Letters relating to communication between the Provincial Grand Chapters of Canada,...

HC 14/C

Letters relating to communication between the Provincial Grand Chapters of Canada, the Grand Chapter of Canada and the Supreme Grand Chapter of England

1847 - 1862

The letters include correspondence between William Henry White, William Gray Clarke and Grand Officers of the Supreme Grand Chapter of England and their Canadian counterparts relating to Masonic administration in Canada, with details about events leading to the formation of the Grand Chapter of Canada and the activities of Thomas Douglas Harington. They include a letter from Hon Peter McGill, Province of Canada to William Henry White confirming receipt of a patent to serve as Provincial Grand Superintendent for Canada, with details about the separation of St George’s Lodge and Chapter, Montreal and requesting a Charter for Victoria Chapter, to be attached to St George’s Lodge, listing Thomas Douglas Harington, William Wright, Daniel Gorrie, John Whitlaw and George Grundy as petitioners and requesting certificates for proposed members [ HC 14/C/1]; copy prepared for William Henry White by the Hon Peter McGill, P E Superintendent, Province of Canada of letters sent to Thomas Douglas Harington of Victoria Chapter, Montreal and Isaac Aaron of St George’s Chapter, Montreal confirming the appointment of the former as Provincial Grand Superintendent for Canada, recommending the separation between St George’s Lodge and Chapter following the suspension of Thomas Douglas Harington and confirming McGill’s intention to ensure a connection between each Lodge in Montreal and a Chapter, namely St Paul’s Lodge and Chapter; St George’s Chapter, No. 731 with Zetland Lodge and the formation of a new Chapter, Victoria to be attached to St George’s Lodge, and ordering St George’s Chapter furniture, jewels and Charter to be returned by T D Harington to Isaac Aaron [ HC 14/C/2]; letter from Thomas Douglas Harington, Past First Principal of Victoria Chapter, No. 643, Montreal, Quebec to William Henry White, concerning the resignation of Peter McGill due to ill health and suggesting that the role of Grand Superintendent should be divided into two jurisdictions, nominating himself as Grand Superintendent of Quebec and Three Rivers [ HC 14/C/3]; letters from Thomas B Harris, Grand Scribe E of the Grand Chapter of Canada, Canada West, Thomas Douglas Harington and others to William Gray Clarke concerning the recognition of the Grand Chapter of Canada, rejected initially by the Supreme Grand Chapter due to its inclusion of Mark Master, Past Master and Most Excellent Master degrees as worked in the United States, where visitors require such degrees in order to visit a Chapter, and related correspondence [ HC 14/C/4-16]; letters from Dr Samuel Tilly Gove, Provincial Grand Secretary, St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada (born 1813) to William Gray Clarke concerning the dormant St Mark’s Chapter, No. 759 whose members met under a dispensation granted by the late Provincial Grand Superintendent, the Rev Jerome Alley, listing Chapter members as Gove, First Principal; Nesbitt, Second Principal; J Douggherty Third Principal; J Aymar; J Dolby (from Hibernian Lodge, No. 318 (I.C.)); S Getty (from Hibernian Lodge, No. 318 (I.C.)); W Doak (from Hibernian Lodge, No. 318 (I.C.)); James Clark; James McMasters; C Morrison and C Kennedy, Scribe E, with a visitor H Maudslay of Old Kings Arms Chapter, No. 30. Gove proposes himself as the new Provincial Grand Superintendent [ HC 14/C/17]; and letters from Thomas B Harris, Grand Scribe E, Grand Chapter of Canada to William Gray Clarke requesting the withdrawal of a Charter granted to Dalhousie Lodge, No. 835 to form a Chapter under the Provincial Grand Chapter of Canada West, Ottawa (E.C.) following official recognition of the Grand Chapter of Canada in 1861 [ HC 14/C/18-19] .

English

1 folder containing 19 documents

Thomas Douglas Harington was born on 7 June 1808 at Windsor, Berkshire. After spending time in the Royal Navy and in the service of the Honourable East India Company, Harington landed at Quebec, Canada in July 1832. He became an Extra Clerk to the Provincial Secretary of Lower Canada in November 1832. His Civil Service career advanced smoothly and by May 1858 he was promoted to Deputy Receiver-General for Upper and Lower Canada. He was reappointed to the same office under the recently formed Dominion of Canada in 1868, a post he held until his retirement in 1878. He served in the Queen's Rangers militia unit during the rebellion in Upper Canada 1837-1838 and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was initiated as a freemason in Duke of Leinster Lodge, No. 283 (I.C.), Kingston, Canada on 13 December 1843. He joined St John's Lodge, No. 758 (E.C.), Kingston on 28 March 1844. On moving to Montreal in July 1844 he joined St George's Lodge, No. 642 (E.C.), listed as No. 10 on the roll of the District of Montreal and William Henry Provincial Grand Lodge, where he served as Worshipful Master for four years from 1845. He also joined Lodge of Social and Military Virtues, No. 227 (I.C.), Montreal in 1848, serving as its Worshipful Master but leaving the next year. On his return to Quebec he joined St John's Lodge, No. 214 (E.C.) on 10 December 1851 where he served as Worshipful Master for four years before being elected to honorary membership on 27 December 1854. He joined St Andrew's Lodge, No. 16 on the roll of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Canada East, on moving to Toronto on 10 June 1856. He was appointed Deputy Provincial Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of Montreal and William Henry in 1849; Provincial Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of Quebec and Three Rivers in 1852, serving until 1857; Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Lower Canada in 1853 and Provincial Grand Master of Canada East under the Grand Lodge of Scotland the same year, serving until 1858. He became a Past Grand Master under the Ancient Grand Lodge of Canada in 1856. Harington was opposed to the formation of the Grand Lodge of Canada in 1855 but helped to arrange the union between the Antient Grand Lodge (formerly the Provincial Grand Lodge of Canada West) with the Grand Lodge of Canada. In June 1859 he was a founder member of Harington Lodge, No. 49 (G.R.C.), Quebec, named in his honour. He was elected Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada the same year and Grand Master in July 1860, serving for five years. He was elected an honorary member of the Grand Lodge of Quebec in 1880. He was exalted as a Royal Arch freemason in St John's Chapter, No. 214, attached to St John's Lodge, Quebec, on 10 December 1851. He was appointed Grand First Principal and Provincial Grand Superintendent for the City and District of Quebec and its Dependencies by the Supreme Grand Chapter of England in 1852, resigning on moving to Toronto, Ontario in 1856. The Grand Chapter of Quebec appointed him an honorary member in September 1880. He was appointed Grand First Principal of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Canada in 1859, an office he held until 1871, except for 1861 to 1862. He also became a member of the Cryptic Rite soon after its introduction to Canada in 1867; a Knights Templar from 1854; a member of the Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine; a member of Rose Croix Chapters and Consistories meeting under the Scottish Rite from 1868 and a member of the Royal Order of Scotland from 1874. He was also an honorary member of the Supreme Council 33 degrees, Southern Jurisdiction, USA; Grand Representative of the Grand Lodges of Canada, of Nova Scotia, of Louisiana and of Pennsylvania; and Grand Representative of the Grand Chapters of Canada and of Tennessee. He also became an honorary member of various lodges, chapters and encampments, including St John's Lodge, No. 1 and Zetland Chapter, No. 141, New York, America. He died at his home in Prescott, Ontario, Canada on 13 January 1882 and he was buried at the Blue Church burial ground, Augusta, near Prescott. A memorial was erected to Harington there on 14 June 1942.