District Grand Lodge of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean

Saint Lucia Freemasonry
Freemasonry in Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia's Masonic history reflects the island's unusual position in Caribbean colonial politics. No other island in the region changed hands between Britain and France as many times as Saint Lucia did, and the successive waves of French and British sovereignty introduced both French and English Masonic influences over more than a century. French Grand Lodge activity was documented in Saint Lucia from at least the late eighteenth century, and the Scottish lodge tradition on the island predates its permanent transfer to British rule: Lodge United Brothers No. 251 SC is recorded as having been active in Saint Lucia before relocating to Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1795, where it became the founding Scottish lodge of that island.
English Constitution Masonry became established after British administration was secured in 1814 and has been maintained under the District Grand Lodge of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean to the present day. The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the Caribbean and Jurisdiction, inaugurated in Barbados in 1993 and recognized by UGLE, also maintains a lodge in Saint Lucia, extending the island's Masonic community into the Prince Hall affiliated tradition. Saint Lucia was among the island jurisdictions originally served by the PHA New York 9th District before the formation of the autonomous Caribbean grand lodge.
1795
Founded
UGLE Recognized
Recognition
Yes
PHA Grand Lodge
District Grand Lodge of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean
Saint Lucia’s English Constitution lodges operate under the District Grand Lodge of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, which is recognized by the United Grand Lodge of England. The principal active lodge is Abercrombie Lodge No. 2788 EC, named for General Sir Ralph Abercrombie, the British commander who took formal possession of Saint Lucia for Britain in 1796 during one of the island’s final periods of British control before the permanent cession of 1814. This lodge carries a connection to the broader story of Eastern Caribbean Masonry: Lodge United Brothers relocated from Saint Lucia to Port of Spain in 1795, a migration that effectively gave birth to organized Masonry in Trinidad while leaving Saint Lucia within the Eastern Caribbean district framework. The provincial Masonic administration of Saint Lucia was historically tied to the 1826 Provincial Grand Lodge of Grenada. Visiting Masons should contact the DGLBEC at dglbec.com for lodge contacts and introductions in Castries.
Saint Lucia achieved independence in 1979 and has maintained democratic governance since. The island’s dual French and British colonial heritage — it changed sovereignty fourteen times between the British and French before the permanent British possession of 1814 — has produced a culture that is distinctively Creole in character despite its English institutional framework. A significant proportion of the population speaks Kwéyòl (Saint Lucian Creole French) alongside English.



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