St. John’s Lodge No. 1
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Established 1797
2020 membership 67
Meets 2nd Tuesday in each month at 7:00 pm except July & August at the Masonic Temple, 204 Hillsborough St., Charlottetown (South of Euston St., between University and Weymouth Sts.)
A History of St. John’s Lodge No. 1 – Est. 1797
This article is reprinted from The Pattern Set For Us: A History of the Concordant and Related Bodies of Freemasonry Past and Present on Prince Edward Island with the kind permission of the author, RW Bro. George Doughart, Grand Historian.
Sources:
Freemasonry In Prince Edward Island, Historical Sketch presented by R.W.Bro. George Wakeford at the Fiftieth Anniversary of Grand Lodge June, 1925.
Historical Sketch St. John’s Lodge No. 1 A.F. & A.M., presented at the 150th Anniversary by M.W.Bro. G.Elliott Full PGM
History of St. John’s Lodge, circa 1957 M.W.Bro. Malcolm MacKenzie PGM
History of St. John’s Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons 1779-1890 by R.W.Bro. George Wakeford
Lodge Minutes: Minute Books prior to 1826 are missing. The Minutes from January 1854 to November 1863 are also missing. Records of December 1863 to April, 1866 were lost in a gunpowder explosion on April 28, 1866 at the premises of W.Bro H.E. Starbird & Co.
Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Prince Edward Island, A.F. & A.M.
Documents at the Nova Scotia Archives confirm that in 1790 a Petition from several Master Masons to establish a Craft Lodge in Charlottetown was approved by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia. The Petition, dated September 22, 1790, was addressed to the “Right Worshipful Grand Master of Masonry of Nova Scotia” and stated thus: “We have taken the liberty to address you and the Grand Lodge for a Warrant to form a Lodge on this Island, and being unacquainted with the form of application (if there be any) our Worthy Brother Captn. Livingstone has given his word as a man that he will deliver this, acquaint you of the circumstances and vouch for those who have subscribed their names as Antient Master Masons.” (NSARM, MG 20, Vol. 2004, #4, Item1) The Petition was signed by Peter Stewart, Thomas DesBrisay, Joseph Alpin, William Baker, William Hillman and Samuel Hayden.