My reference for May’s Issue of the Masonic Education is again from our Grand Lodge (of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Canada in the Province of Ontario) publication known as “Whence Come We” (1980).
The First Provincial Grand Lodge of Upper Canada (Ancients)
The P.G.L of Upper Canada owed its existence to the zeal and enthusiasm of a number of brethren in Quebec, the most notable of whom was Bro. Alexander Wilson. There were in that Province three lodges which held their warrants from the Ancient Grand Lodge of England. These lodges felt that the Craft in Canada, would be more prosperous and vigorous if there were a governing body on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Accordingly Bro. Wilson requested the Grand Lodge to warrant a P.G.L. for Canada. The Brethren assumed that there would be a single P.G.M. for Canada with a Substitute Grand Master for each of Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
In 1791 however the Constitutional Act divided Canada politically into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, and Grand Lodge chose to follow this pattern. On March 7 1792 it named H.R.H. Prince Edward as P.G.M. for Lower Canada and William Jarvis as P.G.M. or more properly Substitute Grand Master) for Upper Canada. Although both men bore the title of P.G.M., Prince Edward was given the power to issue warrants for lodges, whereas Jarvis could only grant dispensations for the holding of lodges, which had to be confirmed by Grand Lodge within twelve months.
Apart from attending the celebration of St. John’s Day, December 27 1792, in the Freemasons Hall at Niagara, it appears that Jarvis was slow to take an active part in the Craft and it’s government. In fact, the earliest record of any activity is not until July 1795, when a meeting of the P.G.L. was called – more than three years after Jarvis’s appointment.
From that point on the P.G.L. met regularly for seven years. During period some 20 lodges were warranted, an action clearly contrary to the terms of his warrant.
In 1797 the seat of government was moved from Niagara to York. Naturally Jarvis, a government official, moved to York as well; he took with him his warrant as P.G.M. This immediately created a problem. Several of the brethren who had been most active in the administration of the P.G.L. remained in the Niagara region. Without the warrant, they could not legally continue to act.. Even so, they did keep functioning as a P.G.L. They made sure however that Jarvis was kept informed of what was happening, and that he signed all warrants and official documents. The questionable arrangement seemed to work well for a few years. In fact in 1798 the P.G.L. began to hold quarterly meetings.
Troubles soon arose however. Other lodges objected to the quarterly meetings, with some justification. It was a matter of no little hardship and inconvenience for the brethren beyond York or to the Niagara area to travel Niagara four times a year. About this time Jarvis was reputed to have said that, insomuch as he had the warrant in York, there was no P.G.L. in Niagara, and that individual lodges should ignore any correspondence from there. This was a hard blow for the Niagara brethren. They had worked so hard to keep the P.G.L. alive and functioning despite the Grand Master’s indifference. It speaks well of them that they remained loyal to Jarvis as long as they did.
The P.G.L. continued to meet under Jarvis’s nominal leadership for another two years. At the end of that period the Niagara brethren had had enough. In December 1802 they elected and installed Bro. George Forsyth as P.G.M. to replace Jarvis, thus creating the Schismatic Grand Lodge of Niagara.
Although Jarvis had been warned as early as 1801 of the pending revolt, he had taken no corrective action. Finally, after much prodding by Bro. Jermyn Patrick of Kingston, he called a meeting of the P.G.L. to be held in York in February 1804. It became clear that most of the lodges still regarded Jarvis as the legal head of the Craft in Upper Canada. Only the Niagara brethren opposed him.
The support given to Jarvis was however tempered with good advice. It was recommended that he maintain better communication with Grand Lodge in England – a point on which he had been very lax. In addition, a plan of action was drawn up which, if followed, would have strengthened the state of Masonry in the province. As so often in the past, R.W. Bro. Jarvis did nothing. A war of words was carried on, with each faction pressing the justice of it’s case with the Grand Lodge in England. The latter was left with a massive problem; it legally warranted P.G.M who had refused to act, and an irregular schismatic P.G.L. that wanted to act. In the end nothing was resolved, and for a brief time the field was left by default to the Niagara brethren. Jarvis summoned no regular assembly of the P.G.L. after 1804, and the last election for Grand Lodge officers was held in that year. He retained the title of P.G.M. until his death in 1817, and lodges remained loyal to him limped as best they could. Their problems were increased by the disruption of life that accompanied the War of 1812-1815. The formation of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813 had no immediate effect in Upper Canada.