Four brethren sat down at a preliminary meeting on October 7th 1988 to talk about the possibility of starting a new lodge. The new lodge would consist mainly of brethren from Scotland, due to the number of Scottish masons living in the immediate area and who, for one reason or another, did not affiliate or attend the lodges that were operating within the city of Brampton or the immediate surrounding area. These four brethren were R.W. Bro. Archie Campbell, W. Bro. Gordon Cooper, W. Bro. John Dick and Bro. David Smith.

         There were many steps to be discussed when considering the commencement of our lodge. One of the main hurdles was acceptance by the majority of the other lodges of Toronto District One, now known as Toronto West District. Having achieved the approval of the majority of the district lodges and with the tremendous acceptance of our sponsor lodge (Ionic Lodge No. 229 - the oldest lodge in our district), our brethren, after requesting an audience with our Grand Master, travelled to the city of Hamilton to meet Grand Master M.W. Bro. William Pellow. Having answered all of the Grand Masters questions, the lodge was given approval to operate and was therefore registered as “Ibrox Lodge” under dispensation of the Grand Lodge authority and in conjunction with Ionic Lodge #229 of Toronto District One.

        Our petition to the Grand Master consisted of 116 brethren from various lodges throughout Ontario and the United Kingdom. In conjunction with Grand Lodge Constitution, the first Master and the Senior Warden were to be Past Masters of an Ontario lodge. Upon receiving the written approval of the Grand Lodge, our four brethren concluded that a few meetings were required prior to finalizing the required business plans for the new Ibrox Lodge. They therefore called the first meeting with chartered members to create the format of our new lodge.

The first meeting was intended to discuss and confirm such items as those listed below:

1. List of the Past Masters from our Ontario Lodges that would remain in the Masters chair until the Grand Lodge decided on a consecration date

2. Allocate Ibrox Lodge our own number to be registered at Grand Lodge

3. List of potential members to become appointed officers until the first elections

4. Confirm our lodge room meeting place and building

5. Confirm the dates of our meetings, plus one or two nights per month other meetings/events

6. Discuss business such as the cost of life membership.

7. Determine how to cover immediate costs such as lodge regalia, wands, bible etc.

         These few items are just a short list of the many challenges that faced Ibrox Lodge, similar to all lodges when starting up. After many suggestions and ideas from the brethren, it was recommended that we take the time to consider all of the important data received and reconvene at another meeting to finalize our strategy and deploy our energy for the good of the lodge. It was agreed by the majority, that when we met again, we would consider and confirm the names of the new Worshipful Master and his Wardens. 

        The final meeting was to confirm all of the points delivered at the previous meetings and to elect (by drawing names from a hat), the three principle officers, who were bound by the Grand Lodge and the constitution, to remain in office until the lodge was removed from U.D. (under dispensation) and the seal and consecration were concluded by the Grand Master.

        Our first Worshipful Master was Worshipful Bro. Gordon H. Cooper and our first Senior Warden was Worshipful Bro. James L. Scott. Both brethren were more than capable of conducting the lodge affairs and managing the lodge business. They were ably assisted by the new Junior Warden Bro. James K. Scott (no relation to our S.W). Our first I.P.M. was W.Bro. Ron Jolly. The other officers appointed by W.Bro. Gordon Cooper were as follows.

Secretary: Bro. David Smith

Treasurer: W. Bro. John Dick

Chaplain: Bro. Richard McCulloch

S.D.: Bro. Michael McKay

J.D.: Bro. George Gillies

D.O.C.: W. Bro. John Peacock

S.S.: Bro. George Rafferty

J.S.: Bro. John Mitchell

I.G.: Bro. James Sinclair

Tyler: Bro. Alfred Gregory

        Ibrox lodge was off to a very favourable beginning, as eight of the new officers were not past masters. In addition, there were 102 founding members - all of whom regarded the formation of Ibrox Lodge an integral part of Masonic history, both in Ontario, Canada and in the United Kingdom. Our lodge meeting place was at the Masonic hall located at 10 Main Street in Brampton. This area was also known as the “four corners”.