Thanks for those who replied. I guess the question I was asking was when did the Masonic lodge stop being a society/guild for "Masons" by trade. Did a bit of Googling and this page for anyone else interested is good as it shows the Scottish history. The "Conventional Explanation" on this page says as I thought that there was a shift to non operative members in the 17th century, though I thought 18th due to the building boom at that time. Anyway I draw a line under my questions as it is drifting from genealogy though the link below could lead to some interesting sources. http://www.oelodge.uklinux.net/history.htm Cheers, Pam From: Pam Fallon-Cousins <pfallonc@btinternet.com> To: DUMFRIES-GALLOWAY-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Scottish Freemasons Date sent: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 18:32:13 +0100 > An extension to Ian's freemasons question. I have a number of > Dumfrieshire relatives who are masons, listed as journeymen and > "master" masons. My question is kind of out of ignorance. But would > mid-victorian masons be freemasons like being in a union? So would I > expect to find them in freemason archives? A rambling ill-thought out > question I know :-( > > Cheers, > Pam