Victoria Lodge – Masonic Lodge in Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Learn How to Become a Freemason

The Lodge with the oldest records is believed to  be Lodge of Edinburgh #1, sometimes known as “Mary’s Chapel”.

Tradition says this Lodge was formed by skilled craftsmen brought over from the continent by King David I to build Holyrood Abbey in 1128 A.D.  It’s oldest minute is dated July 31 1599, but even at that time, the Lodge had been working for a considerable period.

The really remarkable fact is that from 1599 until the present day, only four years have been unrecorded by this Lodge.

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The “FREE” in Freemasonry refers to the days when attempts were made in 1712 to regulate building wages.

“Freemasons” were distinguished from “Masons” as a separate class of workmen, notably in their wages.  In numerous building accounts, “Freemasons were regularly distinguished from “rough” Masons, brick or stone layers, rough hewers, hard hewers, etc.

It was also quite probably the case, that Freemasons were not serfs or vassals, and indeed were free men, who had the opportunity, because of their station, to advance and excel in their profession.

Ordinary Masons were paid 1 1/2 to 3 pence per day, whilst Freemasons received 2 1/2 to 4 pence per day.

The term “Freemason” was also connected with “freestone”, meaning excellent quality. Freestone was a fine grained stone that could be worked in any direction, thus lending itself particularly to the carving of foliage, images and mouldings, window frames, and doorways.

The skilled worker in “freestone’ was an artist and a precision worker, so that the designation “Freemason” denoted superior qualifications in the mason trade.

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Bro. Rt. Hon. John George Diefenbaker (1895 – 1979) was the sixth Prime Minister of Canada who was a Mason. He was Initiated in Wakaw Lodge #166, Saskatchewan, on September 11 1922, affiliated with Kinistino Lodge #1 at Prince Albert, B.C. on May 7 1926, becoming a life member in 1959.

Bro. Diefenbaker was a Shriner and was coronetted a 33 Degree Scottish Rite Mason at Windsor, Ontario on September 9 1959. He was an active Mason, and in July 1975, he was unanimously elected Imperial Potentate of the new Tunis Temple in Ottawa, and was also honorary Grand Master of Canadian DeMolay.

Bro. Diefenbaker was  Prime Minister of Canada from 1957 – 1963. Also, in 1957 he was named to the Queen’s Imperial Privy Council. In April 1976 he received from the Queen the insignia of membership in the exclusive, “Companions of Honour” order, which is limited to the sovereign and only 65 members.

Following his death in 1979, a Canada Post stamp was issued in honour of our former Prime Minister and Brother.

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King George VI was initiated into Navy Lodge #2612 in 1919, when he was Duke of York; in 1922 he was appointed Senior Grand Warden; two years later he was installed as Provincial Grand Master for Middlesex, which position he held until coming to the throne in 1936.

H.R.H. affiliated with Glamis Lodge, of which his father-in-law, the Earl of Strathmore, was a Past Master. He became Grand Master Mason of Scotland for part of 1936, but resigned his office upon his ascendancy to the throne.

King George VI participated actively in Masonic ceremonies, and this before crowded assemblies. He was installed as Past Grand Master at the Royal Albert Hall before an audience of Masons from all over the world. Similarly, he conducted, in person, the installation of three Grand Masters – the Duke of Kent in 1939, the Earl of Harewood in 1943, and the Duke of Devonshire in 1948.

King George VI had always regarded Freemasonry as one of the strongest influences on his life, and his death on February 6^th 1952, was a severe blow to the Craft, as it was to all England, the British Isles, and the free world.

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The Statue of Liberty was a gift of goodwill to the United States of America by France, shortly after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, when France itself, became a republic.

The Cornerstone of the structure was laid by Officers of the Grand Lodge of New York, with Masonic rites on August 5^th 1884.

Bro. Frederick Auguste Bartholdi, another Mason, designed the statue, which was completed in four years, and unveiled on August 28 1886.

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The Regius Manuscript, believed written in the year 1390 in Middle English, probably by a priest in the west of England, is the most ancient Masonic manuscript known to be in existence.

It is a poem of 794 lines, sometimes known as the “Halliwell Manuscript” as it was J.O. Halliwell who, in 1840, first edited and published the text.  It formed part of the library of Henry VII, and it’s title “Regius” is indicative of it’s royal owners.  The first lines tell how Euclid, himself a Mason, was employed to teach Geometry  to the children of the Lords and Ladies of Egypt. It also includes, in addition to Masonic instruction, much guidance on general behaviour, required conduct in church, proper deportment, and cleanliness at meals.

The Regius Manuscript is now preserved in the British Museum, to whom it was given by King George II.

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