Le Rameau d’Or d’Eleusis Lodge

The story of the seventh lodge founded in the colony of Victoria in 1853 was established on the Ballarat Goldfields. Known as the French Memphis Rite Lodge it was formed and operated during the time of the Eureka Stockade Rebellion. Founded under a mysterious branch of Freemasonry that was largely unrecognised as legitimate by the Grand Lodges of the time, it existed and thrived during this period. In a situation where, a group of masons had come together on a remote goldfield in colonial Victoria, it is not surprising that a lodge could have been founded upon one of the more obscure branches of nineteenth century Freemasonry. This lecture will be given by WBro Brendan Kyne from the Victorian Lodge of Research No. 218. This lecture will discuss if the French members of this lodge (who were infused with the concepts of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity), had an influence on the events of the Eureka Stockade?