Caledonia Lodge, No. 478 (S.C.) was officially formed in Nanaimo, B.C. in 1869, when a group of Nanaimo Freemasons received a Warrant from the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

These Nanaimo Freemasons had originally petitioned the Grand Lodge of Scotland for a Charter in 1867, but the actual documents granting their petition did not arrive in Nanaimo until 1869.

Many of the Charter members of Caledonia Lodge, No.478 were, or had been, members of Nanaimo Lodge, No. 1090, the first Masonic Lodge in Nanaimo, chartered by the United Grand Lodge of England in 1867. Dissatisfaction with the leadership in Nanaimo Lodge, No. 1090 apparently led some members to start a separate Lodge under the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

The surviving records of Caledonia Lodge, No. 478 are somewhat fragmentary but here is a list of Brethren we know to have been members of Caledonia Lodge, No. 478.

We will add more names to this list as we do additional research.

When the Grand Lodge of British Columbia was formed in 1871, all existing Masonic Lodges in British Columbia came under its jurisdiction. Nanaimo Lodge, No. 1090 became Nanaimo Lodge, No. 3 and Caledonia Lodge, No. 478 became Caledonia Lodge, No. 6 on the Register of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia.

These Lodge designations did not last long. Because of economic uncertainty in British Columbia during the 1870s and the resulting decline in Nanaimo’s population, the Grand Lodge of British Columbia decided to amalgamate the two Nanaimo Lodges, Nanaimo Lodge, No. 3 and Caledonia Lodge, No. 6 into one new Lodge, Ashlar Lodge, No.3.

The Ashlar Lodge, No.3 registration on the Grand Lodge of British Columbia & Yukon Registry is still in effect today.

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