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This article addresses a topic which has been neglected by academic historians – namely, Freemasonry as a business network. Between 1750 and 1850 431 men, predominantly drawn from the business sector, joined freemasons’ lodges in Worcester. Their participation in the economic development of the city in the period is examined through a prosopographical study in which data extracted from locally and centrally held masonic records have been integrated with non-masonic data to create a historic record of their activities. Informal business networks have been the subject of academic research and the extent to which the findings of that research are applicable to the underlying values and organizational structure of Freemasonry is also examined. The article concludes that businessmen who were freemasons actively contributed to the economic development of the city and that membership of Freemasonry had the potential to help them to advance their contribution.

Freemasons and Their Contribution to the Economic Development of Worcester c . 1750–1850