"Equal in glory to King Solomon" was the comparison made by an enthusiastic Victorian Freemason of Queen Victoria, then celebrating her Golden Jubilee. Charles Meiter of Mizpah Lodge, No. 1671, speaking at the meeting of Grand Lodge in March 1887, proposed to perpetuate the memory of the 1887 Golden Jubilee by rebuilding Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem as a "House of Prayer for all Nations". He added, optimistically seeking to allay an important difficulty, that the expense to Grand Lodge would be about £25, "the cost of the Foundation Stone".
    Although Meiter’s ambitious idea did not make any further progress – the proceedings dryly recorded that "the motion not being seconded fell to the ground" - notable state events such as royal jubilees have always been celebrated by individual or groups of lodges and also officially by Grand Lodge itself.
    Perhaps the best known jubilees are those celebrated by Queen Victoria in 1887 and 1897. On both occasions the Grand Master (Victoria’s son, the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII) sanctioned the issue of special commemorative Masonic jewels. Entitlement to wear them was given to all Freemasons who were subscribing members of a lodge under the English constitution. Additionally those members who had attended the Especial Grand Lodges held to mark the jubilees were able to wear a special bar on the jewel bearing the date of the meeting, and those who had served as special Stewards were permitted to wear a badge (a double’S’) on the jewel ribbon. The 1887 Golden Jubilee jewel itself was designed by Sir Albert Woods, Garter King at Arms and Grand Director of Ceremonies.
    Both of the especial Grand Lodges were held at the Albert Hall enabling large numbers to attend and so examples of the jewel with bar are not uncommon and since all subscribing members were entitled to wear the standard jewel they had a very wide circulation.
    For the next Jubilee marking the 25th anniversary of the accession of George V in 1935, and reflecting a different, more sober spirit of the age, the Pro Grand Master, Lord Ampthill proposed a loyal address of congratulation at the Grand Lodge meeting held in April that year. Grand Lodge also made a contribution of 1000 guineas to the King George Jubilee Trust established by the King to mark the event. This precedent was followed at the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977 when a telegram of congratulations was sent to the Queen and a grant of £25,000 made to her Silver Jubilee Appeal.

The Celebration of Jubilees

The first Royal Jubilee to be celebrated by popular demonstrations was that to mark the 60th Anniversary of the accession of George III in 1809. Newspapers, which were becoming more widely available, carried advertisements for jubilee souvenirs and details of procession routes. Local authorities in an increasingly urbanised society used the celebrations to promote local pride and identity. Although the official records of Grand Lodge do not record any particular involvement in the 1809 jubilee many individual lodges organised celebrations of their own. On October 25th 1809, Humber Lodge (now No. 57) in Hull recorded in their minutes, "This being a great National Jubilee, in commemoration of His Majesty George III entering on the 50th year of his reign, the members dined together at the Lodge". In Halifax in Yorkshire three lodges joined together to mark the occasion. Over seventy masons attended, including fifteen from Bradford. Although the members declined to join the town’s church parade, they had a "very plentifull Dinner" and raised £42 10s - an extraordinary amount for the times - for charity which was donated to the newly established Halifax General Dispensary.
    The Masonic press itself was well established by 1887 and The Freemason recorded a number of local jubilee events. The Masonic celebration in York was described as "an event of more than ordinary importance". The annual provincial meeting that year also included a reception for the neighbouring province of West Yorkshire and other provinces, a procession to and special Masonic service at the Minster, a conversazione (unfortunately not described) and a Masonic exhibition and concert.
    In February 1887 a celebration ball to mark the Jubilee was held at the Cardiff Masonic Hall. A Royal Marines band supplied the music and dancing continued from 9pm until past 2am the following morning. In London a Jubilee ball held at the Cannon Street Hotel included a specially written Masonic Jubilee Valse written by T Bidgood. In Blackpool there was a Masonic procession culminating in the laying of the foundation stone of the Victoria Jubilee School. This followed a week of celebrations in the town which had included brass band concerts, a military tournament, fireworks – and another Masonic ball.
    One of the most remarkable events held to mark any jubilee was the Children’s Masonic Carnival in Reading in 1887. A commemorative album for this survives in the Library and Museum. The carnival combined elements of a ball and a children’s party. Children were invited to attend with their parents for dancing and entertainments. the highlight of the evening was a procession by the children "in order of height". Those attending the carnival sent a telegram to the Queen (then holidaying in France). The commemorative album includes photographs of the children in their Carnival outfits and examples of the elaborate invitations sent out for the event.

Jubilee Lodges

In 1897 a dinner was arranged for Masters of all 450 or so London lodges in the week after the Especial Grand Lodge to mark the Jubilee. It was held at the auditorium of the Empress Theatre in Earls Court and was presided over by the Earl of Euston, Master of Royal Alpha Lodge, No. 16, and Provincial Grand Master for Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire. Some of those present at the dinner decided that they wished to form a new lodge to commemorate the occasion. This was named the Jubilee Masters Lodge, No. 2712. Initially membership was restricted to Masters of London lodges who were actually in office on the date of the Jubilee, 20th June 1897, although this was later relaxed.
    Often lodge and chapters names are adopted to mark notable events. One of the earliest examples relating to Jubilee celebrations is Royal Jubilee Lodge, No. 72. The warrant of this London lodge dates from 1810 and it was named in 1813 presumably to mark the jubilee of George III. The 1887 Jubilee produced a half a dozen lodges named to mark the event of which the first was Queen’s Jubilee Lodge, No. 2193, in February 1887. Two lodges in Australia and one in Malaysia were also named in honour of the event. The tradition continued up to 1977 when Jubilee Lodge, No. 8755, was established.
    The world and Britain have changed beyond recognition between the first royal jubilee in 1809 and the latest in 2002; Freemasons have established many ways of celebrating these occasions.

Diane Clements is the Director of the Library and Museum of Freemasonry at Freemasons’ Hall, London.