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As regular readers of MQ will be aware,
Freemasons’ Hall is increasingly being
hired for corporate events, concerts
and as a location for film and television
programmes. The use of Freemasons’ Hall
has a long history, as a recently completed
project undertaken by the Library and
Museum has shown.
With the aid of a grant of £46,000 from
the Heritage Lottery Fund and working in
partnership with the National Archives
“Access to Archives” scheme, the Library
and Museum has recently completed
cataloguing over 1,400 documents about
the history of the first Freemasons’ Hall,
completed in 1776 and the additions and
redevelopment undertaken in the
nineteenth century.
What has come to light is that
Freemasons’ Hall was also an important
location in the history of a number of other
societies and organisations which held
meetings and fundraising events there.
The first Freemasons’ Hall, designed
by Thomas Sandby, cost rather more than
anticipated and proved to be expensive to
maintain, so hiring it out became a necessity
to raise income. Negotiations for hiring the
hall were initially handled by Redmond
Simpson, a musician and member of
Somerset House Lodge (now Royal
Somerset House and Inverness Lodge No 4).
The standard charge was 10 guineas a
night (£10.50) with extra charges for setting
up for an orchestra or use of the organ.
Reductions were often agreed in cases of
hardship. The Hall was not one of the most
fashionable venues in London (being some
distance from the West End), but it could
hold 800-900 people and so was larger than
many other halls, and particularly suitable for
musical performances which needed a choir.
The Academy of Ancient Music had
been set up as a private club in the 1720s to
perform music of earlier centuries including
motets and madrigals (which was unusual at
that time). In 1784 the Academy, which had
usually met in inns and taverns, began a
series of public concerts which were held in
the new Freemasons’ Hall.
The musical directors during this period
were both Freemasons – Benjamin Cooke
and Samuel Arnold. In 1786, in response to a
request from the Academy, Grand Lodge
commissioned an organ for the Hall
from Samuel Green at a cost of 200
guineas (£210).
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Photographs by Library &
Museum of Freemasonry
Above:
A Humane Society dinner at
Freemasons’ Hall in 1830
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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