Page 16 - The Early History of The Lodge of Nine Muses No. 235. UGLE

16 The Early History - Lodge of the Nine Muses

Calvert’s Book on Grand Stewards and Red Apron Lodges gave a list of the twelve
Grand Stewards appointed each year with the names of their Lodges when known.
He failed to identify any members of the Lodge of the Nine Muses or the Lodge
of Rural Friendship, which was also founded by Ruspini in 1780 and amalgamated
with the Lodge of the Nine Muses in 1796. In his list almost all the names of Grand
Stewards whose Lodges were unknown, from 1777 onwards, were found to have
been members of the Lodge of the Nine Muses and a few from the Lodge of Rural
Friendship. He also failed to provide the information essential to prove whether a
Lodge controlled a Grand Stewardship, by not listing the descents separately. 16
The preparation of such a list has now been completed by W.Bro. C. R. S. Foottit,
P.A.G.D.C., from which it is clear that the Lodge of the Nine Muses held one Grand
Stewardship from 1777-1786, another from 1778-1781 and, with the assistance of the
Lodge of Rural Friendship, probably held a third from 1782-1795.
We can deduce from this that for ten years at least the Lodge of the Nine Muses
must have held considerable political power by controlling two Red Aprons. Only
two existing Lodges ever achieved this, namely Somerset House Lodge (then No. 2)
and the Lodge of Friendship (then No. 3). It also explains how it was that the Lodge
could provide so many Senior Grand Wardens of the Premier Grand Lodge. It seems
remarkable, in retrospect, that a new Lodge was able to obtain control of two Grand
Stewardships so quickly. For this to have been possible, the Lodge must have had
strong support from some of the other important London Lodges of the period and
leads one to conjecture that it was founded for a purpose.

16 “The Grand Stewards and Red Apron Lodges.” A. F. Calvert, op.cit.