The Formation of Lodge Kirkliston Maitland 482
Constituted 4th May 1868
The formation of this Lodge in the Nineteenth Century was due to a desire among Brethren at Kirkliston that the benefits of Freemasonry should be extended to this part of the County.
A meeting was held in the Newliston Arms on the 26th February 1868 a hostelry that still exists to this day and the twelve Brethren present and with an advance of £10 from George Simpson an application was sent to Grand Lodge for a Lodge Charter.
The Maitland part of the Lodge name although not clear may have come from the Maitland Hog family of Newliston House or it may have come from Sir Alex Gibson Maitland of Clifton Hall a relative of the Newliston family.
The Lodge owned its first hall when it bought from the Friendly Society the Fellowship Hall on the Main Street Kirkliston for £245 and was consecrated on the 22nd October 1902 by Brother Major Gordon Gilmour Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master of Midlothian.
As if coming of age 21 years later, the members purchased the Kirkliston Drill Hall for £1000 and it was declared open on the 4th April 1923 by Sir Henry Dundas the then Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master of Midlothian. Although situated in West Lothian the Lodge was strangely never part of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Linlithgowshire. The lodge was originally under the responsibility of the Metropolitan Grand Committee and it is recorded that they first intended to visit Kirkliston in 1877 however, if records are correct, they didn't visit until six years later.
The Lodge eventually became part of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Midlothian and has beenhonoured with three Provincial Grand Masters, Brother James Masterton Scott the Grandson of our founder Master James Masterton in 1957, Brother Samuel Hunter Fox in 1988 and more recently Brother Barry M. Nutley in 2004. It should be noted that the first official visit of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Midlothian was to Kirkliston Maitland on the 6th October 1897.
In May 2007, Lodge Kirkliston Maitland sold their premises in Kirkliston and began sharing a Temple with Lodge St. John Corstorphine 788.
However, the desire to move back to their 'spiritual home' proved to be irresistible and in February 2012 the Lodge moved back to the village and now hold their meetings in Kirkliston Bowling Club
