Our History

A brief history of the coming of Freemasonry to the North East District

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Freemasonry came to the North East District of Victoria with the 1850s gold rush. Thousands of men from many countries flooded into the river valleys and creek banks seeking their fortunes.

Once they had moved beyond living in tents and bark huts, towns grew and community groups began.

The boom town of Beechworth was the nucleus, with the Beechworth Lodge of St. John, #14, forming in 1856 under the English Constitution.

This new lodge was sponsored by the Lodge of Australasia (Now #3 in the Victorian Constitution), and it in turn, sponsored lodges at Chiltern, Bright, Yackandandah, Wangaratta, and probably Wodonga.

Over at Rutherglen, the Alexandra Lodge was sponsored by the Hume Lodge of Albury, and in the south of the district, Marangan Lodge, Benalla, was sponsored by the Lowry Lodge, Woodend.

Most of these Lodges were affiliated with the English Constitution, with a few under the Irish or Scottish. This changed with the formation of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria in 1889.

Local Masonic histories available are
“How old is your Grandma – The Craftsmen of the Ovens Goldfields” by Stan Clarke OAM,
A history of Freemasonry in Rutherglen
A history of Freemasonry in Wahgunyah
Centenary Souvenir for the Yarrawonga Lodge of St David.