Freemasonry in Jersey
The story of Jersey Freemasonry
Written by W.Bro.Colin R. Goss
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Book cover features an engraving by William Adams designed for the Royal Sussex Lodge
A book written in 1994 about the history of Freemasonry in Jersey.
Book cover features an engraving by William Adams designed for the Royal Sussex Lodge
A book written in 1994 about the history of Freemasonry in Jersey.
In 1994 W.Bro.Colin Goss wrote and pubished an updated history of Freemasonry in Jersey. A previous book by W.Bro.George Knocker had been published in 1922 and was long out of print. Further it stopped well before the problems brought about by the second World War, so there was much to be added.
Commencing with research into all the minute books, and other papers of all the Lodges, Chapters, Councils etc meeting in Jersey, the task soon became all consuming, and took over two years to complete. Further research was carried out in the public library in Jersey where newspapers of the nineteenth century were viewed, and at Grand Lodge library and museum where various documents added considerable background information to the happenings of the period. Combining all this information took some time, and some information had to be left out in order to keep the book to a reasonable size.
The printing costs of the book were funded by a subscription from 118 Freemasons and five others. Following a recommendation from a Freemason in Hampshire - Nicholas Pine (who had published several books on the work of W.H.Goss a potter in the Staffordshire potteries) - an introduction was made to Bath Press, Bath, Avon. Working from a complete set of pages produced on a home computer, plus graphic images supplied by the local company - Bigwoods Printers, Bath Press produced 1000 copies of a first class bound book with a blue cover blocked in gold, with a blue loose cover.
To anyone who has produced a book, they will know of the mixed emotions when the book arrives - pride in the finished product and a sense of loss in that the work is complete. Several local bookshops took copies for sale, and the proceeds from the subscriptions and all the sales so generated (after deducting the printing costs) were donated to the Provincial Grand Lodge Fund of Benevolence. Subsequent sales were handled by the Jersey Masonic Library and Museum with the proceeds going to them. For a time copies were also given to all Jersey Masons completing their third degree.
The book includes some details from the book written by W.Bro.Knocker in 1922, updated by further research. It is a comprehensive review of all the Masonic happenings from the early 1800s to the present day. There is a section on the building of the Masonic Temple in St.Helier and its sacking during the Occupation. Every Lodge and other order has its own section. There is a comprehensive index on the contents, and also of all names mentioned in the text, so that genealogical research can be facilitated.
Long since sold out, the book is unlikely to be reprinted because of the substantial increases in printing costs. Occasionally copies are available on sale on ebay and by specialist book-sellers around the world, which can be acceessed on the internet. Typically the book price is about £20.00.