Corporate Open DS/UK/254 Freemasons; late 1500s- Freemasons late 1500s- Free Masons | Masonic | Freemasonry DS/UK/5741

Miscellaneous Organisation; Fraternity Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge of Scotland and Grand Lodge of Ireland, over a quarter of a million under the jurisdiction of the United Grand Lodge of England and just under two million in the United States. The fraternity is administratively organised into independent Grand Lodges or sometimes Orients, each of which governs its own jurisdiction, which consists of subordinate (or constituent) Lodges. The various Grand Lodges recognise each other, or not, based upon adherence to landmarks (a Grand Lodge will usually deem other Grand Lodges who share common landmarks to be regular, and those that do not to be "irregular" or "clandestine"). There are also appendant bodies, which are organisations related to the main branch of Freemasonry, but with their own independent administration. International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes RAHhbryony 7/10/2012 Rachael.Fragola 3/1/2022 f770d7f7-8d72-4dd4-863d-ef4aefda3e11