Co-Masonry: Freemasonry for Women  FREEMASONRY FOR WOMENby catherine yronwodeCan women be Freemasons? The answer is YES. To understand the role of women in Freemasonry, it is necessaryto go back into the history of the fraternity. It has been saidthat exclusion of women from the craft forms one of the "ancientlandmarks" of the order. Is this true? The question is answered in five parts: 17th Century: THE ANCIENT LANDMARKS Proof that women were made Masons in ancient operative lodges18th Century: WOMEN AS SPECULATIVE MASONS Women Freemasons prior to the formation of the Grand Lodge of England19th Century: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CO-MASONRYA brief history of mixed-gender orders of Freemasonry20th Century: CO-MASONRY AND FEMALE MASONRY TODAYMixed-gender and all-female Masonry around the world FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS ANSWEREDAnd where you may enquire with further questions Return to the top of this page 17th Century: THE ANCIENT LANDMARKS Proof that women were made Masons in ancient operative lodgesLet us begin with the historical record. The following was sent to me by Brother Bill Edwards in1995. It consists of a short excerpt from a long talk that the Very Worshipful and Reverend Neville B. Cryer, Past Provincial GrandMaster of Surrey, Past Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of England, Chairman of the HeritageCommittee of York, and member of the Quator Coronati Lodge of Research, gave to the Finger LakesChapter of the Philalethes Society in March, 1995. WOMEN AND FREEMASONRY BY V:. W.: and Rev. NEVILLE B. CRYER MASONIC TIMES, May, 1995, Rochester, New YorkIn 1693 we have the York Manuscript No. 4, belonging to the Grand Lodge of York, which relates how when an Apprentice is admitted the 'elders taking the Booke, he or _shee_ [sic] that is to be made Mason shall lay their hands thereon, and the charge shall be given.' Now I have to tell you, that my predecessors in Masonic Research in England from Hughen and Vibert and from all the rest onward, have all tried to pretend that the 'shee' is merely a misprint for 'they.' I now am the Chairman of the Heritage Committee of York. I know these documents; I've examined them, and I'm telling you, they say 'she,' without any question. Of course, we have a problem, haven't we; to try to explain that. My predecessors would not try to explain this; they were too male oriented. The fact remains that, there it is, in an ancient document of a 17th century date. That this could have been the case seems all the more likely as that in 1696 two widows are named as members in the Operative masons Court. Away in the South of England, we read in 1714 -- that's before the Grand Lodge of England -- of Mary Bannister, the daughter of a barber in the town of Barking, being apprenticed as a Mason for 7 years with a fee of 5/- which she paid to the Company.Return to the top of this page 18th Century: WOMEN AS SPECULATIVE MASONS Women Freemasons prior to the formation of the Grand Lodge of EnglandTurning next to the subject of actual cases of women who weremade Masons in speculative rather than operative lodges, thereis quite a bit of evidence to support the contention that thiswas at one time permitted. The most famous (and best-documented)of these women Masons was Mrs. Aldworth, made a Mason in the1700s. Here is a brief account of her Masonic career, as writtenin 1920 by Dudley Wright and posted to theinternet in 1994 by William Maddox.WOMEN FREEMASONSBY BRO. DUDLEY WRIGHT, ENGLANDTHE BUILDER, August 1920Although the Antient Charges forbid the admission or initiation ofwomen into the Order of Free and Accepted Masons, there are knowninstances where as the result of accident or sometimes design therule has been broken and women have been duly initiated. The mostprominent instance is that of the Hon. Elizabeth St. Leger, or, asshe afterwards became, on marriage, the Hon. Mrs. Aldworth, who isreferred to sometimes, though erroneously, as the "only woman whoover obtained the honour of initiation into the sublime mysteriesof Freemasonry."The Hon. Elizabeth St. Leger was a daughter of the first ViscountDoneraile, a resident of Cork. Her father was a very zealousFreemason and, as was the custom in his time -- the early part ofthe eighteenth century - held an occasional lodge in his own house,when he was assisted by members of his own family and any brethrenin the immediate neighbourhood and visitors to Doneraile House. This lodge was duly warranted and held the number 150 on theRegister of the Grand Lodge of Ireland.The story runs that one evening previous to the initiation of agentleman named Coppinger, Miss St. Leger hid herself in the roomadjoining the one used as a lodgeroom. This room was at that timeundergoing some alterations and Miss St. Leger is said to haveremoved a brick from the partition with her scissors and throughthe aperture thus created witnessed the ceremony of initiation. What she saw appears to have disturbed her so thoroughly that sheat once determined upon making her escape, but failed to elude thevigilance of the tyler, who, armed with a sword stood barring herexit. Her shrieks alarmed the members of the lodge, who camerushing to the spot, when they learned that she had witnessed thewhole of the ceremony which had just been enacted. After aconsiderable discussion and yielding to the entreaties of herbrother it was decided to admit her into the Order and she was dulyinitiated, and, in course of time, became the Master of the lodge. According to Milliken, the Irish Masonic historian, she wasinitiated in Lodge No. 95, which still meets at Cork, but there isno record extant of her reception into the Order. It is, however,on record that she was a subscriber to the Irish Book ofConstitutions, which appeared in 1744 and that she frequentlyattended, wearing her Masonic regalia, entertainments that weregiven under Masonic auspices for the benefit of the poor anddistressed. She afterwards married Mr. Richard Aldworth ofNewmarket and when she died she was accorded the honour of aMasonic burial. She was cousin to General Antony St. Leger, ofPark Hill, near Doncaster, who, in 1776, instituted the celebratedDoncaster St. Leger races and stakes.This picture of Elizabeth Aldworth dressed in her Masonic regalia was published inRobert Freke Gould's "Concise History of Freemasonry." The original fromwhich the engraving was made is said to be a portrait painting in the possession of herdescendents. The image was scanned and sent to me by Sandra Hesse.  In his talk to the chapter of the Philalethes Society, citedabove, Neville B. Cryer described the well-known particulars ofthe initiation of Elizabeth St. Ledger (later Elizabeth Aldworth)as a Speculative Mason -- and he noted that this occurred in1712, before the Grand Lodge of England was formed -- and thusbefore it was declared that the exclusion of women was an"ancient landmark," and a stop was put to female participation inthe Craft.Numerous other examples of females joining Masonic lodges couldbe given here (Cryer and Wright cite several each), but lack ofspace forbids. The pattern set by Elizabeth Aldworth -- of rareand exceptional cases of women being made Masons -- was the normfrom the time of the establishment of the GLoE until the 19thcentury advent of Co-Masonry, a mixed-gender order of the Craft.Return to the top of this page 19th Century: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CO-MASONRYA brief history of mixed-gender orders of FreemasonryHere is a history of the Co-Masonic fraternity as supplied byBrother Wright and posted to the internet by Brother Maddox:CO-MASONRYBY BRO. DUDLEY WRIGHT, ENGLANDTHE BUILDER, November 1920In 1879 several Chapters owning allegiance to the Supreme Councilof France of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, at theinstigation of the Grand Orient, seceded from that allegience andreconstituted themselves as La Grande Loge Symbolique de France. One of these Chapters, bearing the name of Les Libres Penseurs,meeting at Pecq, a village of Seine et Oise, in November 1881,proposed to initiate into Freemasonry, Mlle. Maria Desraimes, awell-known writer on Humanitarian and women suffrage questions,which they did on 14th January, 1882, for which act the Lodge orChapter was suspended. Mlle. Desraimes was instrumental inbringing into the ranks of Freemasonry several other well-knownwomen in France, with the result that an Androgynous Masonic body,known as La Grande Loge Symbolique Ecossaise was formed on 4thApril, 1893 although its jurisdiction at that time extended overonly one lodge, that known as Le Droit Humain, which came intobeing on the same day, and which, in 1900, adopted the thirtydegrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. One of the principal workers in the formation of this new Grandlodge was Dr. Georges Martin, at one time a member of the Lodge LesLibres Penseurs. The schismatic movement spread to Paris andBenares and afterwards to London, at which last-named place, inSeptember, 1902, the Lodge "Human Duty," now No. 6 on the Co-Masonry Register, was consecrated. The title "Co-Masonry" in lieuof the earlier term "Joint Masonry" was adopted in 1905.Return to the top of this page20th Century: CO-MASONRY AND FEMALE MASONRY TODAYMixed-gender and all-female Masonry around the worldIn 1903, Co-Masonry came to the United States. In 1918, accordingto Neville Cryer, Elizabeth St. Leger Aldworth's directdescendent, Alicia St. Leger Aldworth, joined the mixed-genderorder. By 1922, there were more than 450 Co-Masonic lodges aroundthe world, according to Masonic historian Arthur Edward Waite,writing in "The New Enclyclopedia of Freemasonry."Here are some 20th century female Masons in full regalia. These photos were printed in the Regina (Canada) Leader-Postnewspaper on January 6, 1939. Thanks to Ray Salmon of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada, for the scan.  The original newspaper caption was as follows [with my commentsin brackets]: With old appropriate ritual andformality, Mrs. Seton Challen (left) was recently enthroned forlife as the most worshipful, the Grand Master of the HonourableFraternity of Ancient Freemasons, at the Masonic temple inLondon. [It is unclear from context whether this is London,England, or London, Ontario, Canada.] This 25-year-oldorganization [founded in 1914] works from the first to the 33rddegree, and claims to give women Masonry in its pure form and inits entirety. Mrs. Challen is a daughter of the organizer of the lodge, and isherself the last of the founders. At the right is the lodge'sgrand sword bearer [i.e. Tyler], Mrs. Phylis Sutton Vane, during theinstallation ceremony, which lasted three hours.There are at present Co-Masonic lodges in at least 50 nations,including the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia, Greece, Holland,Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Belgium, and Venezuela. Androgynousjurisdictions worldwide include Le Droit Humain, based in France, and the American Federation of Human Rights, based in theU.S.A. All-female jurisdictions include the Grand Loge Feminine de France and the LadyMasons of Great Britain.Although official "recognition" does not exist between bodiessuch as the United Grand Lodge of England and The AmericanFederation of Human Rights, there are cordial relationships andmutual respect between Masons and Co-Masons, particularly on theinternet.Neville Cryer ended his talk to the Finger Lakes Chapter of thePhilalethes Society with a call for male Masonry to recognizefemale Masonry. "After all," he said, "if a woman is good enoughto be the wife, mother, sister, or daughter of a Mason, she oughtto be good enough to be his 'Brother.' The Men's order recognizesthe coloured races, but refuses recognition to their own kith andkin." Until such recognition comes, women who wish to becomeMasons -- and men who wish to work "on the level" with women --are encouraged to seek out a Co-Masonic lodge.Return to the top of this page FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS ANSWEREDAnd where you may enquire with further questionsHere are the answers to the most frequently asked questionsabout Co-Freemasonry: A) Do Co-Masons believe in a Supreme Being?/Do they have anopen VSL in lodge?/Do they operate clandestine lodges?/Do they allow mento join? The answers to these and similar questions are contained in thePrinciples of Co-Freemasonry, as listed by Brother Dudley Wrightand posted to the internet in 1994 by William Maddox: |
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