The matter of the contribution to the development of the Craft in Australia made by the Lodge of Social and Military Virtues No 227 IC, attached to the 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment stationed in Sydney between 1814 and 1817, has been the subject of discussion by Masonic historians over the years.
It has been variously claimed that in 1816 the lodge assisted in the constitution of the first regular stationary lodge in Australia, the Australian Social Lodge No 260 IC; that the lodge paved the way for the establishment of stationary lodges in Australia; that the credit for the formation of the Australian Social Lodge must be given not to Lodge No 227 but to Lodge No 218 attached to the 48th Regiment, which replaced the 46th Regiment in Sydney, and in particular to one member, Samuel Clayton.
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1996 - THE 46TH (SOUTH DEVONSHIRE) REGIMENT AND FREEMASONRY IN AUSTRALIA 1814 TO 1817 - Robert Linford.
