Waller Rodwell Wright, who had been the Grand Master of the Order until 1812, formed the Preceptory between 1815 and 1818.  In 1812 he had Installed the Duke of Sussex as his successor on departing to take up the Senior Legal Office in Malta.  On his arrival, he was asked by the Masonic brethren resident in the island to reconstitute the Lodge of St John & St Paul, which he did, and it was from among the members of this lodge that the Melita Encampment was born.

The first certificates were issued under the name of Waller Rodwell Wright, Great Prior, until his death in 1826.  The Roman Catholic religion held tremendous sway at this time, and Masonry was closed for some months in the early part of the next decade.  Melita Encampment, however, survived, and in 1848 we find a certain Peter Hepburn in the Eminent Commander’s Chair, working the Royal Naval Ritual.  Hepburn had been installed as a Knight in Portsea Lodge in 1809 and confirmed in Royal Naval Encampment in 1811.

The Certificates issued at this time described the unit as “Melita Grand Encampment of Knights Templar and Knights of St John, Valetta, Malta”, and they continued to issue certificates under their own Seal until 1874.

It was at this time that a resurgence to become Knights Templar took place, and this was greatly aided by Mcleod Moore and Goodenough, both of whom served for two years as Eminent Commander until 1852.  During this period a new warrant was issued on the 10th May 1850.  At this time there were forty members drawn from England, Ireland, Scotland, USA, and Bermuda as well as many servicemen.  From this time, until the Preceptory transferred to England, there was always to be a floating membership.

Many Knights were installed from 1849, when the first known Declaration Book was used.  In the period up to 1875, 250 Knights were installed and amongst these was the Earl of Caernarvon, whose Certificate has recently been found following research into his Masonic life.

In 1869, a 2nd Lieutenant of the 24th Regiment of Foot was installed, one Teignmouth Melville.  In 1879, at the Battle of Isandlwana, when it was clear the field was lost, Melville was ordered to “save the colours”.  He and a fellow officer tried most gallantly, but were overtaken by Zulus and killed, the colours falling into the Buffalo River from which they were recovered some days later.  Queen Victoria, on hearing of his gallantry, said that had he survived he would certainly have been awarded the Victoria Cross.  In those days there was no provision for posthumous awards of the VC, but 28 years later, in the reign of King Edward VII, posthumous awards were approved and Lt. Teignmouth Melville, of Melita Encampment, became the first posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross.

In 1872, following a request from the Grand Conclave and Priory of England and Wales for the Melita Priory to comply with its Statutes and Ordinances, the Priory replied that it would  do so on condition that the Priory be recognised as the Premier Priory, and take precedence before all other Priories.  After much heated correspondence with the Grand Council, the matter was resolved in 1874 with the constitution of a Provincial Priory to be known as the Mediterranean.  This Priory consisted of the two Preceptories, namely Calpe and Melita, and had a chequered history, sometimes not meeting for several years, until eventually in 1924, there having been no Provincial Prior appointed for some time, the two Preceptories were transferred to the Unattached List.

During the Second World War, in the period from 1940 to 1942, the island was attacked many times, and during the siege, Great Priory agreed that no meeting of the Preceptory should take place.  At this time there were only seven members present, and they were all Past Preceptors.  At the end of the battle, Great Priory agreed to the Preceptory meeting as and when convenient, with due regard to the interests of the Order.

The Grand Master in Council was pleased to grant a Centenary Patent dating back to 1815, and this was presented at an informal gathering at the Union Club in 1950 by the Great Vice Chancellor V E Kt Major Sir Thomas Lumley Smith, DSO, GCT.

During the late 1970s government regulations slowly inhibited the growth of Freemasonry and Knight Templary on the Island, and during a visit made by E Kt George Duke to the Preceptory it was apparent to him that Melita, which had been renamed ‘Mediterranean’ due to political expediency, would not exist for much longer.  On his return, George met with Knights Terry Bates and John Slater, who decided to put plans into operation to bring the Preceptory to England.  This necessitated many letters passing to and fro, culminating in a visit to Malta by John and Terry in October 1981.  They attended a meeting on the first Friday of that month and became Joining Members.  At the same meeting, fourteen other Knights from Hertfordshire were proposed for membership.  The proposal to transfer to England was put to a subsequent meeting and passed.  E Kt Terry Bates was elected to be the next Eminent Preceptor, and the Preceptory was transferred into the Province of Hertfordshire on the 1st January 1982. The Province at that time was led by E.Kt. Dr Alan Owen, the Provincial Sub-Prior-in-Charge. Tremendous help came from Knight John Bollard, the Preceptory Secretary, and from E Kt Frank Blackman, the Provincial Vice Chancellor of Hertfordshire.  An important first task was to obtain permission to revert to the original name of MELITA. Great Priory granted this immediately.

E. Kt. Bruce Betteridge Installed Terry Bates into the Chair on the 9th of January 1982.  Blizzards swept the country this day, and the attendance was only a quarter of those who booked in.  There were sixteen experienced Knights appointed Officers on that day, - John Slater, Alan Ritchie, George Duke, Peter Stopher, Len Laming, Reg Luckman, Geoff Edwards, John Hay (later to become Provincial Prior), Joe Hunt, Peter Brill, Les Butler, David Wright, Stan Norton, Trevor Kendall, Ken Bruce and John Paternoster - a powerful team.

During the first year in Hertfordshire seven Knights were installed.

Alan Ritchie was installed as Preceptor on 23rd April 1983. During his year he constructed all the equipment for the Malta ceremony and presented it to the Preceptory.

The Preceptory met originally at Halsey Hall, Cheshunt.  In 1986 the meeting place changed to St Johns Parish Hall, Hertford, dining at the Salisbury Hotel.  Following difficult times at the Parish Hall, the Preceptory transferred to restaurant premises in Cheshunt before settling in its present home, back at Halsey Hall.

Since transferring to England, Melita Preceptory has Installed 68 Knights and received 26 Joining Knights.

Members of Melita Preceptory have been instrumental in recent years in returning Knight Templary and Red Cross of Constantine to the Island of Malta.  Thus the circle is completed!

Unfortunately many of the original records of the Preceptory are lost.  The Preceptory still has some of the earlier Declaration Books, and these tell a story of the admittance to the degree of Army and Naval Officers, Politicians and Civil Servants.  During the Battles in Asia Minor, Malta was a staging post and during this time, on one occasion, seventeen Knights were installed in one day.

Quite recently I have had the privilege of meeting V.E.Kt. Frank Jefferies, who was installed as a Knight in Malta some 40 years ago.  He is now a KCT of the Great Priory of NSW, Australia, where he currently resides.

I should like to pay thanks to Em. Kt. John Slater, for providing some of the history, to the late George Duke for the idea of rescuing the MELITA Preceptory, to R E Kt Dr. Alan Owen, GCT, for his inspiration, and to R.E.Kt. Brian Blanchard for his encouragement and counsel.  

E Kt Terry Bates P.Gt.Herald.18.6.2007.