The earliest records we have of Masonic activities in the 18th Century, are to be found in newspaper reports of the day. Many of these were purely news items: the installation of the new Grand Master, Masonic persecutions in Russia and Portugal, George Washington laying the Corner stone for the Capitol building.
    Freemasonry itself made good use of the media, with official and private announcements and various advertisements. It served Grand Lodge’s purpose for the general public to be informed in the Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer, for instance, of the admission into Freemasonry on Saturday August 5 1721, of the Duke of Wharton. The support of the arts by the freemasons was also reported in a positive light, the Grand Master and his entourage attending theatrical presentations with proceeds intended for charitable purposes. Even the disparity between the two Grand Lodges, that of the Moderns and the Antients, was publicly debated in the press.
    The concept of a Masonic publication intended for a readership consisting of members of the Craft only began at the end of the 18th Century. The earliest Masonic publication per se in the British Isles was the Irish Sentimental and Masonic Magazine first published in 1792. In September of 1795 it was replaced by the Freemasons' Journal: or Pashley’s Universal Intelligencer until 1797. In England, the first appearance of a publication dedicated to the fraternity was the Freemasons' Magazine or General and Complete Library, 1793, and which ran for a total of 14 Volumes in five years.

Dr Robert Crucefix

The next appearance of a Masonic magazine in England is The Freemasons' Quarterly Review (the FQR). The review was founded by no less a personality than Dr Robert Crucefix (1797-1850) in 1834 and he personally edited it for the first six years, never achieving profitability as a publisher. His main object and purpose was to promote and support his own charitable creation, what he called ‘the poor old Masons’s cause’ in the form of The Asylum for Worthy and Decayed Freemasons. This institution was the predecessor of what later became The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.
    Crucefix was an extraordinary character and a devoted freemason. He was actively involved in many of the orders beyond the Craft. Appointed a Grand Steward in 1832 and Junior Grand Deacon in 1836, he also took on the responsibilities of Vice President of the Board of General Purposes. By this time he was on the committee of many Masonic institutions. In 1845 he accepted the warrant from the USA and became the first Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council 33° for England.

The Duke of Sussex

The problems associated with the FQR revolved around the conflict of interest in two charitable projects promulgated by two exceedingly strong personalities, Crucefix on the one hand and the Grand Master at the time, H R H the Duke of Sussex, on the other. Crucefix, who, as mentioned, had been appointed to high Masonic office by 1836, proposed in Grand Lodge the adoption of his Asylum to the Craft. It was only the Grand Master’s vehement objections that prevented it. The Duke had rival plans for an Asylum fund and did not wish to have them undermined by Crucefix.
    This conflict began to appear in the pages of the FQR. Meanwhile, because of some improper remarks made about the Grand Master, and subsequent comments in the FQR, Crucefix and two other Brethren were suspended from Grand Lodge on 10 March 1840. Following the failure of his appeal, Crucefix published far more explicit comments criticising the Grand Master. He was summoned before the Board of General Purposes and was persuaded to sign an apology and agree to cease the editorship of the FQR. This he did, a humiliating retreat, although he continued with his Asylum project and, though no longer the editor, he certainly remained the guiding influence behind the FQR.

Merger and decline

In 1850 the FQR’s title was changed to the Freemasons' Quarterly Magazine and Review, which again changed its title to the Freemasons' Quarterly Magazine in 1853. It ended its days as the Freemasons Monthly Magazine in 1855. A year earlier the independent Masonic Mirror began to be published and, combined with the last mentioned periodical, the two were issued under the title of the Masons' Monthly Magazine and Masonic Mirror from January 1856 until 1870.

The Freemason

In 1869 the most successful of the Masonic periodicals was launched: The Freemason, which lasted for eight decades, until the 1950s. In the twentieth century the Masonic Record was first published in 1920 and merged with the Freemasons' Magazine, established in 1948; it continued until 1975.
    Today the only two commercial Masonic magazines are The Square established in 1975, and our own Freemasonry Today, now in its fourth year.

Text © Yasha Beresiner

Yasha Beresiner, LLB, is a Past Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076. He worked as a commercial legal consultant and now is an antiquarian working from Camden Passage, Islington. He considers himself as an international individual and an international Freemason.