Mark Coleman Wallace PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

deemed a lodge which did not sit by precise authorisation from the
Grand Lodge, and under its superintendence. I have pledged myself to
His Majesty’s Ministers that should any set of men attempt to meet as a
lodge without sanction, the Grand Master, or Acting Grand Master
(whomsoever he might be), would apprise the civil authority. 5
Not all Scottish lodges, however, willingly accepted this proposed
expansion of authority. In a petition to Colonel William Fullarton 6 – Member of
Parliament for Ayrshire – Lodge Kilwinning argued that as it and several other
lodges existed independently of the Grand Lodge, it should be specifically
exempted from the terms of the Act. Fullerton, who “had the ear of Mr.
Pitt…persuaded the Prime Minister further to amend the Bill to exempt ‘all
Lodges declaring upon oath before a Justice of the Peace that they were
freemasons.’” 7 As a consequence, all references to the Grand Lodge were
deleted, ultimately thwarting what Hamill refers to as “Moira’s attempt at
strengthening the power of Grand Lodge.” 8 Furthermore, Lodge Kilwinning
continued to grant charters to other lodges, irrespective of Grand Lodge’s claim
that it alone was entitled to this privilege.
Had Moira succeeded, any lodge erected without the approval of the
Grand Lodge would have been subject to criminal prosecution. 9 It seems,
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however, that Moira was unaware of the changes made to the amendment which,
as Seemungal says, “eliminated the necessity of [masonic lodges] being under
5 Ibid.
6 See Thorne, History of Parliament, 843-845.
7 Lionel A. Seemungal, “The Edinburgh Rebellion 1808-1813,” AQC, 86(1973), 323.
8 Hamill, “Moira,” 34.
9 Ibid, 33.