“As I have said in a previous talk, Freemasonry started, as far as I can find out, with the formation of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Scilly in 1755, but there is no record of the names of the founding members. The earliest I can trace is the list of members which I obtained from Grand Lodge for the year 1768. However, it was the custom in those days for each member of the Lodge to sign the Bye-Laws, and so I can deduce from that that the original Members were as follows: The Provincial Grand Master was Isaac Head, who was the Collector of Customs here, and the members were John Mitchell, David Rogers, James Frost, John Medbury, all described a Gentlemen, the Reverend Herbert Lewis, Clerk in Holy Orders, and William Fox.In the list for the next year Medbury is described at the Ensign of the Garrison, it is interesting to note that he remains on the list until 1784, when he had been promoted to Lieutenant. William Fox also appears on that same list, now described as the Master of a vessel in the timber trade. Scilly was of course a noted centre for shipbuilding, so it is no surprise to find another master of a timber trade vessel, Mark Lee, joining the Lodge in 1771. Meanwhile the Reverend Lewis has become the Chaplain to the Right Honourable the Lord Godolphin.
The Garrison in those days was manned by soldiers described as Invalides, and I have found from the museum that this means that they were in fact pensioners, or soldiers who had incurred wounds during their service which precluded them from active service, but allowed them to do Garrison duty. I was surprised, therefore to find that in the Register of Members of the Lodge in 1776 that it included Lieutenant Dalrymble of the 43rd Regiment of Foot, Lieutenant John Harrison of the 59th Regiment of Foot, Ensign Richard Porter of the 22nd Regiment of Foot, which implied a very large increase in the Garrison here, of up to three Regiments. I could scarcely believe this, and then I remembered that this was the period of the American Civil War. I looked up the list of Masonic Field Lodges in Regiments serving in America between 1755 to 1777 and I found that during that period the 22nd Regiment and the 43rd Regiment were both there fighting in the war, so I think it is safe to assume that these Regiments were in troopships which called into the Isles of Scilly en route to the war, and that it was whilst they were at anchor that they were made members of the Lodge here. I have a feeling that it was a good thing for an officer to Join the Regimental Lodge. Good for his career, I
The Garrison in those days was manned by soldiers described as Invalides, and I have found from the museum that this means that they were in fact pensioners, or soldiers who had incurred wounds during their service which precluded them from active service, but allowed them to do Garrison duty. I was surprised, therefore to find that in the Register of Members of the Lodge in 1776 that it included Lieutenant Dalrymble of the 43rd Regiment of Foot, Lieutenant John Harrison of the 59th Regiment of Foot, Ensign Richard Porter of the 22nd Regiment of Foot, which implied a very large increase in the Garrison here, of up to three Regiments. I could scarcely believe this, and then I remembered that this was the period of the American Civil War. I looked up the list of Masonic Field Lodges in Regiments serving in America between 1755 to 1777 and I found that during that period the 22nd Regiment and the 43rd Regiment were both there fighting in the war, so I think it is safe to assume that these Regiments were in troopships which called into the Isles of Scilly en route to the war, and that it was whilst they were at anchor that they were made members of the Lodge here. I have a feeling that it was a good thing for an officer to Join the Regimental Lodge. Good for his career, I
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