The
Old Charges
The mediaeval constitutions of the British stone masons centralised
A bit of history…
The interest in studying the Old Charges appears to have followed the discovery of the Regius MS by J. O. Halliwell (1820-89) in the Royal Library of the British Museum in 1839. G. F. B. Kloss (1787-1854) was likely the first to subject the Old Charges to a true critical analysis in 1847, although few texts had been discovered at that time. However, it was only from 1864 onwards that the quest for old manuscripts of the craft truly began, thanks to W. J. Hughan (1841-1911) and A. F. A. Woodford (1821-87).
In 1872, W. J. Hughan identified thirty-two Old Charges. The German historian and philologist W. Begemann (1843-1914) classified the texts in families and branches in 1888. By 1889, R. F. Gould (1836-1915) listed sixty-two manuscripts, and in 1895, eighty-six. As the discoveries of these documents continued, ninety-eight texts were counted in 1918, including missing versions, which were known through other writings such as lodge registers or inventories. In 1951, H. Poole listed one hundred and four, to which twelve missing versions had to be added.
According to the study made in 2006 by the Canadian academic W. McLeod (1931-2020), there were one hundred and thirteen Old Charges identified, along with fourteen others that were missing or not yet found, and some of which are not known for certain to be genuine Old Charges.
In 2020, the French Freemason D. Taillades challenged the classification and the datation of the manuscripts. He underlined that his predecessor omitted to include the George Grey MS, despite an article being published about it in 1999, and also the Dundee No. 2 MS, a copy of which the Canadian academic obtained in 1985 and transcribed, but which has not been published yet. Seven texts – that are fragments or references made by authors to Old Charges – were to be removed. Last, Taillades discovered the London Mason’s Company MS in 2023. There are therefore one hundred and eight Old Charges currently available. The French scholar also underlined that all the current dates were to be revisited and exposed a new approach of dating the manuscripts.
Old Charges
For the first time, researchers can access all the information regarding the British Old Charges!
They worked on the classification and the datation of the Old Charges
Wilhelm Begemann
Main publications:
Vorgeschichte und Anfänge der Freimaurerei in England. Die alten englischen Werklogen und ihre Sprößlinge, E. S. Mittler und Sohn, Berlin, 1909. See partial translation in Trevor Stewart, The Stewart Papers: Begemann displayed, NFV GmbH, Hamburg, 2017.
“An attempt to classify the Old Charges of the British Freemasons”, AQC, vol. 1, 1888.
“Remarks on the ‘William Watson’ MS”, AQC, vol. 4, 1891.
“Remarks on The Craft Legend of the Old English Masons”, AQC, vol. 5, 1892.
“Dr Robert Plot. Part II”, AQC, vol. 6, 1893.
“The Assembly”, AQC, vol. 6, 1893.
“Remarks on the ‘Sloane Family’ of the Old Charges of the Freemasons”, AQC, vol. 14, 1901.
William James Hughan
Main publications:
The Old Charges of British Freemasons, London, 1872.
Origin of the English Rite of Freemasonry, London, 2nd édition, 1884.
The Thomas W. Tew MS, McCoquordale & Co Limited, London, 1892.
Antient Masonic Rolls of Constitutions of York Lodge no 236, Peck & Son, Hull, 1894.
The Old Charges of British Freemasons, London, 2nd edition, 1895.
“The John T. Thorp MS”, AQC, vol. 11, 1898.
“The York Grand Lodge”, AQC, vol. 13, 1900.
“The Levander-York MS”, AQC, vol. 18, 1905.
“The Taylor MS”, AQC, vol. 21, 1908.
“The ‘Tho. Carmick MS.’ And the introduction of Freemasonry into Philadelphia, USA”, AQC, vol. 22, 1909.
Herbert Poole
Main publications:
The Old Charges, The Masonic Record Ltd, London, 1924, Kessinger Reprint 2010.
The Old Charges, with Facsimile of the Dring-Gale MS, The Masonic Record Ltd, London, 1930.
Two Versions of the Old Charges with an Introducy Note on the Spencer Family, QC Pamphlet No 2, London, 1933.
The « Yorkshire » Old Charges of Masons, Johnson & Co Ltd., York, 1935. (with F. R. Worts).
“The Drinkwater MSS”, Transaction of the Manchester Association for Masonic Research, Manchester, vol. 15, 1924-1925.
“The Thristle MS”, AQC, vol. 35, 1922.
“The Graham Manuscript”, AQC, vol. 50, 1937.
“The Essex MS., Fresh evidence on the Graham MS.”, AQC, vol. 51, 1938.
“Huddlestone MS”, AQC, vol. 52, 1939.
Wallace McLeod
Main publications:
“The Old Charges and the Hathaway Manuscript: An Exercise of Methodology”, AQC, vol. 90, 1977.
“Additions to the list of Old Charges”, AQC, vol. 96, 1983.
“The Harris Manuscript No 2”, AQC, vol. 106, 1993.
“The Old Charges”, Heredom, vol. 14, 2006.
David Taillades
Les origines de la franc-maçonnerie à la lumière des sources documentaires, Ubik, 2023.
Aperçu sur les origines médiévales de la Franc-maçonnerie, Académie Maçonnique de Provence – Ubik, 2023.
Franc-maçonnerie, l’histoire retrouvée, Dervy, 2019.
“A New Approach to the Old Charges (Part II): Beyond the tables”, AQC, vol. 136, 2023.
“A New Approach to the Old Charges”, AQC, vol. 133, 2020.