Our History

Lodge Tullibardine in-the-East is registered as a Society in Malaysia under the Societies Act 1967. We are a Founding Member of the District Grand Lodge of the Middle East.

In 1913, a petition to form a Scottish Freemasons Lodge in the State of Selangor was moved by 54 Freemasons, comprising planters, armed forces personnel, members of the police constabulary, miners and civil servants, many of whom were members of Lodge Scotia No. 1003 S.C. or of Read Lodge No. 2337 E.C. The petition was sent to Scotland in December 1912. Lodge Tullibardine in-the-East No. 1118 S.C. was granted a Charter on the 1st of May 1913 and consecrated on the 14th of July 1913, with 54 joining members, 20 of whom were English Masons. According to available records, the consecration of our Lodge occurred at the Read Temple, Kuala Lumpur and was attended by 90 Freemasons from Scottish, English and Irish lodges, with 82 Brethren attending the Installation Harmony.
The Lodge was registered under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, as its 1118th constituent Lodge, and was named in honour of the Most Worshipful, the then Grand Master Mason of Scotland, the Most Honourable John George, who was the Marquess of Tullibardine. Bro. John George was the 80th Grand Master Mason and served from 1908 to 1913. He was known as the Marquess of Tullibardine from 1871 to 1913 and then became Colonel John George Stewart-Murray, the 8th Duke of Atholl.

The Marquess of Tullibardine is a secondary title of the family of the Duke of Atholl and for this reason the Tartan of Lodge Tullibardine in-the-East is the Murray of Atholl Tartan, the Clan Tartan of the Duke of Atholl. The Duke of Atholl is hereditary chief of the Clan Murray and a feudal Baron who enjoyed certain heraldic honours akin to those of the English peerage. The lands of Tullibardine are an area at the foot of the Ochil Hills in Perthshire, where the Highlands of Scotland begin. The Tullibardine Highland single malt whisky distillery is situated in the village of Blackford, Perthshire and lies on the site of Scotland’s oldest brewery dating back to the 12th Century.

Our Lodge entered into a tenancy arrangement with Read Lodge and held its early meetings at the Read Temple until mid-1919. The Scottish brethren probably mooted the idea of their own temple in early 1916. In early July 1916 they were granted the Venning Road property, to be held under Trust, for the construction of the Scottish temple. The property was a relatively small piece of land located towards the back of the main Railway Administration Building, next to an old English chapel. The old chapel and the old Tullibardine properties now form part of the National Mosque complex. A new two-storey temple was completed by mid-1919. Thereafter all its meetings were held at this new Temple until late 1941.

Scant information is available regarding the Scottish Venning Road Temple from its consecration in mid-1919 until about the early 1930s. According to The Pentagram records of 1932, Lodge Tullibardine had a membership of 106 members by the end of 1931.

Another notable event was the formation of a Lodge Library which received generous donation of books and cash from its members. And the active use of the library reflected a deep-felt need for such a service. Lodge Tullibardine’s installation meetings at the temple were well attended.

The 1935 Pentagram reports that our Installation Meeting in June 1934 was attended by 56 members and visitors. The collection taken at Harmony raised the then exceptionally high sum of $156 for the Scottish Annuity Fund. The Pentagram further records that Scottish Brethren showed their generosity, notwithstanding the difficult times, in donating a magnificent carpet for the Temple as well as Tartan Ribbons for the dining table.

Available records show that the relationship between Lodge Tullibardine and the other English Lodges in Kuala Lumpur was always extremely cordial and as befitted Masons. The Pentagram records show there were regular golf competitions between the Lodges in Kuala Lumpur, usually held at the Royal Selangor Golf Club, which incidentally was designed by Scottish Freemasons in Kuala Lumpur.

It is obvious that the existence of two separate temples served to further cement the extremely cordial relations that existed among the Kuala Lumpur Lodges. Like the other Lodges in Kuala Lumpur, Lodge Tullibardine did not hold any meetings from January 1942 until the end of the Japanese Occupation in 1945. The last meeting before the Japanese Occupation was probably held in November 1941. Based on The Pentagram records of 1947, Kuala Lumpur was evacuated in early 1942 during the heavy bombings by the Japanese.

There is every reason to believe that the Scottish Temple was occupied and used by the Japanese who destroyed all its pre-war Masonic furniture, regalia and records, with some exceptions. The only remaining items are the original Bible, the Banner and a Quaich. The Tullibardine Temple itself suffered direct bomb hits from the Allies who returned in 1945 and was damaged beyond repair. The only evidence that we now have of the Tullibardine Temple itself is the original foundation stone, with the wording for the year “1918″ etched on it. It was moved to the Read Temple in 1955 when the Venning Road Temple was finally demolished. It was moved again temporarily to the former Soviet Cultural Centre in 1979 and later to No. 213 Jalan Tun Razak in 1981. It was placed at the entrance to Dewan Freemasons at Taman Kanagapuram and has now found its permanent home at the Read Masonic Centre, Kuala Lumpur.

The first meeting after the War was probably in March 1946 at St Andrew’s Church. From April 1947, the Lodge met at Batu Road School with the other English Lodges. In 1949, it joined the English Lodges and held its meetings at the reconstructed Read Masonic Hall.

The Lodge has weathered and survived wars and slumps, having suffered severely during the Second World War at which time the Lodge was in abeyance, from 1942 to 1947. During its formative years, the Lodge met at its own premises located at Venning Road, Kuala Lumpur. The Masonic Temple at Venning Road was damaged and looted during the Second World War resulting in the loss of much of Lodge Tullibardine’s Masonic records, regalia, jewels and furniture. Only a limited number of Brethren returned to Malaya after the second war, some having been called to the Grand Lodge above and others seeking to construct a new life elsewhere after the Holocaust. Those who returned found the country devastate and among the many things destroyed was the Scottish Masonic Temple which had been built with loving care in 1918. In spite of the many difficulties and pressures on their time and energies, this small band of brothers returned to repone the Lodge in 1948, initially meeting in a small wooden building but later at the Read Temple.

In the period after the Second World War, the property at Venning Road was acquired by the Government of Selangor and the building which once housed the masonic temple was demolished. The site today is part of the land on which stands the National Mosque. The original Keystone or Cornerstone of the Tullibardine Masonic Temple has survived till today and is positioned within the present Read Masonic Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Lodge Tullibardine in-the-East with Lodge Scotia No. 1003 S.C. and Lodge Malaya No. 1146 S.C. petitioned for the formation of the District Grand Lodge of the Middle East. The District Grand Lodge was constituted in 1916 and the first District Grand Master was Bro. Sir Eric Macfadyen (1916 to 1918), who was the third Right Worshipful Master of Lodge Tullibardine in the East. Three other Past Masters of the Lodge have served as District Grand Master; namely Bro. David Daniel Ince (1918 to 1922), Bro. Patrick George Clark (1958 to 1963) and Bro. Dunstan Fernandez (2011 to present day). Lodge Tullibardine was the principal sponsor of Lodge Kilwinning in the East No. 1606 S.C., the second Scottish Lodge to be consecrated in Kuala Lumpur. Lodge Tullibardine and Lodge Kilwinning enjoy a unique relationship in that they hold a joint meeting annually, alternately at each other’s Regular Meeting usually in February. The visiting Lodge performs its ritual working during the Regular Meeting of the host Lodge. The ritual as practiced by Lodge Tullibardine in-the-East has not changed since the founding of the lodge and is one of its kind in Scottish Freemasonry, more particularly its dramatic Third Degree working, which is highly regarded as visually instructive. Lodge Tullibardine in-the-East is the third oldest Masonic Lodge in Kuala Lumpur, after Read Lodge No. 2337 E.C. and Klang Lodge No. 3369 E.C. The first Right Worshipful Master of Lodge Tullibardine was Bro. J.W. Littlefield. The first Malaysian and the 50th Right Worshipful Master of Lodge Tullibardine was Bro. Rama Krishna Panikkar who was installed into the Chair of King Solomon in 1967. The Lodge has grown from strength to strength over the decades in increasingly close and friendly cooperation with Sister Lodges and Lodge of Sister Constitutions. Lodge Tullibardine has also played an important part in expanding the influence of Scottish Freemasonry in Malaysia. The membership of our Lodge comprises professionals, academics, entrepreneurs and retired servicemen, with 70 resident members, three outstation members and 10 overseas members. Lodge Tullibardine in-the-East moves into its next century with confidence that the constant teaching and practice of Masonic principles will surely lead to peace, happiness and harmony amongst its members, the wider fraternity of Freemasonry and the people of this nation.