why did Antiquity break away from Grand Lodge in 1777

The breach began on St. John the Evangelist's Day in 1777, when members of the Lodge of Antiquity walked back to their lodge venue from a church service at St. Dunstan-in-the-West clothed in Masonic regalia without first obtaining a dispensation, as Quatuor Coronati Lodge records. The Grand Lodge of England ruled this a breach of its regulations prohibiting public processions, while William Preston and his supporters argued that as a time-immemorial lodge existing prior to the Grand Lodge's formation, Antiquity retained inherent privileges exempting it from such restrictions 1. Although the brethren had walked only a short distance wearing no regalia other than white gloves, the Grand Lodge treated the act as a serious violation 2.

The dispute escalated when Antiquity expelled three members for misbehaviour and Grand Lodge ordered them reinstated without investigating the matter 1. Antiquity refused to comply, asserting its right to choose its own members 1. Grand Lodge then expelled Preston and his supporters for refusing to surrender lodge property to the three reinstated men 12. Mackey attributes the severity of the crisis to a personal quarrel driven by the Grand Secretary, who used Grand Lodge authority as an engine of persecution 2.

Maintaining that an immemorial lodge had never surrendered its original independence or accepted a warrant, the majority of Antiquity severed ties with the Grand Lodge 1. Under a warrant from the York Grand Lodge, they formed the Grand Lodge of England South of the River Trent, causing a ten-year schism 1 / quatuorcoronati.com.

While the conflict was triggered by an unauthorized public procession from St. Dunstan's Church, the rupture expanded through two deeper constitutional disputes 1. First, after the Lodge of Antiquity expelled three members for misbehaviour, the Premier Grand Lodge intervened and ordered them reinstated without proper investigation 1. Antiquity refused to comply, maintaining that a private lodge was the competent judge of its own membership 1.

Second, and most fundamentally, the dispute turned on the source and nature of Masonic authority 1. In response to the lodge's defiance, the Grand Lodge issued a resolution stating that every private lodge derives its authority exclusively from the Grand Lodge and that no private lodge could withdraw from its jurisdiction without its authority reverting to the Grand Lodge 1.

William Preston and the Lodge of Antiquity countered that as a time-immemorial lodge existing long before the establishment of the Grand Lodge in 1717, Antiquity held an independent constitution that had never been surrendered, forfeited, or exchanged for a warrant 1. They argued that under the ancient charges and traditional usages of the fraternity, brethren possessed an inherent right to meet and make Masons without needing warrants or dispensations from a Grand Master 1. Holding its immemorial privileges sacred against what it viewed as usurped authority, Antiquity published a manifesto, severed its connection with the Premier Grand Lodge, and allied with the Grand Lodge of All England at York, initiating a schism that lasted ten years 1.

The split lasted for ten years 12.

The breach began following the St. John's Day procession in December 1777 and the subsequent disciplinary measures enforced by the Grand Lodge 12. Full reinstatement of the Lodge of Antiquity's members into their Masonic privileges was officially confirmed at the Grand Feast on May 2, 1790 12.

While sources agree that the separation spanned a ten-year period 12, accounts differ on the exact timeline of the reconciliation process. Mackey states in one entry that the Grand Lodge acknowledged its error and restored Preston in 1787, leading to the collapse of the rival Grand Lodge South of the River Trent 2, but records in another entry that the formal reinstatement took place at the Grand Feast in 1790 2. Newton places the turning point in 1789, noting that Preston and his associates apologized and recanted before being received back into the fold 3.

The expelled majority of the Lodge of Antiquity did continue to assemble and perform Masonic work throughout the split. After notifying its separation from the Premier Grand Lodge of England, the lodge entered into an alliance with the Grand Lodge of All England at York 1. Constituting itself as the Grand Lodge of England South of the River Trent under a warrant from York 2, the body held regular meetings, conducted Masonic functions, and constituted new lodges between 1779 and its eventual reconciliation in 1789 or 1790, as an article on the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon website records.

While the lodge as a body remained active under its York authority, William Preston personally seldom attended lodge meetings during his exclusion, resigning his memberships in various lodges and turning his focus to literary work until his restoration in 1787 2.

Reconciliation began in May 1789 when William Preston made a formal submission to the Grand Lodge expressing regret for past misunderstandings, resulting in his reinstatement and restoration to all his Masonic honors, as a paper read before Quatuor Coronati Lodge records. The formal confirmation restoring the members of the Lodge of Antiquity to all their Masonic privileges was officially ratified at the Grand Assembly on May 2, 1790, presided over by the Grand Master, the Duke of Cumberland 12.

The practical re-unification of the lodge itself was accomplished through a coordinated joint mastership and ceremonial procession. The two separated factions of the Lodge of Antiquity jointly elected William Birch as Master for both bodies, as a paper read before Quatuor Coronati Lodge notes. Birch was installed into the chair of each faction and convened both bodies at the Thatched House Tavern in St. James's on November 12, 1790, as a paper read before Quatuor Coronati Lodge records. The members of both factions entered the assembly in procession in pairs, after which the two halves reunited to reconstitute the Lodge of Antiquity as a single, unified lodge under the Premier Grand Lodge of England, as a paper read before Quatuor Coronati Lodge records.