In October 1955, the late V. W. Bro. H. Babbit prepared a document "The Early History of Bay of Quinte Lodge." Because of its relevance, much of its material has been included in this paper. Some thirty-two years had elapsed since Bay of Quinte Lodge was organized, and the Worshipful Master suggested that V. W. Bro. Babbit relate a few incidents in connection with its formation.

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First let us take a brief glance at the early history of the Craft in the home counties bordering on the Bay from which the Lodge took its name. Masonry first came to the district with the formation of St. James' Lodge in the King's Rangers Regiment at Cataraqui, now Kingston, in 1781. It received its warrant from the Provincial Grand Lodge at Quebec and worked till about 1812. The first Master was Major James Rogers and his Regiment was often called Rogers' Rangers. The Senior Warden was Captain John Walden Myers. Different spellings of the name appear in early masonic and military documents. It is interesting to note that twenty years later Captain Myers was the first Worshipful Master of Thurlow, now Moira Lodge at Belleville. He was also the founder of Belleville, having built a mill and started a settlement at the mouth of the Moira River, known as Myer's Creek. The name was changed to Belleville in 1816.

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The first settlers on the Bay of Quinte were Loyalists, and many were Masons. They entered an unbroken wilderness without roads except aboriginal trails and faced untold hardship and great privations for the sake of their convictions. It is therefore to be expected that the Craftsmen among them would long for Masonic fraternity and as soon as possible would take steps to organize Lodges in their settlements. St. Johns', Kingston held its first meeting in August 1794. A Lodge was formed at Fredericksburg the same year, and at Belleville in 1801, Bath in 1803, Picton in 1811, Napanee in 1812 and at Carrying Place in 1818. This last was "United Lodge" and later moved to Brighton, where it still works. These were the pioneer Lodges of the Bay of Quinte and the forerunners of the nearly forty Lodges working in the district today. The "County Lodge" movement in Toronto started about 1920 for the purpose of bringing together as Charter Members, the many brethren from the old home counties, living in Toronto, but not affiliated with any of the Toronto Lodges. It was thought that this would enable them to take a more active and useful part in Masonry and also strengthen the fraternal ties with the Lodges in the home district. Both the Craft and the individual members have benefitted from the movement.

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It was on the occasion of the Consecration of Grey Lodge on November 10th, 1922 that the suggestion for the organization of Bay of Quinte Lodge was first made. The Grand Master, Most W. Bro. W. N. Ponton conducted the ceremony and during his remarks at the end, spoke with enthusiasm of the forming of new Lodges such as Grey. Then addressing V. W. Bro. George Kingston from the chair, he said, "V. W. Bro. Kingston, couldn't you undertake the organization of such a Lodge here amongst Masons in Toronto from the Belleville District?"

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V. W. Bro. Kingston was greatly impressed by the Grand Master's suggestion and lost no time in acting on it. During the next few days, he phoned and interviewed a number of brethren, and called an informal meeting for November 18th. The proposal for the new Lodge was favourably received and after some discussion it was decided to have another meeting on November 28th. Plans were made to canvas other eligible brethren and have them attend this meeting.

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V. W. Bro. Kingston had served as the Worshipful Master of St. Andrew's Lodge No. 16 in 1907 and was later appointed Grand Steward. He is looked upon as the father of the Lodge because of his keen interest in pilgrimages to lodges in the Bay of Quinte area. He arranged for the presentation of an item of lodge furniture on each occasion.