On the evening of 9th August 1843, nine Freemasons met at the George and Dragon Inn, George Street, Sydney. This was the foundation meeting of the Australian Masonic Lodge of Fidelity of Free and Accepted Masons, one of the earliest Lodges in the colony and founded through dispensation under the Grand Lodge of Ireland.

Still continuing today and in 2018 celebrating its 175th anniversary, the Australian Lodge of Fidelity is now number 101 on the register of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory.

The story of the members of this Lodge takes the reader from 1840s Sydney, through the Gold Rush, two World Wars, the Great Depression and relatively stable times of this millennium.

It is an insight into the Freemasonry in Sydney from colonial times to the present day.