Thomas Dunckerley (1720–95) cut a swathe through late eighteenth-century English Freemasonry. Over the last quarter of that century, Dunckerley set an important example by building up the provincial organization of the Grand Lodge in southern England, serving as Provincial Grand Master for eight Masonic provinces by the early 1790s, and establishing a model of local governance which has deeply influenced provincial Freemasonry in England to the present day. Dunckerley also took a leading part in the integration of the Royal Arch into the activities of the Modern Grand Lodge, presiding over Royal Arch Masonry in eleven counties. Dunckerley enthusiastically and effectively promoted other degrees, commanding both the English Knights Templar and the recently formalized Royal Ark Masons. There is even some evidence that he had in mind the creation of a women's order or English Adoptive Rite. His life and accomplishments were celebrated by his Masonic colleagues, especially in the provinces, and during his lifetime biographical sketches appeared in the contemporary Masonic press.

In the nineteenth century, Dunckerley's biography was made to serve new purposes, as it was emphasized by Masonic admirers who portrayed him as an example of just the sort of gentleman, Christian and Freemason the British Empire had need of in the Victorian era.