History of Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex The Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex came into existence in1870, but the history of the Craft in the old County of Middlesex goes back a long time before that. There are records of Lodge meetings at the beginning of the 18th Century at the Palace of Canons in Edgware. The Reverend John Theophilus Desaguliers who was the Rector of St. Lawrence's Church, Edgware, was the Third Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England in 1719. There are also records of Lodges meeting early in the 18th Century at Acton, Brentford, Hampton Court, Kew, Richmond, and Uxbridge. The Consecration of the Province took place at the Clarence Hotel, Teddington, on Saturday 22nd January 1870, by the Grand Secretary, V.W Bro. John Hervey who also installed RtWBro.Colonel Francis Burdett, Past Grand Warden as Provincial Grand Master. Speaking at dinner the new Provincial Grand Master said: R.W. Bro. Colonel Francis Burdett The First Provincial Grand Master “From this moment Middlesex would appear not only as a Province in Freemasonry, but also as a bright star on the horizon of the Noble Order” Following several unsuccessful attempts, the 1869 petition to Grand Lodge resulted in approval to form a Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex. The petitioning and founding Lodges were Royal Union No. 382, Carnarvon No. 708, Crescent Lodge No 788, Dalhousie No. 865, Strawberry Hill No. 946, Villiers No 1194, -Enfield No. 1237, and Gooch No. 1238. The eighth founding Lodge, Burdett No. 1293, was Consecrated on the morning of the Consecration of the Province, with the Provincial Grand Master Designate, as the First Master. H.M. King George VI as H.R.H. Prince Albert Duke of York was Provincial Grand Master from 1924 to 1936. On his accession to the throne he wrote:- “I am glad to have been your Provincial Grand Master and although I must now take leave of you all, I shall retain a very happy memory of my years in office and shall always take a keen interest in the progress of my Province, as I shall ever think of it"