Freemasonry’s connection with the growth of Madras through its members’ contributions to that progress has almost been in step for at least 250 of the city’s 371 years.

The Freemasons' Hall in Egmore.

We have been officially established in Madras from 1717. In the early years, we were the only source of welfare funds for our membership, as even the Armed Forces till 1947 had no retirement benefits. Therefore, if any of the Brethren retired or suffered ill-health or fell on hard times, their only recourse to aid was their Lodge – the basic unit of the Freemasons. Funds not required for members’ relief are now available for public use and in the Madras jurisdiction we currently give scholarships to young students unconnected to ourselves, amounting to about Rs.6 lakh a year. Since the early 19th Century, we have continuously supported the St. George’s School on Poonamallee High Road, the oldest Western-style school in Asia. In recognition of our support, we have a seat on its Board of Management which is in the District Grand Master’s hands to fill.

It may not be generally known that Bro. N. Subramanyan, Master of the Lodge of Perfect Unanimity in 1903, donated his property on Edward Elliot’s Road to the Church of South India to be used as a hospital – the present Kalyani General Hospital, so named after his mother.

Besides the charities, we have, over the last almost three hundred years of our continuous and unbroken connection with Madras, made contributions to developments in architecture, the postal services, the university, education, the law, the railways, transport, electricity, etc. through our Members’ individual inputs.

To give examples: Robert F. Chisholm, the architect of many of the cherished buildings in Madras, was a keen Freemason and the Worshipful Master of the oldest Lodge in the District, Perfect Unanimity, in its Centenary Year (1886). The tradition of architects joining Freemasonry has continued in recent times by the Chitale family, father and son, who have been members through the 20th Century to the present. As we own properties as meeting places round our jurisdiction, their services are utilised in an official position as District Grand Superintendents of Works.

Belonging to British times, at least three Governors of Madras have been my predecessors as District Grand Masters – Baron Elphinstone (1840), Lord Connemara (1888), and Lord Ampthill (1901). In 1867, Lord Napier, the Governor and a Freemason, called a special meeting of Freemasons to help in the laying of the Foundation Stone of the Presidency College. In those years, around the world, Freemasons, wherever there were already established Masonic Grand Lodges, were involved in laying such stones for public buildings.

In the Civil Services we had Chief Secretaries like Sir Archibald Campbell, Sir George Boag, and C.A. Ramakrishnan, Judges such as Sir David Devadoss, and lawyers such as Eardley Norton and down to the late V.P. Raman and the late G. Ramaswamy to the present day. And the educationists and scientists who were brothers included Sir Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar and Dr. M.G.K. Menon amongst others. In the medical profession also there were Dr. P.V. Cherian, later Governor of Bombay, Dr. C.P. Viswanatha Menon and Dr. Krishna Menon, the noted gynaecologist and the first Asian Examiner for the FRCOG exam (Edinburgh). Dr. Menon’s report on a specimen forceps produced with Russian technical assistance by the Surgical Instruments Factory in Nandambakkam was brief and to the point: “Suitable for Russian women and Indian cows.”

Of meeting places, there were many, but it must be pointed out that many of the early 18th Century Lodges were military Lodges and were designated ‘Travelling Lodges’ as they moved in step with their Regiments. Therefore, those first meeting places were in the encampments and Forts – St. George, Vellore, Trichy, Nagapattinam, Arcot, etc. The tenure Lodges were called Stationary Lodges in those days and in Madras met mostly in the Egmore/Vepery area until the premier Lodge of the District, Perfect Unanimity (P.U.), consecrated in 1786, purchased its own building on the corner of Edward Elliot’s Road and the Marina in 1839. Many of the buildings have disappeared, but the two that remain are prominent – the Pioneer Laundry / Murray & Co. buildings behind the L.I.C. and the present Police Headquarters, which the Freemasons built and owned from 1839-40 at a cost of Rs.24,000 until it was sold to the then Assistant Inspector-General of Mofussil Police (sic) for Rs.20,000 as Lodge P.U., which owned the building, could not afford its upkeep and the municipal taxes levied on it (1873).

They then moved to Vepery (Cotgrave Hotel, perhaps) and the Mount Road premises. In 1882 there was a suggestion by the President of the Municipality for Lodge P.U. to contribute money towards construction of a Masonic Wing in the new Town Hall – which the Lodge refused as it did not want to share its premises with anyone.

In the process of hunting for new accommodation in 1880 the Lodge was offered many properties, including No.29 Mount Road – known as Halliburtons Gardens – Simpson’s original building, and a building on Pantheon Road, but it finally chose Garratts the Tailors at the corner of General Patters Road and Mount Road. When, in 1884, the Lodge found it could not afford the upkeep and taxes, it began to consider what to do with the 100 grounds surrounding the house, which means it must have extended, in radius terms, to about where L.I.C. is now from the corner housing the Bharat Insurance building. After selling much of this property, it found the bungalow could not ensure the privacy required of a Lodge, so it decided to build a new Lodge room of light construction on the roof of the existing bungalow (now Pioneer Laundry). It got electric lights in 1890 and piped water in 1891 – from Red Hills. However, there’s no record of water closets having replaced the thunder boxes!

Lodge premises always had a couple of rooms at least for overnight stay for those Brethren riding in from places like Poonamallee to attend meetings, and definitely a few bath stalls to bathe and freshen up. In fact, even in Freemasons’ Hall here, till recently we had these stalls which we demolished only in the last renovation to create additional storage space for records.

To save money and create additional capital, Bro. F. Dunsterville suggested sale of certain portions of the extensive grounds and, accordingly, 45 grounds of the 100 were sold in lots for Rs.18,800, leaving the building and 55 grounds still in the Lodge’s possession. All debentures raised earlier were thereby from the sales.

Up to the end of the 19th Century, only Lodge P.U. had its own temple which other Lodges rented from it on the days of their meetings. When by 1900 a common temple for all the city Lodges was mooted, P.U. accepted an offer from the District Grand Lodge of Rs. 80,000 for their Lodge premises by way of cash and debentures (1905). DGL sold this building in 1916 for Rs. 97,000 and rented premises at the then Branch Elphinstone Hotel, C-in-C Road, Egmore, later called Chesney Hall.

The Mount Lodge in St. Thomas’ Mount (f.1862) was the only other Lodge which had its own building (built perhaps in the early part of the 20th Century) which had to be demolished around 1968 on payment of compensation by the Civil Aviation department in order to extend the airport runway in Meenambakkam.

In 1917, the DGL bought the present property and the foundation for the present temple was laid in 1923, and the building was completed in 1925.

Perhaps during some future Madras Week celebrations we should organise a Masonic Walk taking in all the sites where we had met.

Together we today share the use of these premises, of whatever constitution for all our meetings and events. The property is managed by a Trust – of which the District Grand Master and the Regional Grand Master are Trustees. There are many other affiliated orders associated with Craft Freemasonry and all of them in their City avatars also meet here.