Grand Lodges granted Warrants to Regiments to enable them to form a lodge. These were sometimes classed as Traveling Warrants, because they permitted meetings to be held in whatever location the Regiment was stationed. Certain conditions were attached to the issuance of these Warrants. Membership was restricted to members of the Regiment. In the case of the Grand Lodges of England and Ireland only military personnel were permitted to be initiated in a Military Lodge and none below the rank of Corporal.

The Warrants were issued to a specific officer and, in most cases, this was the Commanding Officer of the Regiment, probably because his consent, in the first place, was necessary for the formation of the Lodge. The Warrant and the records of the lodge accompanied the Regiment at all times. What could be the first Military Warrant was by the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1732 for a lodge to be held in the 1st British Foot Regiment. The Antients Grand Lodge of 1751 issued its first Warrant in 1755 to a Lodge in the 57th British Foot (1st Middlesex) while, in the same year, the 1717 Grand Lodge, the Moderns, issued a Warrant to the 8th Foot (King’s Liverpool). In 1743 the first Warrant issued by the Grand Lodge of Scotland was to a Lodge in the 55th British Foot. By this time 29 Military Warrants had been issued.

The issuance of Military Warrants was not restricted to Grand Lodges in the British Isles as records indicate that Warrants were issued by Germany 1739, Holland 1745, Russia 1761 and in 1832 by Belgium. The conditions of service for the average soldier in the eighteenth century were bad. Many of them died from diseases contracted on overseas campaigns in addition to those killed in action. The members of the Lodge were taught such Masonic values as brotherly love, relief and truth. These were in stark contrast to the conditions with which the soldiers had to contend. It is likely that the teachings of Masonry gave hope and a measure of respect to the soldier.

(The Ontario Mason – article by David C. Bradley, PGM-Emessay Notes January 2002)