Letters relating to the Ancient and Accepted Rite and the establishment of a Supreme...

HC 14/E

Letters relating to the Ancient and Accepted Rite and the establishment of a Supreme Council in Great Britain

1819 - 1821

Correspondence relating to an attempt to establish a Supreme Council for Great Britain, Ireland, the possessions in America and the Indies between Joseph de Glock D'Obernay, acting as the representative of the Baron de Marguerittes, Supreme Council for France, and Hippolyto Joseph Da Costa, Secretary of Masonic Correspondence, on behalf of Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England. Includes letter from Duke of Leinster, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland to the Duke of Sussex concerning Joseph de Glock D'Obernay departure for South America [ HC 14/E/1]; Letter from Joseph de Glock D'Obernay to the Duke of Sussex, following a meeting of the former with Hippolyto Joseph Da Costa, concerning draft document to establish the proposed Supreme Council [ HC 14/E/2]; Letter from Joseph de Glock D'Obernay to the Duke of Sussex concerning documents for Admiral Allemand of the Supreme Council of Paris, a request for a financial advance and regalia for the High Priest of Royal Arch [ HC 14/E/3]; Letters patent from the Grand Lodge of Ireland granting Joseph de Glock D'Obernay permission as representative of the Grand Consistoire de Paris to introduce new Masonic degrees into Ireland with note from the Duke of Leinster [ HC 14/E/4]; Letter from Joseph de Glock D'Obernay to Hippolyto Joseph Da Costa requesting funds to cover his accomodation bill at Gravesend, Kent before he travels to America which will be reimbursed from funds on their arrival from Admiral Allemand [ HC 14/E/5]; Draft letters from Hippolyto Joseph Da Costa to the Baron de Marguerittes and the Supreme Council for France explaining that a venue for the proposed Supreme Coucil has yet to be decided and therefore interior decorations are not yet required. Grand Inspectors are yet to be appointed but seals, stamps and labels for official correspondence and ritual books are requested, in order to send documents confirming honorary ranks for members of the Supreme Council of France [ HC 14/E/6]; Document prepared as a draft Constitution for the Supreme Council of Great Britain by Joseph de Glock D'Obernay for signature by the Duke of Sussex to be sent to the Supreme Council of France [ HC 14/E/7]; Draft rules of Constitution for Sovereign Grand Consistory of Kingston, Jamaica signed by D'Obernay; Sir Michael Benignus Clare, Provincial Grand Master of Jamaica; Branday; the surgeons, Dr Salmon and Dr Van Eickhout; the businessman, M. La Jeune; a retired general, Louis Peru de la Croix [who later travelled to Columbia and joined Simon Bolivar]; a lawyer, Cravan and a planter, Albert [ HC 14/E/8]; two copies of a letter from Joseph de Glock D'Obernay, who will soon depart for New Orleans, America, to the Grand Master in London mentioning that Sir Michael Benignus Clare has been elected president of the Sovereign Grand Consistory in Jamaica, warning the Duke of Sussex that Jewish freemasons may complain about their non-admittance to the higher degrees, bearing the seal of the Supreme Council supplied by D'Obernay [ HC 14/E/9 and 9a]; Letter from Joseph de Glock D'Obernay to the Duke of Sussex concerning the arrival of the former in Jamaica and his introduction to Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham, who appears well-regarded by the Island's black and Jewish communities, and Sir Michael Benignus Clare, reporting that a 33 degree Consistory already on the Island, is working under a document issued by the Count de Grasse Tilly or M. Delahogue to a local schoolmaster, with a Jewish Sovereign Grand Commander. D'Obernay remarks that many Jewish members are unaware of the higher degrees of Rose Croix ritual and that funds have been provided by Sir Michael Benignus Clare as his note case has been stolen and he is unable contact his agent in Veracruz, South America [ HC 14/E/10]; Letter from Joseph de Glock D'Obernay in Havana, Cuba to the Duke of Sussex sending condolences on the deaths of George III and the Duke of Kent, reporting on his progress in Kingston, Jamaica, where he has formed a Grand Consistory under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council of Great Britain rather than in Paris. Reports about a Lodge of Adoption he has formed at [Santa Diagne ?], Cuba, where he also seeks to form a Royal Arch Chapter. Aims to return to London in fifteen to eighteen months, is sending some works by lady masons in Cuba and cigars [ HC 14/E/11]; Letter from Joseph de Glock D'Obernay in Havana, Cuba to the Duke of Sussex reporting on a public gathering in honour of the Constitution of the new government followed by a firework display and a banquet at the Lion de Oro given in Havana. D'Obernay seeks to reform or remove irregular Lodges formed by various Grand Lodges in American States on the Island, aims to form a Lodge of the York Rite and will hold a banquet to celebrate the Grand Concordat signed in London on 13 October 1819 which the civil governor and the Count de Xarugo will attend [ HC 14/E/12]; Draft letter by Hippolyto Joseph Da Costa to Joseph de Glock D'Obernay expressing the Duke of Sussex's suprise that D'Obernay has used his French authority in Jamaica, an English colony, to set up a Sovreign Grand Consistory before the Supreme Council is formally established in London as D'Obernay only received limited powers in respect of Royal Arch freemasonry and not in English Provinces where a Provincial Grand Master is responsible for Masonic administration. Confirms D'Obernay only has power of authority in respect of Royal Arch freemasonry, declaring other bodies set up under other degrees invalid and irregular. The Grand Consistory established by D'Obernay in Jamaica is therefore invalid and must cease working and he must repay Sir Michael Benignus Clare as no accounts for expenditure on behlaf of the Supreme Council have been received in London [ HC 14/E/13]; Letter from Joseph de Glock D'Obernay in Port au Prince, Haiti to the Duke of Sussex informing the Grand Master that he has opened a business and has re-established the Consistory located there under the auspices of the Supreme Council in London. D'Obernay reminds the Grand Master that Lodges in Port au Prince and Cailles have yet to receive new Warrants following the merger between the Antients' and Moderns' Grand Lodges in 1813 and confirms that Royal Arch, Knights Templar and Rose Croix degrees are worked on the Island but without significant Masonic knowledge or skill. D'Obernay will await further instructions but as a Superintendent he is authorised to form Chapters and sort out Royal Arch administration in Haiti [ HC 14/E/14]; with translations and transcriptions of the letters prepared by Brigadier Alexander Cosby Fishburn Jackson [ HC 14/E/15].

It is possible that this correspondence formed part of the sequence relating originally to the Supreme Council located at HC 25/C. The dates of the letters in this sequence are irregular, for example HC 14/E/10, dated 8 January 1820, may have been written much earlier and before HC 14/E/9, dated 7 January 1820.

For further letters relating to the formation of the Supreme Council in Great Britain and correspondence with Fauche Borel and the Baron de Marguerittes, see HC 25/C/29 to HC 25/C/37 and HC 25/C/39 to HC 25/C/62. For details of modified version of draft Constitution [ HC 14/E/7] sent to Supreme Council of France see pp 21-23, Origin and Progress of the Supreme Council 33 Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted (Scottish) Rite for England and Wales, by the Rev Arnold Whitaker Oxford [Library ref: BE 501 OXF]

English

1 folder containing 14 documents