definition for: #LeicesterMasons

Freemasonry in Leicestershire has been in existence since the Eighteenth Century. The earliest Lodge in Leicester was warranted by “the Moderns” in 1739. Our oldest Lodge in the Province is St John`s, which now bears the number 279. Col. Sir Thomas Fowke was the First Provincial Grand Master of Leicestershire and was succeeded in 1789 by Thomas Boothby Parkyns (1st Lord Rancliffe in 1795). Following his death on 17th November 1800 the Province of Leicestershire was without a Grand Master until in 1812 his son, George, the 2nd Lord Rancliffe took the appointment. In 1850 Sir Fredrick Gustavus Fowke was appointed the fourth Provincial Grand Master and he was succeeded in 1856 by Richard William Penn, 1st Earl Howe, until in 1869 the Craft Provinces of Leicestershire and Rutland were combined.