QC writes

ADVANCING THE CRAFT

Dr Ric Berman details the life of John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, on the Tercentenary of his appointment as the first noble Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England

The nomination and installation of John Montagu (1690-1749), the first nobleman to become Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, marked the beginning of Freemasonry’s ascent to the heights of 18th-century English (as well as European and American) society. It was a testament to Montagu’s prestige that significant numbers of aristocrats followed him into Freemasonry. And the more middling followed in their tens of thousands as the century progressed.

Montagu’s nomination as Grand Master in March 1721 was a turning point in Freemasonry’s public persona. It underpinned Grand Lodge’s authority over the growing number of lodges in London and provincial England, and elsewhere, including Britain’s growing American colonies.

Before 1721 the annual ‘Grand Feast’ was on a sufficiently small scale to have taken place in the long room above a London tavern. But in June that year, with Montagu about to be installed at the head of the Society of Freemasons, the event was moved from the Goose and Gridiron in St Paul’s Churchyard to the nearby Stationers’ Hall, in order to accommodate the many hundreds who now wished to attend. The 1723 Constitutions recorded the occasion, James Anderson noting that:

Noblemen and Gentlemen of the best rank, with Clergymen and learned scholars of most professions and denominations, [have] joined and submitted to take the charges and to wear the badges of a Free and Accepted Mason, under our present worthy Grand Master, the most noble Prince, John, Duke of Montagu.

Montagu’s decision to accept the role of Grand Master not only validated Freemasonry, but also added to its appeal. It suggested that the Craft was morally and politically sound, fashionable and fun. With Montagu on board, the installation and feast also received widespread publicity, with press reports in many of London’s newspapers, and in the provincial and overseas press.

Montagu was an excellent choice as Grand Master. Intelligent, wealthy and exceptionally well-connected, he was the only surviving son of Ralph Montagu, the 1st Duke, and Elizabeth Wriothesley, the daughter of the 4th Earl of Southampton, a former Lord High Treasurer. Ralph Montagu had been England’s ambassador to France, where he had witnessed the persecution of the Huguenots – French Protestants – at first hand. The experience affected him deeply and he became ‘a great supporter of the French and other Protestants [driven] to England by the tyranny of their princes, [and] an admirer of learning and learned men’. His son, John, shared a similar outlook. Not only had he been surrounded by Huguenot friends and family at Broughton Hall, the family home, but his maternal grandmother, Rachel de Massue, had been a Huguenot aristocrat. Henri de Massue, 2nd Marquis de Ruvigny (1648-1720), later the Earl of Galway, another leading Huguenot and one of William III’s principal military commanders, was his second cousin. That several leading Huguenots – not least the Rev Dr Jean Theophilus Desaguliers – were at the helm of the new Grand Lodge was no coincidence.

Montagu’s installation as Grand Master validated Freemasonry as morally and politcally sound, fashionable and fun

‘Montagu was an excellent choice as Grand Master. Intelligent, wealthy and exceptionally well-connected’

Montagu made an ideal figurehead for Freemasonry and his Court connections, interest in the sciences (he was a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal College of Physicians, among others), and military titles acted as a beacon to attract others from those circles.

He was also a celebrity figure. Montagu’s day-to-day activities featured regularly in the press with stories ranging from the reportage of major events, such as his loyal address to George I and his role as chief mourner at the funeral of his father-inlaw, the Duke of Marlborough, to the offer of a large reward for the return of his wife’s lost pet dog. He was also one of the wealthiest men in England,

Igniendu santusam, omnia comnim dolorumque sequodit quasperae sim id quodit ommod evelect aecepuda dolecumet a

A large reward was offered for the return of his wife’s pet dog with an annual income of some £20,000 (around £4.5 million in today’s money) from property rents alone. He financed the settlement of St Lucia and St Vincent in the West Indies, the islands having been granted to him in January 1722. And the dowry for his youngest daughter, Mary, on her marriage to Lord Brudenel was said to be £25,000.

Montagu had a close association with the royal family throughout his life and was an avid supporter of George I and the Hanoverian line. He succeeded his father as Master of the Great Wardrobe, a sinecure that paid more than £3,000 a year; officiated as Lord High Constable at George I’s 1714 coronation; and carried the sceptre at George II’s coronation in 1727. His loyalty was rewarded in 1718 with the Order of the Garter (then, as now, the highest honour in England), and with his appointment in 1725 as Grand Master of the newly revived Order of the Bath. He was raised to the Privy Council in 1736.

Montagu was also a prominent military figure and held positions that were not merely honorific or a consequence of his position as the Duke of Marlborough’s son-in-law. He lobbied actively to be appointed to active posts and raised and financed his own regiments of Horse and Foot. He was captain and colonel of His Majesty’s Own Troop of Horse Guards, the 1st Life Guards – the army’s premier cavalry regiment – and was promoted Major General in 1735, Lieutenant General in 1739, and Master-General of the Ordnance in 1740, a Cabinet position with responsibility for the artillery.

The 1723 Constitutions – the underpinning of modern Freemasonry – was produced under Montagu’s auspices and is dedicated to him. He appears on the frontispiece of the book in ducal regalia presenting the Roll of Constitutions and a set of compasses to Philip, Duke of Wharton, his successor as Grand Master.

At the end of his term, The London Journal (30 June 1722) commented that membership of the society had risen to some 4,000, an astonishing achievement if accurate and a testament to the impact made by Montagu in just a year.

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