Miners, Mariners & Masons

187 pages. Temps de lecture estimé 2h20min.
Freemasonry played a major role in the economic and social life of the Victorian era but it has received very little sustained attention by academic historians. General histories of the period hardly notice the subject while detailed studies mainly confine themselves to its origins in the early eighteenth century and its later institutional development. This book is the first sustained and dispassionate study of the role of Freemasonry in everyday social and economic life: why men joined, what it did for them and their families, and how it affected the development of communities and local economies.Introduction: Freemasonry—a Global Institution Cornwall and Cornish Freemasonry in the Nineteenth Century The Economic and Social Structure of Cornish Craft Lodges and Side Orders Reason for Joining, Part 1. Life-Enhancing and Reassurance: Social, Intellectual, Spiritual, Charitable Reasons for Joining, Part  2. Occupational: Mutual Assurance, Access and Networking International Comparison: The Western United States Other International Comparisons: Victoria, Australia and Southern Africa The Influence of Freemasonry: Members and their Communities Conclusion