The Men Who Built the Craft: Uncovering the Founders of Freemasonry

Every secret society has its origin story. For the Freemasons—the world’s oldest and largest fraternal organization—the tale begins in a London tavern on a summer day in 1717. Or does it?

The question “Who founded Freemasonry?” is surprisingly complex. Unlike modern organizations with a single charismatic founder, Freemasonry emerged from the shadows of medieval history, shaped by anonymous stonemasons, Enlightenment thinkers, and political revolutionaries across three centuries.

Part 1: The Traditional Story – The Goose and Gridiron, 1717

According to official Masonic tradition, the founding of modern Freemasonry occurred on June 24, 1717 (St. John the Baptist’s Day) at the Goose and Gridiron Tavern near St. Paul’s Cathedral in London .

The Four Original Lodges

On that day, representatives from four London lodges gathered and declared themselves a Grand Lodge—the first governing body of its kind in the world . These lodges had been in existence for some time, meeting at:

1. The Goose and Gridiron Tavern (in St. Paul’s Churchyard)

2. The Crown Tavern (in Parker’s Lane near Drury Lane)

3. The Apple Tree Tavern (in Charles Street, Covent Garden)

4. The Rummer and Grapes Tavern (in Channel Row, Westminster)

Anthony Sayer – The First Grand Master

The assembly elected Anthony Sayer as the first Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge . Sayer was a relatively obscure figure—a gentleman by trade who later fell on hard times and received charity from the very organization he helped found. Despite his modest historical footprint, Sayer holds the distinction of being the first elected leader of organized Freemasonry.

James Anderson – The Chronicler of the Craft

Much of what we know (or think we know) about the 1717 founding comes from Rev. James Anderson, a Scottish Presbyterian minister and Freemason. In 1723, Anderson published the first “Book of Constitutions,” which laid out the history, rules, and regulations of the new Grand Lodge .

Anderson’s work was later revised for the second edition in 1738, and it is his narrative—written decades after the fact—that established the “1717 founding” as official Masonic history.

Who founded the Freemasons? Four London lodges formed the first Grand Lodge at the Goose and Gridiron Tavern in 1717, electing Anthony Sayer as first Grand Master. 

Part 2: The Historical Revision – Was It Really 1717?

For nearly 300 years, the 1717 date was accepted without question. However, recent academic scholarship has challenged this narrative.

The Anderson Problem

The traditional account depends entirely on Anderson’s 1738 history. Yet as researchers Andrew Prescott and Susan Mitchell Sommers have shown, Anderson’s narrative contains “many internal contradictions and inconsistencies” .

The problem is that Anderson was writing more than two decades after the alleged event, with no surviving contemporaneous records to verify his account.

An Alternative Date: 1721

By revisiting primary sources—including William Stukeley’s account of his 1721 initiation and records of the election of the Duke of Montague as Grand Master—Prescott and Sommers argue that the Grand Lodge was not actually created in 1717 at all .

Instead, they propose that the real founding occurred at a dinner at Stationers’ Hall in London on June 24, 1721, when John, 2nd Duke of Montagu was elected Grand Master .

If this revision is correct, it would mean that Freemasonry’s “founding” is not 300 years old but rather 299—and that the traditional heroes of 1717 may have been retroactively inserted into the story.

The 1738 Revision

Adding to the complexity, the second edition of Anderson’s Constitutions was published in 1738—with significant changes from the 1723 original. This revised version emphasized the 1717 date more strongly, leading some scholars to suspect that Anderson was “updating” history to suit the needs of the Grand Lodge in the 1730s.

When was Freemasonry founded? Traditional date: June 24, 1717; some scholars argue the first Grand Lodge was actually formed in 1721. 

Part 3: The Operative Origins – Founders Before 1717

Before the “Gentlemen Masons” of London, there were the operative stonemasons—actual craftsmen who built the cathedrals and castles of medieval Europe.

The Regius Poem – The Oldest Document

The earliest known Masonic document is the Regius Poem (also known as the Halliwell Manuscript), printed around 1390 . This handwritten poem describes the “Mason Word”—a secret password—and outlines the duties and moral obligations of masons.

The Regius Poem references King Athelstan (reigned 924-939) as an early patron of masons, but there is no evidence of organized Freemasonry before the late medieval period.

Elias Ashmole – The First Recorded Speculative Mason

Elias Ashmole (1617-1692) is the first person whose Masonic initiation is historically documented. Ashmole—an antiquary, astrologer, and founder of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford—recorded in his diary that he was made a Freemason in 1646 at Warrington, Lancashire .

Ashmole’s initiation is significant because he was not a working stonemason. He was a “gentleman” admitted to the lodge for philosophical and social reasons—the earliest evidence of “speculative” (non-operative) Masonry.

The Transition Period (1600-1717)

During the 17th century, English lodges began accepting non-stonemasons as members. These “accepted” or “speculative” Masons were attracted to the guild’s symbols, rituals, and moral teachings. By 1717, the balance had shifted so dramatically that the “gentlemen” outnumbered the working stonemasons—paving the way for the creation of a purely speculative Grand Lodge.

 First recorded Freemason – Elias Ashmole (1646) and the medieval stonemasons of the Regius Poem (c. 1390). 

Part 4: The Founders of American Freemasonry

While English Masons created the organization, American Masons built it into a global phenomenon.

Benjamin Franklin – The First American Masonic Leader

Benjamin Franklin was not only America’s first great Mason—he may also have been the first American Freemason of note. Initiated in 1730 at St. John’s Lodge in Philadelphia, Franklin went on to become Grand Master of Pennsylvania .

Franklin’s contributions to American Masonry were immense:

• He published the first Masonic book in America

• He served as Grand Master of Pennsylvania

• While ambassador to France, he became Worshipful Master of the famous Nine Sisters Lodge in Paris, where he initiated Voltaire into the Craft

• He corresponded extensively with Masonic leaders across the colonies, helping to standardize American Masonic practice

George Washington – The Most Famous American Mason

George Washington was initiated on November 4, 1752, at the age of 20, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He achieved the rank of Master Mason by August 4, 1753 .

Washington’s Masonic commitment was not merely ceremonial. He attended military lodges during the Revolutionary War. Most famously, as the first President of the United States, he laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol using a silver Masonic trowel .

The silver trowel used by Washington for the Capitol cornerstone ceremony—and later for the cornerstone of the District of Columbia—was made by Brother James Perree of New York. It remains one of the most treasured artifacts in American Masonic history.

Other American Founding Fathers Who Were Masons

The influence of Freemasonry on the American Revolution cannot be overstated. Among the founders who were Masons :

• Paul Revere – Grand Master of Massachusetts

• John Hancock – Signer of the Declaration of Independence

• John Sullivan – General in the Continental Army

• Lafayette – French hero of the Revolution

• Baron Fredrick von Steuben – Prussian drillmaster who trained Washington’s army

• Nathanael Greene – General of the Continental Army

• John Paul Jones – Naval hero

• John Marshall – Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

SOURCES: 

Who brought Freemasonry to America? Benjamin Franklin established the first American lodge in Philadelphia (1730); George Washington and other Founding Fathers spread the Craft throughout the colonies. 

Part 5: The Founders of Canadian Freemasonry

Freemasonry arrived in Canada through British military garrisons. However, one man is credited with founding an independent Canadian Grand Lodge.

William Mercer Wilson – The Father of Canadian Masonry

William Mercer Wilson (1813-1875) is the originator of independent Masonic governance in Ontario—and by extension, modern Canadian Freemasonry .

Born in Perthshire, Scotland, Wilson came to Canada in 1832. He studied law, was called to the bar in 1853, and served as reeve of Simcoe, Ontario, in the 1860s .

In the mid-19th century, Masonic lodges in Ontario were still ruled by the Grand Lodge of England. Wilson believed that Canadian Masons should govern themselves. He traveled across the province, convincing lodges to join a new, independent Grand Lodge for Ontario.

In 1855, Wilson’s vision became reality. Ontario’s Masons formed their first governing body, and Wilson was elected their first Grand Master .

Wilson’s connections to power were significant; the lodge in Simcoe still holds a hand-written letter from Sir John A. Macdonald discussing Masonic business .

The Masonic Fathers of Confederation

When Canada was confederated in 1867, 11 of the 37 Fathers of Confederation were Freemasons . These included:

• Sir John A. Macdonald – First Prime Minister of Canada

• Alexander Campbell – Senator and Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

• Samuel Leonard Tilley – Pharmacist, Premier of New Brunswick, Lieutenant Governor, and originator of the name “Dominion” for Canada

• John Hamilton Gray – Premier of New Brunswick

• William Alexander Henry – Mayor of Halifax and Supreme Court Justice

SOURCES: 

Who founded Canadian Freemasonry? William Mercer Wilson established the Grand Lodge of Ontario in 1855; 11 of Canada’s Fathers of Confederation were Masons. 

Part 6: The Founders of Australian Freemasonry

Freemasonry reached Australia with the First Fleet—and with the British military garrisons stationed in the colonies.

The First Australian Lodge

The first recorded Masonic presence in Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) was at the laying of the foundation stone of the Officers’ Mess at Anglesea Barracks, Hobart, in 1814 . These early Masons were likely members of British regiments or Norfolk Island settlers.

By 1828, there were sufficient resident Masons to justify permanent lodges. The first stationary lodge was the Tasmanian Lodge (formed after March 1827), followed by the Lodge of Brotherly Union (1832) and the Tasmanian Operative Lodge (1834), which was sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of Ireland .

The Grand Lodge of Tasmania

In June 1890, all Tasmanian lodges relinquished their warrants from their parent Grand Lodges (English, Scottish, and Irish) and formed the autonomous Grand Lodge of Tasmania .

The first Grand Master was the Rev. R.D. Poulett-Harris, headmaster of the Hobart High School . From 1890 to 2005, 33 Grand Masters presided over Tasmanian Freemasonry, drawn from all walks of life—governors, bishops, educators, bankers, doctors, businessmen, and civil servants.

At its peak in the late 1970s, Australian Freemasonry had 79 lodges and over 8,000 members in Tasmania alone .

 When did Freemasonry start in Australia? First recorded Masonic event in Hobart, 1814; first permanent lodges in the 1820s-1830s. 

Part 7: The Founders of the Scottish Rite and Other Masonic Bodies

Freemasonry is not a monolithic organization. Various “rites” and “appendant bodies” have their own founders and origin stories.

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite

The Scottish Rite, one of the most widespread Masonic systems, traces its origins to the mid-18th century in France. It was formalized in the United States by John Mitchell (who created the first 33-degree system in 1795) and later codified by Albert Pike, who rewrote the rituals in the 1850s.

The York Rite

The York Rite is a collection of degrees (Royal Arch, Cryptic Council, Knights Templar) that evolved organically in England over the 18th century. No single founder is credited; rather, the York Rite represents the “ancient” tradition of English Masonry.

The Order of Eastern Star

The Order of the Eastern Star, a Masonic-related organization for women, was founded by Rob Morris in 1850 and later reorganized by Robert Macoy in the 1860s.

Le Droit Humain (Co-Freemasonry)

Le Droit Humain, the international order that admits both men and women, was founded in Paris in 1893 by Georges Martin and Maria Deraismes.

Who founded the Scottish Rite Freemasons? John Mitchell (1795) and Albert Pike (1850s) codified the 33-degree system. 

Part 8: The Forgotten Founders – Women in Early Freemasonry

While mainstream Masonic history focuses on men, there is at least one remarkable exception in the 18th century.

Elizabeth Aldworth – The First Recorded Female Mason

Elizabeth Aldworth (1693/95–1773/1775) is noted as the first woman known to have been admitted to Freemasonry . She received the Entered Apprentice and Fellowcraft Degrees in 1712—five years before the traditional founding of the Grand Lodge .

The circumstances of her initiation are shrouded in legend. According to tradition, she was the daughter of a Mason who allowed her to observe a lodge meeting through a peephole. When discovered, the lodge decided to initiate her rather than punish her for the transgression.

Regardless of the accuracy of the legend, Aldworth’s existence proves that the boundaries of Masonic membership were not always as rigid as later centuries would enforce. Today, separate Masonic organizations for women (the Order of Women Freemasons and the Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons) trace their heritage to her example.

First female Freemason – Elizabeth Aldworth, initiated in 1712, five years before the first Grand Lodge. 

Part 9: The “Ancients” vs. “Moderns” Schism

No discussion of Masonic founders is complete without mentioning the schism that divided English Freemasonry for nearly 70 years.

The Moderns (Premier Grand Lodge)

The original Grand Lodge founded in 1717/1721 was later derisively called the “Moderns” by their rivals. They followed the rituals and constitutions laid out by Anderson and his successors.

The Ancients (Grand Lodge of England According to the Old Institutions)

In 1751, a rival Grand Lodge was formed in London by Masons who believed the “Moderns” had departed from ancient tradition. These “Ancients” (also called “Atholl Masons” after their Grand Master, the Duke of Atholl) claimed to preserve the older, purer rituals of the Craft .

The Union of 1813

For 62 years, the two Grand Lodges competed for members and legitimacy. In 1813, they finally reconciled, forming the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) , which remains the governing body for regular Freemasonry in England and Wales today .

The founders of the United Grand Lodge were HRH Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (Grand Master of the Moderns) and HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (Grand Master of the Ancients)—both sons of King George III.

 Who founded the United Grand Lodge of England? Prince Augustus Frederick (Moderns) and Prince Edward (Ancients) united the rival Grand Lodges in 1813. 

Conclusion: The Many Founders of Freemasonry

The question “Who founded Freemasonry?” has no single answer—and that is precisely the point.

The operative stonemasons of medieval Europe founded the craft guilds that preserved the rituals and symbols.

Anthony Sayer and the four London lodges (according to tradition) founded the first Grand Lodge in 1717, creating organized, speculative Freemasonry.

James Anderson founded the written history and constitutional framework that defined the fraternity.

The Duke of Montagu (according to revisionist historians) may have been the true founder of the Grand Lodge in 1721.

Benjamin Franklin and George Washington founded American Freemasonry, embedding it in the DNA of the United States.

William Mercer Wilson founded independent Canadian Masonry.

Rev. R.D. Poulett-Harris and the Tasmanian lodges founded Australian Freemasonry.

The Dukes of Sussex and Kent founded the United Grand Lodge of England, ending the Ancients-Moderns schism.

Elizabeth Aldworth proved that the boundaries of Masonic membership were more fluid than history often remembers.