District Grand Lodge of Trinidad and Tobago (English Constitution)
The District Grand Lodge of Trinidad and Tobago (English Constitution) is recognized by the United Grand Lodge of England as the regular English-rite Masonic authority in Trinidad and Tobago. Established in 1968 when six English Constitution lodges petitioned UGLE for their own district body, the English DGL is headquartered at 15 Hutton Road, St. Ann’s, Port of Spain.
Freemasonry under the English Constitution in Trinidad dates to 1835, when the Philanthropic Lodge No. 856 was consecrated in Port of Spain — the same year a Masonic Temple foundation stone was later laid at Mount Zion in 1850 by the Governor of Trinidad, Lord Harris. The English Constitution lodges developed in parallel with the established Scottish lodges throughout the nineteenth century, eventually achieving sufficient membership and institutional depth to constitute their own district in the late 1960s. Today the English DGL oversees seven lodges, reflecting a modest but stable Masonic presence operating in close fraternal cooperation with the Scottish and Prince Hall constitutions.
Visiting Masons from UGLE-recognized jurisdictions are welcomed at English Constitution lodges in Trinidad. Contact information for the District Grand Secretary is available through UGLE’s Districts and Groups directory.
Trinidad and Tobago’s three-constitution Masonic structure (English, Scottish, and Irish) is unique in the Caribbean and reflects the island’s history as a meeting point of British, Scottish, and Irish colonial traditions. The Irish Constitution lodges, active since the nineteenth century, are governed under the Grand Lodge of Ireland, which is also recognized by UGLE, making Trinidad and Tobago home to three simultaneously active UGLE-recognized Masonic traditions. This institutional richness grew from the diversity of the British Isles communities that shaped Trinidad during the colonial era.
Port of Spain’s cosmopolitan character — the product of its extraordinary ethnic and cultural diversity, including significant African, East Indian, Chinese, Syrian-Lebanese, French Creole, and other communities — has shaped a lodge culture that is among the most diverse in the English-speaking Caribbean. Trinidad’s world-famous Carnival, the most elaborate in the Caribbean, reflects the cultural creativity of a society built from many traditions, within which the Masonic fraternity has served as one of the few spaces where men from different backgrounds could meet as equals.
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