first Grand Lodge in 1717 up until 1894. It was published by the United Grand Lodge of England in 1895 and proved to be a very useful reference book The official Heraldic designation of the Coat of Arms was granted in 1943 and is on the wall in the lobby of the entrance to Cole Court. The same organisation runs both Craft and Royal Arch. Since the 1980s the Museum of Freemasonry has presented temporary thematic exhibitions to the general public.

www.ugle.org.uk (United Grand Lodge of England. The Lodge is the governing body of Freemasonry in England, Wales, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and some Districts overseas. The headquarters is Freemasons’ Hall, London which houses the Museum of Freemasonry)

Records of the men that joined the fraternal society of Freemasons. Modern freemasonry began in the late 17th century with adherents often subjected to hostility and suspicion. The origins of the society were probably connected to the craft guilds of medieval times. The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) was established in 1717 and is the governing body of Freemasonry in England, Wales and the Channel Islands and some former colonial countries. European groups emerged separately including Scotland and Ireland. In Scotland, the Grand Lodge of Scotland oversees and administers Scottish freemasonry including provincial and district grand lodges and local lodges. In Ireland, the Grand Lodge of Ireland acts as the governing body for lodges covering the north and south. The U.S. broke away from UGLE forming their own structure. in his capacity as the Kings Master of works, Schaw produced a number of statutes and whilst not the earliest Scottish record of the craft of masonry it is certainly recognised as the first state control and regulation of the masons trade. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, four London Lodges formed the Premier Grand Lodge. Their meeting places were the Goose and Gridiron Alehouse in St. Paul’s Close (now the Lodge of Antiquity No.2), the Apple Tree Tavern in St. Charles St., Covent Garden (Now Lodge of Fortitude and Old Cumberland (now No.12), the Crown Alehouse in Parker's Lane, near Drury Lane, and the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Channel Row, Westminster (now the Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge No. 4). The latter three were all in the County of Middlesex. Thus, taking a looser definition than that adopted by the new Premier Grand Lodge, it can justifiably be claimed that English Freemasonry began in Middlesex www.ancestry.co.uk (United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921. This collection contains membership registers listing men who belonged to the United Grand Lodge of England. A Masonic Grand Lodge has existed in England since 1717. A rival Grand Lodge was established in London in 1751 and the two came together to form the UGLE in 1813) VW Bro Sir Ralph (Noel) Milbanke (1747 –1825), British MP, landowner, Provincial Grand Master of the Province of Durham, father-in-law of Lord Byron and grandfather of the Mathematician Lady Ada Lovelace [19]

In keeping with these traditional roots, the Lodge works Old Working of the Craft Ritual, as opposed to the more modern Emulation Working, which has become common in Craft Lodges throughout the English-speaking world. This era of philosophy and discovery saw men of education; Gentlemen, Merchants, Clergymen and nobility take an ever increasing interest in masonry and the science of building. London was now desperately overcrowded, and for the middle classes the existing rituals, structure and fraternalism of the masons lodge meeting, in their local tavern was a congenial and often rewarding environment. The lodges of the operative masons of London became dominated by these new middle and upper class gentlemen of the city, many of whom were also members of the Royal Society, and who perhaps saw the lodge to be, in the words of Anderson writer of Freemasons Book of Constitutions, these men “found the lodge to be a safe and pleasant relaxation from intense study or the hurry of business without politics or party.” These rules dictated and set standards many of which are reflected in some part with today’s industrial standards.Using the same definition of Middlesex, it can also be stated that the first Grand Chapter was established in the County. This took place at the Turks Head Tavern in Gerrard Street, Soho in 1766. Lane was initiated in 1878 in Jordan Lodge, No. 1402, Torquay, he became Master of the same lodge four years later. He joined Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076 in 1887 one year after the formation of the famous research lodge.