Scottish Freemasonry and England 1700 to 1750

Name

Years

Other Positions

Information

Jacobite Links

Notes

1

William St Clair of Roslin

1736-1737

Lodge Canongate Kilwinning No.2

No

First Grand Master

2

George (Mackenzie) 3rd Earl of Cromartie

1737-1738

Hon member Kilwinning Scots Arms.

yes

Taken prisoner in April 1746, after the battle of Littleferry (Golspie). Tried and sentenced to death, pardoned, reduced to extreme poverty, dies in London 1766

3

John (Keith) 3rd Earl of Kintore

1738-1739

G.M. England 1740-1741

Kilwinning Scots Arms

Maybe

Member Lodge of Edinburgh, and of Aberdeen descended from the Keith’s, Earls Marishal and allied to the Earl of Mar

4

James (Douglas) 14th Earl of Morton K.T.

1739-1740

G.M. England 1741-1742

Lodge Drummond Kilwinning from Greenock

Maybe

Astronomer, president Philosophical Society of Edinburgh from 1737, president of the Royal Society 1764
Member Lodge Drummond Kilwinning from Greenock

5

Thomas (Lyon) 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorn

1740-1741

G.M. England 1744-1745

Master Lodge of Glamis 1738-1740

No

Bro to the 5th Earl of Strathmore, Jacobite – Died at Sherrifmuir 1715.
Also Bro. to the 7th Earl, who was G.M. of England 1735

6

Alexander (Leslie) 5th Earl of Leven and 4th Earl of Melville

1741-1742

Lodge Drummond Kilwinning from Greenock

No

Lord of Session 1734-54. High Commissioner to General Assembly 1741-53

7

William (Boyd) 4th and Last Earl of Kilmarnock

1742-1743

Mother Kilwinning/Lodge Kilmarnock/ St John Kilwinning, Kilmarnock No.22. Lodge Falkirk.

yes

executed

8

James (Weymss) 5th Earl of Weymss

1743-1744

Yes

Father of David Wemyss, Lord Elcho (Jacobite Colonel)
Married to Janet Charteris, daughter of Col Francis Charteris

9

James (Stuart) 8th Earl of Moray K.T.

1744-1745

no

2nd marriage in 1740 to Margaret Wemyss, daughter of 4th Earl of Wemyss, sister to 5th Earl of Wemyss and aunt to David Lord Elcho (Jacobite)

10

Henry David (Erskine) 10th Earl of Buchan

1745-1746

Lodge Drummond Kilwinning from Greenock

No

Fellow of Royal Society 1734

11

William Nisbet of Dirleton

1746-1747

Lodge Canongate Kilwinning No.2 (27th Dec 1744)
History of the Lodge p.45

Maybe

12

The Hon Francis Charteris of Amisfield, Earl of Weymss

1747-1748

Unknown

Brother to David, Lord Elcho

13

Hugh Seaton of Touch

1748-1749

Lodge of Bolougne
Lodge Ancient Stirling

Maybe

Hugh Smith - he took the name of Seton and became Hugh Seton, 12th of Touch.
Prince Charles (Young Pretender) stayed at his house after the Battle of Prestonpans 1745)

14

Thomas (Erskine) Lord Erskine (Jacobite Earl of Mar and Duke of Mar)

1749-1750

Thomas Erskine, Lord Erskine (1705 – 16 March 1766) was the son of John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar. He could not inherit the title of Earl of Mar due to the Writ of Attainder for treason passed against his father in 1716 for his role in the First Jacobite Rebellion (1715). On 1 October 1741, he married Charlotte Hope, daughter of the Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun. He died without issue.

15

Alexander (Mongomery) 10th Earl of Eglington

1750-1751

Lodge Kilmarnock Kilwinning.

16

James (Boyd, later Hay) Lord Boyd, 15th Earl of Errol

1751-1752

Lodge of Falkirk

Son of the Jacobite 4th Earl of Kilmarnock

17

George Drummond, Lord Provost of Edinburgh

1752-1753

Lodge of Edinburgh No.1

Government Hanoverian Supporter

Name

Year

Notes

Date joined Royal Society

1

Anthony Sayer, 1717

1717

2

George Payne

1718, 1720

3

John Theophilus Desaguliers

1719

Visited Scotland 1720 & 1721

Joined 1714

4

Philip Wharton, 2nd Duke of Wharton

1722

Created Duke at age of 16 by George I – Created Jacobite Duke of Northumberland by ‘Old Pretender’ Jas III, Hell-fire Club. Died 1731

5

Francis Scott, 2nd Duke of Buccleuch

1723

His Grandfather – Duke of Monmouth. Buccleuch was a Scottish Noble.

Joined 1724

6

Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond

1724-1725

Patronage of Cricket, grandson of Charles II. MP for Chichester 1722. Also, Duke Aubigny introduce FM into France 1734, Lodge in Chateau d’Aubigny near Metz.

Joined 1724

7

James Hamilton, 7th Earl of Abercorn (1686-1744)

1726

Scottish & Irish Noble. (Lord Paisley 1701-1734) – Scientist. Calculations and tables on the Attractive Power of Lodestone

Joined 1715

8

William O’Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin

1727

Irish Peer. Whig MP for Windsor

9

Henry Hare, 3rd Lord Coleraine

1727-1728

Fellow - Society of Antiquaries

Joined 1730

10

James King, 4th Lord Kingston

1729

Also, GM of Ireland 1730-32, 1735-36 & 1745-47

11

Thomas Howard, 8th Duke of Norfolk

1730-1731

Involved in Jacobite Plot, imprisoned in Tower of London, died 1732

12

Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester

1731

Died 1759

Joined 1731

13

Anthony Montague, 6th Viscount Montague

1732

Joined 1725

14

James, 7th Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorn

1733

Bro to the 5th Earl of Strathmore, Jacobite – Died at Sherrifmuir 1715.
Visited Lodge of Edinburgh in 1733, he was installed as GM of London by proxy on 7th June 1733

Joined 1733

15

John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford

1734

Col of Black Watch 1739-40, Fought at Dettingen and Culloden, on Government side. Member of Lodge of Edinburgh 1733. Was introduced in Masonry by his friend the 7th Earl of Strathmore, also assumed member of Lodge Kilwinning Scots Arms and mentioned as member of Edinburgh Kilwinning

Joined 1732

16

Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth

1735

17

John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudon

1736

Government side at Inverness – 1745, C in C Virginia 1756, Governor of Edinburgh Castle 1763

18

Edward Bligh, 2nd Earl of Darnley

1737

Irish Peer, Whig, opposed Walpole.

Joined 1737

19

Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos

1738

Connected with Desaugliers, Endowed a ‘chair’ of Medicine at St Andrew’s University in 1721.

20

Robert, 2nd Lord Raymond

1739

21

John Keith, 3rd Earl of Kintore

1740

Member of Lodge of Edinburgh 7th Aug 1733.
Descended from the Keith’s, Earl Marshals of Scotland - Jacobites (Grand Master of Scotland 1738-39) -

22

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton

1741

President Philosophical Society of Edinburgh (Became Royal Society of Edinburgh) from 1737 to 1768. Member Lodge Drummond Kilwinning from Greenock
Scottish Astronomer, in 1746 he visited France, imprisoned in the Bastille, suspected Jacobite. (Grand Master of Scotland 1739-1740)

President Royal Society 1764

23

John, 1st Viscount Dudley and Ward

1742-1743

24

Thomas, 8th Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorn

1744

Started Lodge Glamis in 1738 and master thereof, Lodge met in Glamis Castle (now No.99 S.C.) (Grand Master of Scotland 1740-41)

25

James, 6th Lord Cranstoun

1745-1747

26

William, 5th Lord Byron

1747-1751

Great Uncle of the poet – George Gordon Byron (6th Lord Byron)
William, Lord Byron was also GM of the Premier Grand Lodge of England 1747-1752