THOMAS DUNCKERLEY AND ENGLISH FREEMASONRY This page is intentionally left blank THOMAS DUNCKERLEY AND ENGLISH FREEMASONRY Susan Mitchell Sommers ROUTLEDGE Routledge Taylor & Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2012 by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © Taylor & Franc is 2012 © Susan Mitchell Sommers 2012 To the best of the Publisher’s knowledge every e ort has been made to contact relevant copyright holders and to clear any relevant copyright issues. Any omissions that come to their attention will be remedied in future editions. All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Sommers, Susan Mitchell, 1961– omas Dunckerley and English freemasonry. 1. Dunckerley, omas, 1724–1795. 2. Freemasons – Great Britain – Biography. 3. Freemasonry – Great Britain – History – 18th century. I. Title 366.1’092-dc23 ISBN-13: 978-1-84893-358-3 (hbk) Typeset by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited CONTENTS Acknowledgements vii Biographical Prolegomenon xi Prologue: In the A ermath of War 1 1 e Making of a Myth 5 2 ose he Le Behind 21 3 Dunckerley all at Sea 37 4 Dunckerley Ashore 49 5 e Trappings of Royalty 63 6 Making a Mason 75 7 Provincial Grand Master of England 89 8 Appendant Orders and Higher Degrees 107 9 Apotheosis 135 Epilogue 153 Addendum 157 Appendix 1 159 Appendix 2 163 Notes 165 Bibliography 191 Index 207 For Sophia ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS is study brings together the arts of biography, monograph and Masonic history to x an eighteenth-century naval veteran and Masonic luminary in a position he has never before occupied – his proper historical context. In the process of research and writing I have incurred so many debts across disciplines and continents that acknowledging them adequately is daunting. I must begin, however, with my colleagues at Saint Vincent College, who have been unstint- ing in their support and encouragement. Foremost amongst them is Fr. Rene Kollar, OSB, the Dean of the School of Humanities and Fine Arts. Rene is him- self a distinguished scholar, and he diligently fosters the scholarly endeavours of his faculty. Over the years he has consistently found resources for my forays into fraternal history, and without his stalwart support this project would not have been possible. Likewise I deeply appreciate the support of the committee entrusted with awarding Faculty Research Grants, which partially funded the research for this study. Other colleagues at Saint Vincent and elsewhere who read dra s and o ered invaluable suggestions include Eric Du y, Br. Bruno Hei- sey, OSB, Phyllis Riddle, Jim W. Daniel and James Smith Allen. John Bedell and Bill Speck read the manuscript and asked sometimes painfully pointed questions which I took to heart, and for which I am grateful. Dede Lingle Ittner’s enthu- siastic reading of the entire dra convinced me that non-historians could have as much fun with Dunckerley’s story as I did. William D. Moore and Jan A. M. Snoek generously shared their work in manuscript, and are duly noted in the text. My most profound thanks are due to John M. Hamill, Aubrey Newman and Andrew Prescott, all outstanding scholars and masters of Masonic history. ey poured over my manuscript removing ‘Americanisms’, explained the more arcane aspects of eighteenth-century Freemasonry and pointed me in the right direction when I needed additional sources to get the story right. e nished text is much richer and more accurate for their tremendous skill and generosity. Any mistakes that crept in despite their attention are my own. All contemporary historical studies depend on a network of archives and libraries, as much for their professional sta as for the collections they contain. My rst thanks must go to the sta of the Latimer Family Library at Saint Vin- – vii – viii Th omas Dunckerley and English Freemasonry cent College, especially Marlo Verilla, who was brilliant in ful lling my nearly endless interlibrary loan requests for obscure materials. Similarly high praise is due to my friends – for such they have become – at the Library and Museum of Freemasonry at the United Grand Lodge in London. Director of the Library and Museum Diane Clements heads a team of dedicated professionals with a thorough knowledge of their collections. I owe more than I can express to Susan Snell, Archivist and Records Manager, and Martin Cherry, Librarian. Fabulous in person, both have been endlessly patient in answering my persistent follow-up emails. Assistant Archivist Louise Pichel and Assistant Librarian Peter Aitken- head have also gone out of their way to be helpful, informative and welcoming. Robert L. D. Cooper, Curator of the Grand Lodge of Scotland Museum and Library, deserves similar recognition. He is a friend and colleague, and has been generous in providing access to rare publications. Other libraries and archives have played an important part in my research as well, especially in locating and reproducing heretofore misplaced primary sources. Both the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan and Surrey History Centre have generously granted permission to publish the three documents contained in the Appendices, all now in print for the rst time. I have also relied on the resources of Mark Tabbert at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, and Aimee Newell and Je Cro- teau at the Museum of National Heritage in Lexington, Massachusetts. Richard Gan, Past Deputy Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons kindly allowed Andrew Prescott and me to consult the archives in Mark Mason Hall, and completed our visit with a memorable lunch. I must warmly acknowledge the international treasures that are the National Library of Scotland, the British Library and the National Archives at Kew, whose collections form the cornerstone of my research. I also owe a debt of sev- eral decades’ pro table shelf-searching to the Institute of Historical Research. However, as technology changes, so too do our methods. As a relatively isolated scholar working in the wilds of Pennsylvania, I found various online resources a welcome addition to bricks-and-mortar institutions. Online catalogues, as well as projects like the Internet Archive, London Lives 1690 to 1800, Old Bailey Online, FamilySearch and electronic resources available to me as an a liate of King’s College London made my research more e ective and sometimes almost magically instantaneous. anks to all. Several individuals deserve acknowledgement for their patient and informa- tive correspondence, including John M. Hamill and Harriet Sandvall of the United Grand Lodge of England, Harry Dickinson of King’s College Lon- don, Stewart Brand, Archivist at the Devonshire Collection, Hannah Ishmael, Archives and Records Assistant of the Museums and Archives of the Royal Col- lege of Surgeons, Katie Ormerod, Deputy Archivist of the Archives & Museum Acknowledgements ix of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, and Eva-Marie Felschow of the University of Geissen. I am deeply grateful for the invaluable research and correspondence of Pamela Clark, Registrar at the Royal Archives. My sincere thanks go to the Master and members of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076 for their encour- agement, and the opportunity to present my ndings at their 125th anniversary meeting in June 2011. It is customary to conclude acknowledgements with recognition of one’s family. I must expand the family circle a bit to include my colleague, mentor and boon companion Andrew Prescott. Without Andrew’s prodding, encour- agement and critical eye, I would neither have undertaken nor completed this study. I am deeply appreciative of the love, support and patience of all members of my family in residence and scattered afar, especially Dallas and Alexander, but Sophia claims this book’s dedication as the price for leaving her ‘alone with the boys again’ every time I vanished into the archives. This page is intentionally left blank BIOGRAPHICAL PROLEGOMENON omas Dunckerley (1720–95) cut a swathe through late eighteenth-century English Freemasonry. Over the last quarter of that century, Dunckerley set an important example by building up the provincial organization of the Grand Lodge in southern England, serving as Provincial Grand Master for eight Masonic provinces by the early 1790s, and establishing a model of local gov- ernance which has deeply in uenced provincial Freemasonry in England to the present day. Dunckerley also took a leading part in the integration of the Royal Arch into the activities of the Modern Grand Lodge, presiding over Royal Arch Masonry in eleven counties. Dunckerley enthusiastically and e ectively pro- moted other degrees, commanding both the English Knights Templar and the recently formalized Royal Ark Masons. ere is even some evidence that he had in mind the creation of a women’s order or English Adoptive Rite.1 His life and accomplishments were celebrated by his Masonic colleagues, especially in the provinces, and during his lifetime biographical sketches appeared in the contem- porary Masonic press.2 In the nineteenth century, Dunckerley’s biography was made to serve new purposes, as it was emphasized by Masonic admirers who portrayed him as an example of just the sort of gentleman, Christian and Freemason the British Empire had need of in the Victorian era.