Prepared by Castle Lodge 3219

Lodge 260: the story of a Nottinghamshire Masonic Lodge 1790-1828

Episode One: in the New World

This episode tells the story of Thomas Jackson, military hero, one of the
founders and the first Master of Lodge 260 in Nottingham in 1790.

But our story starts in New York in 1776.

That year sees one of the major battles in the American Revolutionary War:
the Battle of Long Island. It was won by the British troops lead by Lieutenant
General William Howe, against the revolutionary troops under the
command of George Washington. The British remained in New York from
1776 until the end of the War in 1783. Royal Artillery Gunner, 1790’s

Freemasonry was present in colonial New York before the war, most lodges had been warranted by the Premier (Modern) Grand
Lodge. These lodges were training schools for American patriots. We know a large number of American revolutionary leaders were
freemasons, including Washington, Franklin and Lafayette.
After General Howe had taken New York in 1776, a large number of members of New York lodges, loyal to the American cause, left
the city. The city became invaded by British soldiers, and with them came military lodges, mainly Antient lodges, and some Irish and
Scottish lodges.
Thomas Jackson served in the 4th Battalion, Royal Artillery, which was in New York at that time. This battalion had its own masonic
lodge: Lodge 213. This was Thomas Jackson’s mother Lodge.
Lodge 213 was very successful, with 58 members in 1782, including senior commanding officers such as Major William Orcher
Huddleston.
Lodge 213 was a very prestigious lodge, for 2 reasons:
- It was consecrated in 1781 by the Antients Grand Lodge whilst it met in New York, an extraordinarily rare occurrence of an
English Grand Lodge meeting on foreign soil.
- It was one of the 9 New York lodges who got together to form a Provincial Grand Lodge, the ancestor to todays’ Grand
Lodge of New York.

The American War of Independence came to an end in 1783, the British troops left New York on 25 November, and George
Washington triumphantly entered the City.

The 4th Battalion, Royal Artillery left New York for St John’s, the capital city on
Newfoundland Island off Canada’s Atlantic coast, and with it, Lodge 213 and
its members. Even with its undoubted reputation of ‘Drizzle and Fog', local
people said St. John's was a City when New York was a mud hole.

Walls of rock, at the entrance of St

John’s harbour, Newfoundland

In 1787, the regiment returned to Woolwich in London, headquarters of the

Royal Artillery. It was not with a sad heart that the aspiring Thomas returned
with his Regiment to England.

Thomas Jackson moved to Nottingham shortly after and decided it was time
to create his own masonic lodge. Royal Artillery Headquarters,
Woolwich, London

Thomas Jackson met several soldiers from the 67th Regiment of Foot who were in Nottingham at the time. They were members of
the regiment’s own masonic lodge: Lodge 175. Thomas also met several Irish immigrant workers who were members of Irish
masonic lodges back home in Dublin and were looking to continue masonic activities. Thomas had found enough interested men to
establish a new masonic lodge in Nottingham, and this time he would be the Master.

Next episode will tell the story of George Merrin, who was, with Thomas Jackson, a founder of Lodge 260, and its secretary for many
years. He was a military in the 67th Regiment of Foot, and member of the regiment’s Lodge 175.

Prepared by Ron N. & Marc G., Castle Lodge 3219. March 2020
Sources: Archives of Museum and Library of Freemasonry, Freemason’s Hall, London; Duncan F. (1872) History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery; Lang O. H. (1922)
History of Freemasonry in the State of New York; MacKall K. W. (1960) Freemasonry in New York from 1730 to 1787; McCullough D. (2005) 1776