I would like to present to you a short address concerning Freemasonry and its origins in the North West of England - more particularly in my home town of Liverpool.
The province of West Lancashire is not only the largest of the provinces ranged under the banner of the Grand Lodge of England, it also has claims to be the birthplace of English Freemasonry.
The initiation of Elias Ashmole in Warrington in Lancashire on 16th October 1646 is the earliest recorded initiation into English Freemasonry.
All trace of that early Lancashire lodge, if indeed such a lodge existed, if it was not merely an ad hoc meeting of conveniently situated Freemasons, has disappeared.
The oldest of the existing lodges is Lodge of Loyalty No. 86 in Prescott, dating from 1753 and still meeting on the Wednesday before full moon, although the Brethren can no longer rely on their horses to see them safely home in the moonlight.
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2008 - Freemasonry and its Origins in the North West of England - Bro Graham Dunne.
