Quatuor Coronati Lodge: Our Next Meeting

Quatuor Coronati Lodge meets five times a year on the second Thursday in November (Installation); third Thursday in February; second Thursday in May; fourth Thursday in June; and second Thursday in September. Lodge meetings are usually held at Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, London, and open at 4.00pm.
Members of QCCC are very welcome to attend Lodge meetings.

Thursday, 12 September 2024
Widely Scattered and Doomed to Fail? Freemasonry in North Wales 1727–1851
Rob Hammond

Freemasonry in North Wales has generally been a subject ignored by Masonic academics, which is odd as the Province was the first who had its Grand Master appointed by London in 1727 and so claims to be rapidly approaching its tercentenary. This traditional history hides the fact that for at least a third of the first 125 years there were no lodges in North Wales and those that opened rapidly declined and closed, making this claim tenuous at best. This paper seeks to explain the failure of Freemasonry to become established in North Wales, examining the practical issues of geography and economics, as well as the nature of its Masonic leadership, or lack of it, and other more subtle forces such as language and religion. A story of English dominance, poor oversight, and a lack of regularity and discipline, Freemasonry’s survival in any capacity at all until 1852 is, perhaps, something to be celebrated.

The Speaker

Rob Hammond is a North Wales Mason, initiated into Royal Denbigh Lodge No.1143 in 2012. Born and bred in neighbouring Cheshire, after studying PPE at Oxford, with nothing better to do, he joined the Army in 1991. Initially an infantry officer, Rob served in Norway, Kenya, and Bosnia with the UN in 1994, before transferring to become a military educator. In that capacity between 1996 and 2001 he served in Northern Ireland, the Balkans and Sierra Leone, the latter becoming a lifetime academic interest and the subject of an article in AQC 135. He completed his MA at Lancaster University in 2004 and left the army in 2007 after his final operational tour in Iraq. He then became an Associate Lecturer with the Open University, for whom he still works, and at the time of writing is completing his PhD thesis: ‘Freemasonry and the Political History of Sierra Leone: 1890–1992’. Living on his wife’s family’s sheep farm, when he’s not working indoors, he’s working outdoors.

The meeting will be held at 4.00pm at Freemasons’ Hall, London

The Summons will be available here prior to the meeting

Please notify the Lodge Secretary if you will be attending: secretary@quatuorcoronati.com. 

 A copy of the delivery paper (with the exception of the Installation paper), is available prior to each meeting. Papers are copyright and may not be reproduced.

Please email questions and comments to editor@quatuorcoronati.com for publication in AQC.

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