Our History

Lodge St. Maurs was first discussed in a local inn in 1939, by three Brethren of the Craft, namely Bro. Isaac Gray, Bro. Archie Templeton and Bro. Sam Fulton.

When they had made up their minds that they wanted a Lodge in the village, they invited three more brethren, Bro. John Parker, Bro. Alec. Murdoch, and Bro. David Mitchell. They got together and held two meetings in Bro. Murdoch’s house, where they decided on the next steps to be taken. At this point they had to decide on a name for the new Lodge. Three names were put forward, St. Maurs, Glencairn and Carmel Grove. On a vote taken St. Maurs came out on top.

These six Brethren contacted all the Craft members they knew in the village, and invited them to a meeting to be held in the Public Hall. The Brethren who attended this meeting gave a fair hearing to all the points raised, and after a lot of discussion, it was decided to hold another meeting in six months time, provided that during that time they had raised the sum of £60.

The Brethren set to work and so great was their enthusiasm that their next meeting was held six months later. The next step was to apply for a Charter from the Grand Lodge of Scotland. They thought this would be granted in a few months, however it was to be a year before the Charter was granted to Lodge St. Maurs No.1398 (November 1940).

While waiting for the granting of the Charter, Bro. Jack Nicholson and Bro. Richard Scott, and a number of other Brethren, gave one night of their time each week to give tuition, teaching and to advising in the correct running of the lodge to those who were to start the new lodge.

Officebearers had to be chosen and taught in the procedure and opening and closing of a lodge. A petition was sent to those wishing to be Founder Members, and 65 members names were collected. A fee was proposed by Bro. James Gray PM, and after discussion it was agreed that 5/- should be the fee, (at this point the Brethren did not know that the 5/- had to be sent to Grand Lodge, so a new fee had to be agreed at a later time.). Next they had to decide who would be the first RWM of the lodge. This honour fell to Bro. Thomas Campbell, a member of St. Clement Riccarton Kilmarnock No. 202, who was installed on Saturday 7th December 1940, by Bro. R Scott, Provincial Grand Junior Warden. The Lodge was Consecrated earlier in the meeting by RW Provincial Grand Master Bro. James E Shaw.

After the Consecration of the lodge, they started off on a more solid foundation. The lodge purchased property known as “Roseacre” with the thought of converting the old property into a Temple. Unfortunately Ayr County Council had other ideas, and their luck was out, so after trying to get other property, the meetings were held in the Public Halls, After some time the lodge purchased the present premises at 22 Main Street, Kilmaurs, which has been altered considerably over the years , making it a suitable place to hold Masonic Meetings.

December 1965 saw the lodge celebrate its Silver Jubilee - 25 years in Kilmaurs - and on 14 January 1966 a Re-Dedication Service was held. A deputation from Provincial Grand Lodge of Ayrshire was headed by RWPGM Bro. Gregor Grant. The deputation was received by RWM Bro. Mathew Gray. The purchase of the Kilmaurs telephone exchange, which was adjacent to the lodge resulted in the two buildings being joined and a new temple opened in the old exchange: the access now being from the ground floor rather than upstairs. The Consecration of the new temple took place on 5 October 1988, by RWPGM Bro. John Weir. The deputation was received by RWM Bro. John L Clark (Ian).

The Golden Jubilee was celebrated in 1990, and the Re-Dedication service held on Saturday, 6 October 1990. Provincial Grand Lodge was headed by RWPGM Bro. Adam Cunningham. The deputation was received by RWM Bro. William Dean (Bill).

During the years of Lodge St. Maurs, the lodge has been well represented in Provincial Grand Lodge. Bro. George Baird PM was installed as PGL Substitute Master, Bro. Matt Gray PM as PGJW, while Bro. James Fulton PM served as PG. In 2002 Bro. T W Connell PM (Willie) was elected to PGL Committee, while Bro. Allan Robertson PM was invested with Prov. Grand Rank of Standard Bearer.

Many thanks are due to those Brethren who worked so hard to get the No.1398 off the ground in those early years, and to those who have followed, building St. Maurs into the Lodge it is today.