Letter of Benjamin Gee, Worshipful Master of the Lodge held in the Eighty-fifth Regiment,...

AR/1379/14

Letter of Benjamin Gee, Worshipful Master of the Lodge held in the Eighty-fifth Regiment, No. 262 to Robert Leslie, Grand Secretary

14 August 1808

Letter from Benjamin Gee, Worshipful Master, Lodge held in the Eighty-fifth Regiment, No. 262 to Robert Leslie, Grand Secretary explaining that the Regiment has returned to England from Jamaica, West Indies and they will recommence meeting as soon as they find a location. Notifies the Grand Secretary of the death of John Daft, Past Worshipful Master and mention that other officers and members have transferred to the recruiting service. Currently on the march, the Regiment has stopped at Buckingham but note that John Daft sent a bill for ten Guineas as a donation to the Charity Fund for which they seek acknowledgement and also a membership certificate for William Barry which was not sent by Grand Lodge to Jamaica. Includes a copy of a letter dated July 1807 sent by Joseph Piercy, paymaster, to the Army agents, Greenwood and Cox, London, corncerning the bill of exchange alluded to above. With draft reply Robert Leslie welcoming the Regiment back to England after suffering much on service overseas. Mentions the arrival of the bill of exchange which was noted in the circular letter sent out by Grand Lodge. Will send a certificate for William Barry which was omitted from the parcel sent to Jamaica by mistake.

1 document

This unnamed lodge was established on 1 January 1801 as No. 298(B) by the Antients' Grand Lodge. It was a travelling military lodge based in the 1st Battalion of the Eighty-fifth Regiment. In 1801 the regiment was based in Jersey, where the lodge met at an unknown location. In 1803 the Lodge relocated with the Regiment to Stoney Hill, Jamaica, West Indies. When the Regiment returned to England in 1809, the Lodge met in barracks at Brabourne Lees and Hythe, Kent and at Ottery St. Mary, Devon. After 1814, a year after the union between the Antients' and Moderns' Grand Lodges to form the United Grand Lodge of England, the Lodge was renumbered as No. 379 and represented members from all battalions of the Eighty-fifth Regiment. The Lodge was renumbered again to meet as No. 262 in 1832. The movements of the Regiment and Lodge after 1814 are unclear although they met on St. Vincent's, West Indies, in 1845. The warrant was returned on 3 August 1846 by order of the Regiment's commanding officer and the Lodge was erased.