The Kilwinning Club of Boston - History

 Late in the year 1923 at a Lodge in Waltham, several greater Boston Scottish Master Masons most of whom were born in Scotland got together to raise a fellow Scot to the sublime degree of Master Mason. Such a grand time was had by all that they decided to ask permission of The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts to establish a Degree Team. Needing a name for the Team they wrote to the "Mother" Lodge of Scotland, located in the small town of Kilwinning in the county of Ayrshire.

The Mother Lodge in Kilwinning is the oldest Lodge in Scotland and possibly in the world reputed to date back to 1140 when the first Kilwinning Abbey was built. It predates even the Grand Lodge of Scotland who, when established, wanted to number its Lodges. Kilwinning, being older, respectfully declined and continued to charter its own Lodges until 1807 when an agreement was made with Grand Lodge and Kilwinning was indeed recognized as the oldest Lodge and was named Mother Lodge and the number \ designation they were given was Number Nothing or Naught.

Mother Lodge permitted their name to be used for the Degree Team with one condition, "That the name never be sullied", and to this day we can say that we have lived up to that condition. In 1926 the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts officially recognized us as a Degree Team. Since that time the club has done innumerable 3rd degrees. We have appeared in approximately 200 different Lodges, some multiple times. We have appeared in all 6 New England states, New Jersey, Canada and have made a few trips to Scotland to exemplify our work in the Mother Lodge Kilwinning Number Nothing. Over the years we also began doing Lodge Installations and are kept very busy during the fall months in this capacity.

Regular membership in the Club is open to any Master Mason in good standing who can trace his Scottish ancestry back to at least one great-grandparent being born in Scotland, and associate memberships to those with ancestries further back. Anyone here who fits those qualifications and has an interest in joining, please feel free to speak with any of us after the meeting tonight. You can also find more information about the Club on our website: kilwinningclubofboston.org