what is the earliest known record of the mark degree being conferred in England before the grand lodge was formed

The earliest recorded conferral of the Mark degree within an English Masonic body took place in 1769 in Portsmouth. This working occurred within a Royal Arch Chapter attached to Phoenix Lodge, as recorded in a paper read before Quatuor Coronati Lodge. This working predates the organization of the degree under a separate sovereign head in the nineteenth century, demonstrating that the Mark degree was cultivated within existing lodges and chapters prior to the establishment of an independent governing body for the Order.