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William Preston (7 August 1742 – 1 April 1818) was a Scottish author, editor and lecturer, born in Edinburgh. After attending school and college he became secretary to the linguist Thomas Ruddiman , who became his guardian on the death of his father.
William Preston's system of Lectures, developed from 1772 onwards, and John Browne's Master Key, first published in full in 1801, were the first to reach a broader audience. By the time the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) was formed in 1813 there were at least three systems of Masonic Lectures current in the London area.
There are a number of masonic manuscripts that are important in the study of the emergence of Freemasonry.Most numerous are the Old Charges or Constitutions.These documents outlined a "history" of masonry, tracing its origins to a biblical or classical root, followed by the regulations of the organisation, and the responsibilities of its different grades.
The Grand Lodge No.1 Manuscript is a version of the Old Charges for masons written in 1583. It is one of the oldest copies belonging to the Grand Lodge of England, hence its name. [29] [13] The manuscript contains traditional masonic regulations seen in earlier documents like the Regius Poem or Cooke Manuscript. These include:
The first Masonic description of the Chain of Union appears in the Edinburgh Manuscript of 1696, one of the oldest known ritual documents. The manuscript describes a specific ceremony for making master masons and fellow crafts: "But to be a master mason or fellow craft there is more to be done...
Manuscripts in many languages were brought, and a book made showing how the craft was founded. The enduring myth of the "Grand Assembly" was continued in the first printed constitutions of the eighteenth century, making York the birthplace of English masonry, and allowing the old lodge at York to claim precedence over all the other English Lodges.
Among their members was William Preston, who within a decade, had become a valued writer and lecturer on Masonry. The success in the 1770s of Preston's lectures, and his book, entitled "Illustrations of Masonry", led to his appointment as assistant Grand Secretary, and his election as Master of the Lodge of Antiquity, formerly the Goose and ...
The prime mover in the formation of the Grand Chapter was Caledonian Lodge, a lodge of Scottish Masons which had just joined the Moderns from the Ancients, and whose members included William Preston. [17]