No. 48 Union Wapping Volunteer

The “Union” appears to be the union between 3 parishes to furnish a unit of Volunteers in 1798.  (see map). The parishes were St. John’s, Wapping, St. George’s, Middlesex (St. George in the East of Wapping-Stepney) and St. Paul’s of Shadwell. It is noted that their place of meeting was Dundee Lodge, Wapping which we suspect was the Masonic Lodge of the Dundee Lodge No 18.   (See Freemasonry Matters – “The Moderns and the Antients” – 26 May 2016): “. . . The  members of Dundee Lodge, No. 18, or No. 9, as it stood on the Register of the “Moderns,”  purchased in 1763 the freehold of a Warehouse in Red Lyon  Wapping, and letting out  the ground floor and basement—at first for a school and later on as a general store—utilized  two rooms on the first floor for the purpose of Lodge meetings . . which rooms  when not required for Masonic work were often let for the purpose of public dances—to such  an extent was this the practice that they became known locally as the Wapping Assembly  Rooms. “ . . .Also: from Port Towns and Urban Cultures “Swedes, Merchants, Freemasons and East India Company Agents in 18th Century East London” by Ken Cozens January 5, 2016 “The Dundee Arms Freemasonry Lodge was an important Freemasonry Lodge based in Wapping that had many merchant members, many of whom were ship-owners who arranged transports for government at time of need. Membership of this lodge enabled members to be able to communicate with some of the most influential City men, such as Sir William Curtis, aka ‘Billy Biscuit’ one of those who were engaged in provisioning and victualling the Royal Navy. The lodge also acted as conduit for information and services that were essential for the ‘contractor state’, especially at times of War.”. The Dundee Lodge was, or became, a pub at 51 Wapping (High) Street.