Home > Masonic Tidbits > Rent by Peppercorn in Bermuda

Lodge St. George #200, Bermuda is the oldest Scottish Lodge outside Scotland.  It has the distinction of being housed in the oldest building in Bermuda, which was originally owned by the State house and used for meetings by the local parliament.

On July 5 1816 the Governor of the Islands executed a deed granting the use of the building to St. George’s Lodge (then #226), reserving the rights of the courts of justice to hold their session in the building if required.  The yearly rent was stipulated to be “One peppercorn, payable at the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, if the same be demanded”.

The annual rental of one peppercorn accrued until July 5 1916, when 100 peppercorns were paid to the Governor.  The annual payment now takes place at a formal ceremony in the town square.  A picture of the building, as it appeared in 1815, was issued on a 4 cent postage stamp in 1970.

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