What is the history of the Lodge of Perfect Unanimity?

Lodge of Perfect Unanimity, designated No. 1 on the Coast of Coromandel, was revived in Madras in 1786 and listed as No. 199 under the English constitution in the calendar of 1793 2. Meeting at the First Freemasons' Hall in Madras on the first and second Thursdays of each month 1, it maintained continuous activity through periods when other regional lodges lapsed. By 1835, it stood as the sole lodge in the province actively submitting returns and dues to the Provincial Grand Secretary 1.

Membership expanded significantly under the mastership of John Carnac Morris in the early 1830s, growing from 43 members in late 1833 to include military officers, merchants, civil servants, and prominent local clergy 1. Archdeacon Thomas Robinson served as Chaplain before being elected Master in 1835, followed in later years by Lieut.-Col. T. H. Somerset Conway and Alexander Inglis Cherry 1. In 1839, the lodge undertook the construction of a new Masonic Temple on the beach near Capper's, St. Thomé, where Governor Lord Elphinstone laid the foundation stone 1.

By 1847, the lodge was one of only three active Craft lodges remaining in the Presidency Town of Madras 1. While its primary assembly worked in the Craft, the lodge structure also hosted attached bodies working higher degrees: in the Royal Arch, in the Knights Templar, in the Rose Croix, and in the Chivalric Orders of Prusse and Harodin 1.