Sir Charles Dalrymple GMM

Dalrymple was born Charles Fergusson on October 15th, 1839. At the age of 10 he adopted the surname Dalrymple, his mother's maiden name, when his father passed away. This was done to honour his greatgrandfather's will. He attended Harrow School, a boarding school near London. Later he went on to Trinity College, Cambridge where he graduated with third-class honours in classics.

In 1865 Dalrymple was called to the bar at the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, one of the four professional barrister associations in England where barristers are called to the bar. In his early career Dalrymple served as Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for East Lothian, Midlothian and Ayrshire. He served as Deputy Lieutenant for East Lothian as well. He was a captain in the Prince Regent's Ayr and Wigtown Militia.

In 1868, Dalrymple became a member of Parliament (MP) for Bute until 1885 which included a fourmonth interruption in 1880. In 1886 he continued as MP for Ipswich serving until 1906. In 1905 he was made a member of the Privy Council, a formal body of advisors to the Sovereign. Dalrymple passed away on June 20th, 1916.

Dalrymple served as the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland from 1894 until 1896.

Report of 'A MASONIC PRESENTATION’ in the Glasgow Herald 1898: Yesterday afternoon a deputation from the Grand Lodge of Scotland waited upon Sir Charles Darymple, of Newhailes, Bart., M.P., for the purpose of presenting to his family a bust of himself, by Mr W. Grant Stevenson, R.S.A., in recognition of his services to Freemasonry during his period of office as Grand Master. [...] The Grand Master (Lord Saltoun) presented the bust. [...]

In Grand Lodge there was now a large number of busts of Past Grand Masters of Scotland, and he felt perfectly sure that another place would be most worthily filled by this bust, and that those who came after him in the long series of illustrious men who had occupied the Masonic throne would recognise that Sir Charles Dalrymple was not the least amongst them. (Applause.) He now presented to Sir Charles Dalrymple and to those who would succeed him in the future –which, he trusted, would be long delayed –that bust from the Grand Lodge of Scotland in acknowledgement of the great and good work which he had done for that Grand Lodge and for Masonry.