Present day visitors to Europe marvel at the many castles, churches and cathedrals built from 1100 onwards.

It became customary for stone masons to place marks upon stones in the quarries. Marks identified the work of a particular mason for payment of wages, and signified that the stone was acceptable for use. Other marks indicated where a particular stone might be placed within the structure. Marks have been found on stones used in Ancient Egypt and elsewhere, including castles, churches and cathedrals of Europe.

The Lodge of Aberdeen possesses a record of the names of members with their marks from 1670.

From about 1640 men who were not stone masons began to join lodges. These men became known as free and accepted masons. The lodges became places of philosophical discussion, resulting in the term "speculative masons". Around this time there was considerable interest in the story of Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem, with elaborate drawings suggesting how the original may have appeared. The building of the Temple became an allegory for the building of a better society, or a better person.

In 1717 there was a meeting of four lodges in London, forming a grand (or large) lodge. Modern Freemasonry traces its history back to this first meeting.

In the early 1720's there were two grades or degrees, termed Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft. Soon the third degree of Master Mason was introduced.

With increasing popularity of Freemasonry, satirical poems were written making reference to the Mason's Mark:

There are indications that the operative custom of ensuring that a mason had a mark by the time he became a Fellow Craft was still observed in some early lodges of Freemasons, particularly in Ireland and Scotland, and in the English provinces.

Thomas Dunckerley, said to have been an illegitimate son of King George II, was a keen Freemason, interested in other orders and degrees. On 1 September 1769 a meeting of Royal Arch Masons was held at the George Tavern in Portsmouth, England. Thomas Dunckerley was present to deliver the Warrant or Charter authorising the meeting. The Minutes were written in code or cipher, and state: -

The above Minutes were recorded in cipher, not a single letter being in ordinary writing. The cipher consisted of squares or parts of squares, angles and triangles. This cipher is now known as the Masonic cipher, with the decoding clue based upon the lines used in the game "noughts and crosses".

Cipher was used to preserve the secrecy of minutes and also other writings in Freemasonry.

Here is a simple example of encoding a message: -

In 1813 the United Grand Lodge of England was formed by the union of the two English Grand Lodges known as "the Moderns" and "the Ancients", with the Duke of Sussex as Grand Master until his death in 1843. The United Grand Lodge did not approve of degrees other than the basic first three of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason. A compromise allowed the Royal Arch to continue as part of Freemasonry. The other Masonic degrees including the Mark and Knight Templars went into decline until after the death of the Duke of Sussex.

After 1843 there was a renewal of activity in degrees outside those of standard (Craft and Royal Arch) Freemasonry. Some London Freemasons became involved in the Bon Accord Chapter at Aberdeen, which worked a Mark Masonry ceremony as well as those of the Royal Arch. In 1851 the Bon Accord Chapter of Aberdeen issued a Mark Charter to some of its London members, permitting them to meet in London.

In 1851 a Great Exhibition was held in London to celebrate the industrial, military and economic achievements of Britain. Some visitors to the Great Exhibition attended Masonic meetings in London, including the Mark degree.

By 1855 senior Freemasons who were involved in the Bon Accord Mark Lodge of London suggested that the Mark degree should be considered part of ordinary Freemasonry. This suggestion failed to win approval from the United Grand Lodge of England at its meeting on 4 June 1856. The Bon Accord Mark Lodge adopted a special Masonic apron, modified from the standard Masonic apron, with trimming of maroon and blue.

Following the rejection of Mark Masonry by the United Grand Lodge of England, a meeting of Mark Masons met to form a Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons for England, Wales and the colonies.

Dr Benjamin Archer Kent from Kent Town in Adelaide, a member of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge in London, was present at the meeting that formed the new Grand Lodge for Mark Masonry. Dr Kent was elected to the first General Committee of the new Grand Lodge, and appointed foundation Grand Junior Deacon. In 1857 he was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Mark Masonry for South Australia. He also served as Provincial Grand Master of the Craft Lodges in South Australia from 1854 to 1860.

Unfortunately the formation of the new Grand Mark Lodge led to ill feeling and animosity for a number of years. This might explain why Dr Kent did little to exercise his authority as a Provincial Grand Master of Mark Masons within South Australia.

In June 1854 a number of Mark Masons met in Adelaide, under the leadership of John Lazar, an actor who was Deputy Provincial Grand Master to Dr Kent, and later Mayor of Adelaide. They formed a Mark Lodge and admitted ten new members as Mark Masons at their first meeting. There is no record of any subsequent meeting, but in 1857 several of the brethren decided to meet as a Mark Lodge under the Warrant of the new Duke of Leinster Royal Arch Chapter, No.363 Irish Constitution. The Duke of Leinster Mark Lodge continues to meet to this day as part of the Irish Chapter, which will celebrate its 150^th anniversary in October 2006.

In 1859 the English Constitution brethren, led by Bro. Percy Wells, decided to form an English Mark Lodge. This resulted in the formation of the Adelaide Lodge of Mark Master Masons No.41, English Constitution. The Adelaide Mark Lodge struggled in its early years, with no meetings from 1867 to 1883.

To become a Mark Mason you must first be a Master Mason. The Mark degree affords opportunities to gain additional Masonic knowledge. The lessons learned have practical application. Members are taught to appreciate the virtues of patience and perseverance, and additional information is given about the traditional history of Freemasonry.

Mark Lodges tend to meet in alternate months. The membership fees are reasonable, about one third those of Craft Lodges.

The Mark is known as "the friendly degree", perhaps a consequence of the difficult times for the Mark degree in the years after 1856. No doubt adversity bound the brethren of the new Grand Lodge more closely together.