William St Clair of Roslin, 20th Baron of Roslin (1700-1778) was a member of the

Clan Sinclair Clan Sinclair ( gd, Clann na Ceàrda ) is a Highland Scottish clan which holds the lands of Caithness, the Orkney Islands, and the Lothians. The chiefs of the clan were the Barons of Roslin and later the Earls of Orkney and Earls of Caithness. Th ...

. His title,

Baron of Roslin Baron of Roslin or Rosslyn was a Scottish feudal barony held by the St Clair or Sinclair family. History No certain record exists but it is likely that the Sinclairs came from Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in Normandy. According to traditional history ...

, was not a peerage but a

Scottish feudal barony In Scotland, a baron or baroness is the head of a feudal barony, also known as a prescriptive barony. This used to be attached to a particular piece of land on which was situated the ''caput'' (Latin for "head") or essence of the barony, norma ...

. He had an interest in sport and was a skilled

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er and

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

. He redesigned the

Old Course at St. Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under ...

to 18 holes thus affecting all golf courses since. He was the son of

Alexander St Clair, 19th Baron of Roslin Alexander St Clair (1672–1706) was the 19th Baron of Roslin. Early life He was the second son of James St Clair, 18th Baron of Roslin and Jean, daughter of Henry Spotswood, Sheriff of Dublin. His elder brother, James St Clair, had been kille ...

Freemasonry

He was a Scottish

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, being Initiated in Lodge Canongate Kilwinning on 18 May, Passed on 2 June 1736 and Raised on 3 November 1736. He is known as the first Grand Master (although his actual title is

Grand Master Mason This is a list of Grand Master Masons of the Grand Lodge of Scotland: # 1736–1737: William St Clair of Roslin # 1737–1738: George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie # 1738–1739: John Keith, 3rd Earl of Kintore (G.M. of England; 1740) # 1739 ...

) of the

Grand Lodge of Scotland The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland is the governing body of Freemasonry in Scotland. It was founded in 1736. About one third of Scotland's lodges were represented at the foundation meeting of the Grand Lodge. Histor ...

. He became the first Grand Master Mason by acclamation on

St. Andrew's Day Saint Andrew's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Andrew or Andermas, is the feast day of Andrew the Apostle. It is celebrated on 30 November (according to Gregorian calendar) and on 13 December (according to Julian calendar). Saint Andrew is ...

of the same year (1736).The Impact of the Foundation of the

Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic grand lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron T ...

on Scottish Freemasonry. By Robert L D Cooper. Within: Reflections on 300 Years of Freemasonry. Ed. John S. Wade. 2017. pp. 355–368. .

References

Sources

* * 1778 deaths Scottish Freemasons Grand Lodge of Scotland 18th-century Scottish people

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Place of birth missing 1700 births {{Scotland-noble-stub

Freemasonry

See also

References

Sources