The Buckingham Lodge Warrant was dated 25th April 1851 under the number 861 and the Lodge was Consecrated on 26th March 1852 at the White Hart Hotel, at the bottom of the Market Square, Aylesbury.
In 1863 the Grand Lodge register of Lodges was updated and the lodge became No 591.
After a happy period in the White Hart Hotel, the Lodge moved to the George Hotel at the top of the Market Square and finally into their own building in 1882; the Masonic Hall in Ripon Street.
Notable in the Temple today are the Oak Stalls acquired by the Lodge in 1884. These were purchased from the Duke of Newcastle’s private Chapel. These along with the handsome Secretary’s desk and triple seat give the Lodge room a special atmosphere.
Buckingham Lodge No. 591 is a Hall Stone Lodge.
The history of the Buckingham Lodge No. 591 banners
The original silk Lodge Banner was presented by Bro E.T. Mackrill W.M. 1895. Edward Thacker Mackrill of St Barnabus Lodge No 948, was joining member in 1886. Bro Mackrill became an active and energetic member of the lodge until he died in 1907. He not only presented the banner, but also the Clock in the Temple; Officer’s Collars and some of the Lodge Emblems. He also became a Founder of Ferdinand de Rothschild Lodge No 2420 and Concordia Lodge No 2492. Bro Mackrill was the Director of Ceremonies for the Jubilee Year of 1902.
The Present Lodge Banner was presented in memory of W. Bro G.W. Morris PPSGW by his Widow. W.Bro George was initiated into Buckingham Lodge in 1950, W.M. in 1963 and was Chaplain from 1980 until he died in 1990. W.Bro George was an enthusiastic mason with strong views. He became the Founding Master of the Haddenham Lodge in 1981. The Banner was hand painted by a former member of the Lodge, to a design produced for W. Bro Morris and agreed by the Lodge Committee.
The two banners of Buckingham Lodge are essentially both the same; being a Bucks Swan facing left on a black and red shield, over the square and compasses. The Lodge name and year of Consecration are shown on scrolls above and below the arms. The original banner was on a ground of garter blue with the new banner on a ground of the light blue of a Maser Mason.
Each banner has the name of the donor on a scroll at the foot of the field. The arms of Buckinghamshire are derived from the badge of the Earls and Dukes of Buckingham with its origins (by marriage) from the Bohuns and the Mandevilles. Arms: parted palewise sable and gules, a swan argent with wings outspread, about its neck a gold ducal coronet and affixed thereto a chain turned over the back.