why was William Preston expelled from Grand Lodge in 1779

The expulsion arose from a dispute over public processions and lodge authority in Craft Masonry under the Premier Grand Lodge of England 12. On Saint John's Day, 27 December 1777, William Preston and several members of the Lodge of Antiquity attended a church service at St Dunstan's in Fleet Street in their Masonic clothing and regalia, afterwards walking back across the street to their lodge tavern without first obtaining a dispensation 12. When disgruntled members reported the walk as an unauthorized public procession, Grand Lodge declared it a breach of its general regulations 1.

Preston resisted a lodge motion to repudiate the event, maintaining that as an immemorial lodge operating prior to the founding of Grand Lodge, the Lodge of Antiquity possessed inherent privileges that exempted it from Grand Lodge rules regarding public processions 12. The breach widened when Grand Lodge ordered the reinstatement of three members whom Antiquity had expelled, an order Preston and the lodge refused to obey on the grounds that a lodge was the sole judge of its own membership 1. A personal quarrel between Preston and an irascible Grand Secretary further intensified the conflict, resulting in Grand Lodge being used to penalize Preston and his associates 2.

For maintaining that the Lodge of Antiquity held immemorial rights outside the authority and regulations of Grand Lodge, Preston was subjected to disciplinary proceedings and expelled in January 1779 12. His expulsion led to a ten-year schism during which the Lodge of Antiquity withdrew from Grand Lodge and established a temporary rival body, until Grand Lodge recognized the injustice of its actions and reinstated Preston with all his honours in 1787 12.