when was the Union of 1813 agreed between the Moderns and Antients

The Preliminary Articles for the Union were signed at Kensington Palace on 25 November 1813, as an article on the United Grand Lodge of England's website records. The two Grand Lodges formally united a month later on St. John's Day, 27 December 1813, during a grand meeting held in Freemasons' Hall, London 23.

This final agreement capped a reconciliation process that had developed over several years. An abortive attempt at union occurred in 1797, followed by renewed overtures in 1801 and 1802 13. By 1809, joint committees were actively meeting to canvass differences 3, and the Earl of Moira warranted the Lodge of Promulgation expressly to pave the way for union between the two bodies 1.

The preliminary articles were drawn up by a joint committee representing both Grand Lodges 4. On behalf of the Antients, the committee comprised the Duke of Kent, Deputy Grand Master Harper, and Past Deputy Grand Masters Agar and James Perry 4, the latter serving as a Commissioner for the Antients, as a paper read before Quatuor Coronati Lodge records. The Moderns were represented in the negotiations by the Duke of Sussex, accompanied by Waller Rodwell Wright, Provincial Grand Master of the Ionian Isles, and Past Grand Wardens Tegart and Deans 4.

The preliminary agreement was signed at Kensington Palace on 25 November 1813 by the two Grand Masters—the Dukes of Kent and Sussex, who were sons of King George III—prior to the formal ratification of the final version on 27 December 1813, as the United Grand Lodge of England records.

Article 2 declared that pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees—Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason—while explicitly including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch 41. Beyond this core, the article specified that it was not intended to prevent any lodge or chapter from holding meetings in any of the degrees of the Orders of Chivalry, provided they complied with the Constitutions of those Orders 451.

Through these provisions, the Royal Arch was recognized as an inherent part or perfection of Master Masonry 45, while chivalric degrees were allowed to continue without being officially acknowledged as part of pure Masonry, as an article on the United Grand Lodge of England's website notes 5.