach by Lodge 260 the Grand
Lodge
of Ireland issues a ruling which reads: "That an individual
becoming
free by pardon or by expiration of sentence, possessing a good
character,
may and would be eligible to become a member of a Masonic Lodge." This
ruling enabled former convicts to be considered for membership.
On
the same date the Grand Lodge decided "that a warrant shall be
issued
by the Grand Master and the Grand Lodge to the master, wardens,
secretary
and treasurer of Lodge No. 260, to empower them to grant dispensations
to constitute lodges in the colonies of New South Wales and Van
Diemen's
Land." As a result the Leinster Masonic Committee was formed
for the purpose of issuing dispensations.
1824
-
26 January - dispensation issued to three members of Lodge
260 to form a new lodge in Sydney, subsequently named the Leinster
Marine
Lodge of Australia No.266 I.C.
1824 - 1829
- 40th Foot Regiment stationed in Van Diemen's Land with Lodge
No.
284 I.C. attached. The original Warrant issued to this Regiment
was
from the Grand Lodge of the Antients, No. 42 (c.1759); it then held
warrant
No.204 I.C. from 1810 to 1813, and was re-issued with Warrant No.284
I.C.
in 1821. During a second tour of duty in Australia between 1852
to
1860 the 40th Foot was stationed mainly in Victoria. The Lodge
Warrant
was returned from Victoria to Grand Lodge in Dublin in 1858.
1828
-
formation of Tasmanian Lodge No. 313 in Hobart by dispensation from
Lodge
284. The Warrant was issued in Dublin 3 September 1829 but did
not
reach Hobart until April 1831 - ceased work 1847
1828 - 1834
63rd Foot Regiment stationed in Van Diemen's Land with Lodge 512 I.C.
attached
1828
-
21 June - Warrant issued by the UGL of England for the
Lodge
of Australia No. 820, to meet in Sydney. First meeting held
6 April 1829. Later renumbered to No. 548 and subsequently No.
390 EC. The foundation Master was John Stephen Jnr. who was initiated in
the Lodge of Regularity No. 259 EC in London in March 1824, and became
a Grand
Steward in 1826, in which year he left for Australia.
1829-
settlement at Swan River (later Perth), Western Australia
1831
-
20 March - members of Lodge 260 are granted a Warrant to
form
a Royal Arch Chapter by the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Ireland
1832
-
July - Brotherly Union Lodge No. 326 I.C. formed in Hobart
(worked until 1860)
- 27 July - seven members of Tasmanian Lodge No. 313 who
had
become Royal Arch Masons in military Lodge 284 are granted a Warrant to
form a Chapter by the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of
Ireland.
The Warrant did not reach its destination until September 1835.
1834
-
26 Feb - Tasmanian Operative Lodge No 345 I.C. meets under
dispensation.
1834 - 1838
- the 21st Foot (Royal North British Fusiliers) is stationed in
Van
Diemen's Land with Lodge No. 33 I.C. attached, holding Warrant
originally
granted in 1734 After several years in Van Diemen's Land the
members
requested that the Warrant remain in Hobart as a majority had decided
to
settle, the departing Fusiliers having insufficient members to carry
the
Warrant to India. In support of their request Bro Robert Murray
(described
as the Father of Freemasonry in Van Diemen's Land) wrote to Grand Lodge
of Ireland on 12 April 1837: "Deaths and the other exigencies
of War and Military Affairs had so reduced their Masonic Numbers, that
they were forced to seek the assistance of a civil Brother to enable
them
to open, with the proper numbers, their Lodge, their Chapter and their
Encampment, all of which had existed in the Regiment almost from time
immemorial
... I found that they had for upwards of Fifty years, in various
parts of the world: Ireland, England, Scotland, Sicily, Malta, West
Indies,
Gibraltar, America &c. &c. worked in all the Orders, and on
more
than one occasion granted Dispensation Warrants in Foreign Countries,
in
the Blue, the Red, and the Black Orders. I found their Regalia,
though
old, complete, in short I found that in every respect they were 'Just
and regular', and only wanted numbers to become 'perfect'." The
request to change to a Civil Lodge was approved by Grand Lodge, and
Lodge
33 continued to work in Hobart until 1854. In March
1838 Lodge No. 33 granted a Dispensation to certain brethren in Hobart
to
hold
an Encampment of Knights Templar and Knights of Malta; this was
confirmed
by grant of a Warrant from the Supreme Grand Encampment on 17 July 1839
1834
-
22 October - Consecration of the South Australian Lodge of
Friendship No. 613 in London
1835 -
John Batman arrives at the site of Melbourne. In 1837 the site
was
surveyed by Robert Hoddle and officially named for the British Prime
Minister of the day, Lord Melbourne.
1835
-
2 March - a meeting of the South Australian Lodge of
Friendship
in London initiates 5 new members - Bros Morphett, Hanson, Gilbert,
Gouger
and Wakefield.
-
meeting of brethren at Parramatta, 27km west of Sydney and the second
settlement in Australia. They decided to petition the Lodge of
Australia for a dispensation to form a lodge. This was held over
until 1839.
1836
-
free settlers begin to arrive in South Australia. Proclamation of
the new Province 28 December
1837 - meeting called by Jean
François
Langlois, captain of the French whaling vessel Cachalot, of Freemasons from the
crews of ships present at Port Levy, New Zealand.
1838
-
2 March - first meeting of South Australian Lodge of
Friendship
in Adelaide
1839
-
28 May - Bro. George Robert Nicholls appointed by UGL of
England
to be Provincial Grand Master of the lodges of NSW, SA and Van Diemen's
Land. His father, an ex-convict, was Isaac Nicholls, who was an
entrepreneur and became Australia's first postmaster. George
Robert Nicholls (1809-1857) was born in Australia, educated in England
1819-23 and was admitted as a Solicitor in NSW in 1833, later a member
of the Parramatta District Council. During the 1830's he
purchased and edited the "Australian" newspaper, He was a
political associate of WC Wentworth. Bankrupted 1842. Elected to the first
Legislative Council of NSW in 1843 as member for the Northumberland
Boroughs.
In 1844 a petition stating that "a sufficient cause was given" was sent
to England seeking his replacement as Provincial Grand Master. He
was still officiating as such in February 1847. The Provincial
Grand Lodge for NSW was inaugurated 10 May 1849 with Captain Joseph
Long-Innes, a Sydney magistrate and former officer of the 39th Regiment
as Provinvial Grand Master.
-
inaugural meeting of St John's Lodge Parramatta No. 668 EC, in
Parramatta NSW.
1840 - New Zealand becomes a British colony.
1840
- Dispensation
issued for Lodge of Australia Felix
No. 697 EC to meet at
Melbourne.
The Lodge first met on 25 March. The dispensation was delivered
by
Bro George Brunswick Smythe who rode a horse on an overland journey of
more than 1000km from Sydney.
- Inaugural meeting of Maitland
Lodge of Unity No. 804 EC in Maitland NSW, first Australian country
Lodge.
1841
-
Dispensation issued for Windsor Social Lodge No. 275 I.C. to meet at
Windsor,
NSW
1841 -
13 April - a theatrical benefit is held in Adelaide by
members
of the Lodge of Friendship in aid of the hospital. This was
probably at the Queen's Theatre in Gilles Arcade, which had opened 11
January 1841 with John Lazar (1801-1879) as actor-manager in the
opening role of Othello.
1841 - 31
July - the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazette
reports
the laying of the foundation stone of St Paul's Church on 24 July, when
"the
Gentlemen of Auckland who are Freemasons appeared with the decorations
and insignia of their Order."
1841 -
August - Governor George Grey is admitted as a joining
member
by South Australian Lodge of Friendship
1841
-
1 September - a meeting is held at Government House in
Perth,
Western Australia, to consider the formation of a Lodge, with the
support
of Governor Bro. John Hutt. The meeting decides to submit a
Petition
directly to UGL of England, rather than through any Masonic
intermediary
in the eastern part of Australia.
1841 -
23 November - 39 brethren sign a petition to form a lodge in Melbourne
under the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Rehearsals were conducted until the
warrant arrived from Scotland in 1844.
1842
-
5 September - a Dispensation is issued by the Leinster Masonic
Committee
for the Auckland Social Lodge (later Lodge Ara) No. 348 I.C. to meet at
Auckland, New Zealand. The Lodge first met 9 February 1843.
The Warrant was signed in Dublin 12 June 1844 but did not reach
Auckland
until some three years later
1842
-
John Stephen, a solicitor, and now resident in Melbourne, was appointed
to the office of Provincial Grand Master for the Southern portion of
Australasia under the Grand Lodge of England.
- 23
November - first meeting of New Zealand Pacific Lodge at Port
Nicholson, Wellington, under dispensation from Bro George Nicholls, the
Provincial Grand Master in Australia.
1843
- 19
Jan - first lodge meeting at Launceston - St John's
lodge No 346 IC under dispensation from Tasmanian Operative Lodge No.
345
I.C.
1843
-
dispensation issued for Lodge Fidelity No. 267 I.C. to meet at Sydney
1843
-
4 April - first meeting of the Lodge of St John No. 712
E.C.
in Perth, Western Australia
- 25
April - meeting held in Melbourne, of brethren interested
in forming an Irish lodge.
- 24
June - the Australian Felix Lodge of Hiram No. 349 meets
for the first time in Melbourne. John Thomas Smith was installed
as first Master by John Stephen. The warrant of this lodge did
not arrive from Ireland until mid 1847.
1843
- April - first meeting of Loge Francaise Primitif Antipodienne
at the French settlement of Akaroa, New Zealand, under warrant from the
Grand Orient of
France. Six of the nine members were officers of the French
warship Le Rhin. This
Lodge ceased meeting in 1846. The French had
settled at Akaroa in August 1840
1843
-
application made to GL of Scotland to form a Lodge in Adelaide by Bros.
James Bennett, Robert McEwin and Andrew Birrell
1844
-
27 January - a lodge employing Scottish ceremonies is held
without Dispensation in Adelaide, with James Bennett acting as Master,
claiming that the laws of the GL of Scotland permitted five Masons to
meet,
form a Lodge and make Masons.
- 1 February - following discussion a Dispensation is
issued by the Lodge of Friendship and at a new meeting Bro. Bennett is
duly installed as Master of the new Lodge (later the Adelaide Lodge No.
341 S.C.). 19 candidates renew their obligations.
- 6
February - procession of brethren of the Lodge of
Friendship and Adelaide St John's Lodge from the Freemasons' Tavern in
Pirie Street to Grenfell Street for the ceremonial laying of the
foundation stone of the proposed new "Scotch Church".
- 9
February - first meeting of the Lodge of Harmony No. 743
E.C. at the Freemasons' Tavern, Pirie Street, Adelaide, under
dispensation from the Lodge of Friendship.
1844 - 13 May - inaugural
meeting of the Australasian Kilwinning Lodge No. 337 SC in
Melbourne. This was the first Australian lodge to receive a
warrant from Scotland.
1844 -
14 August - first meeting under dispensation for Tasmanian
Union Lodge No. 781 E.C. (comprised mainly of members of the Union
Lodge
No. 326 I.C.)
1845
-
17 September - Bro Henry Mildred receives notice of
appointment
as first Provincial Grand Master of South Australia of the English
Constitution
1847
- 26
November - notification is received in Adelaide that the
Grand
Lodge of Scotland had appointed Bro. Allan McFarlane Provincial Grand
Master of South Australia under the Scottish Constitution. A
letter
dated 6 April 1848 noted "as Bro. McFarlane's health will prevent
his
visiting Adelaide, propose opening a Lodge of Emergency at Mount Barker
[S.A.],
at Bro. Gloag's Hotel, on Saturday, 8th instant, at 'High Twelve'."
Bro. McFarlane was duly installed 8 April 1848 as first Provincial
Grand
Master of the Scottish Constitution in South Australia, but he did not
take delivery of his Commission from the Grand Lodge of Scotland,
leaving
it in the custody of the Adelaide Lodge No. 341 S.C.
1848
-
January - Bro Mildred's Patent of Office arrives in
Adelaide,
three years after issue on London (!) Bro Mildred was duly
installed
as Provincial Grand Master of South Australia, E.C. on 12 April 1848.
- 12
December - first meeting held under dispensation from Bro.
Mildred, PGM, of the United Tradesmen's Lodge No. 853 E.C. at the
Temple Tavern, Gilles Arcade, Adelaide. Bro. John Lazar,
installed
as the first Master. A former tailor and actor, he was involved
with the theatre, and served as Mayor of Adelaide 1855-1858.
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