A Brief History of Mt Egmont Lodge

Every English Constitution Lodge formed under the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) has its Warrant signed by the Grand Master of the day. Mt Egmont Lodge's Warrant was signed on 4 April 1856 as shown below.

Figure 1 - Masonic Records, 1717-1894: Being lists of all the Lodges at Home and Abroad Warranted by the Four Grand Lodges and the "United Grand Lodge" of England, with their dates of constitution and places of meeting.

 

Our Irish Roots

The first meeting of Lodge Auckland was held on the 9th February 1843 under Dispensation from Australian Social Lodge No. 260 IC. It was not until the 8th January 1849 however, that Lodge Auckland formally received its own Warrant of Constitution from the Grand Lodge of Ireland and became known as Lodge Ara No. 348 IC. From Lodge Ara stemmed many of the early Lodges in Auckland and the provinces.

There is a record of a Dispensation granted by Lodge Ara on 10 Aug 1853 to constitute Mount Egmont Lodge in New Plymouth as an Irish Constitution Lodge. ​The early part of Mount Egmont Lodge’s history records that it operated under Lodge Ara's Dispensation for several years until it applied for, and obtained its own Warrant of Constitution from UGLE on 4 April 1856.

Similarly, Lodge Waitemata No. 689 EC, was constituted under Dispensation by Lodge Ara on 6 September 1855. It duly received its Warrant of Constitution on 3 December 1856, a period of nine months after Mount Egmont Lodge was issued with its Warrant.

Mount Egmont Lodge No. 670 EC therefore claims the title Oldest EC Lodge in New Zealand.