Ionic Lodge

From Initiation to Master of The Re-Royaled Kent Lodge No 15

Kent Lodge No 15 was named after Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (Edward Augustus, 2nd November 1767 – 23^rd January 1820), the fourth son and fifth child of George III and Queen Charlotte.

After the death of George VI and William VI, he would have been the next heir in line, but on his death in 1820 left his only child, a daughter, to ascend the throne. Thus, Victoria became Queen 17 years after his death.

The Lodge was constituted on 30th January 1752, under Warrant of the Grand Lodge of the Antients through the Grand Committee. It entered onto the Register of the Antients Grand Lodge as No 9 which, within a year due to closing up, became No 8, and since the Union, No 15.

The lodge can claim to be the oldest Lodge of the Antients to be constituted by Warrant. This seniority was richly recognised and Kent Lodge became deeply involved with the development of the Antients' Grand Lodge.  So too were its members chosen to play a major part in the negotiations which led to the formation of the United Grand Lodge of England.

Historically, individual lodges from early times came to be given the nomenclature of the name of their patron, or their town or area of location, rather than simply their registration number. This practice of naming lodges began to be accepted by UGLE some three years after Union, although not becoming the norm until about 1830.

The respect and esteem with which Lodge No 8 was held by the Leaders of the Antients is clear from the fact that Bro Archibald Herron, a Past Master of the lodge and a senior member of the Antients, was appointed at the Quarterly Communication on 18th December 1809 onto the Committee negotiating the Union ‘if possible’ between the Antients and the Moderns.

HRH the Duke of Kent at that time was the Deputy Grand Master of the Antients and was overseeing the Negotiations. He was elevated to Grand Master in 1813.

Notable members of Lodge No 8 included Bro Thomas Mahon, who in 1810 was appointed JGW in the Antients’ Grand Lodge of England, and SGW in 1811. Bro Archibald Herron was appointed JGW in 1812 and SGW in 1813.  All these appointments, especially at that time of such great change, emphasise the high standing with which the Antients held those early members of Lodge No 8.

It is perhaps not surprising that, for services rendered to the Craft, HRH was most graciously pleased in 1816 to allow Bro Herron's Lodge to be called the Royal Kent Lodge. This was ratified by the lodge at their meeting on 18th March 1816, when the proposed motion that the lodge be called the Royal Kent Lodge was carried unanimously. 

200 years on, a search was embarked on for primary evidence by the Secretary with much tenacity.

However, justification for the odge to be called 'Royal Kent Lodge' had been based largely on anecdotal evidence.  It had come from early issues of the lodge history which refer to the name of the Lodge as 'Royal Kent Lodge', particularly those dated 1903, 1914 and 1952, all of which are in the Library at Freemasons' Hall.

But diligent search revealed practical evidence in support of the anecdotal evidence. In particular, copies of submitted Lodge Annual Returns were discovered in the FMH Library, for the years 1816-1820, all of which were headed 'Royal Kent Lodge'.

Thus was a petition delivered that “Kent Lodge No 15 wishes to petition the MW The Grand Master that its correct title be restored, namely 'Royal Kent Lodge', as it was known for several years after the Union of the two Grand Lodges in 1813”.

This petition had the support of the RW The Metropolitan Grand Master and the Worshipful Metropolitan Grand Secretary.

The totality of the evidence was sufficient to enable Lodge No 15 to readopt its name as “Royal Kent Lodge” by approval of the Grand Master, following the recommendation of the Grand Master’s Advisory Committee meeting in September 2016. Alan Glen, Initiated 2017, was thus the first Initiate of Royal Kent Lodge for almost 200 years.

Between 1816 and the Duke of Kent’s passing in 1820, it is highly unlikely that any new member having been Initiated would have reached the Chair. The Masters for those years (Bros O'Leary, Smith, James and Short) were therefore almost certainly initiated into Lodge No 8 or No 9.

Three Masters in the modern era have been Masters of RKL but Initiated pre Re-Royaling, namely Bros. Lancelot Stimson (Master 2017, Initiated 1967), Kusheen Patel (Master 2019, Initiated 2012 and Alastair McEwan (Master 2023, Initiated 2014 Init), the remaining Masters being joiners.

The happenstance conclusion is therefore that for 2025, Lewis Hooper, Initiated in 2020, is the first Initiate of the Re-Royaled Kent Lodge to become Master. Long may it thrive as it looks towards celebrating its 275^th Anniversary in 2027.

This article is part of the Arena Magazine Issue 58 – Summer 2025 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official online magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in Arena Issue 58 here.

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