For Genealogists, family historians and for those people with an interest in the Freemasons and / or the town of Whitby in England will be interested to know that preserved records dating back to 1826 are being donated to the Whitby Archives.

The Masonic Lodge in the oldest organisation in Whitby and offers insights into the growth of the port town and many of its influential members and local figures.

So it isn't hard to see why this information wouldn't be of interest and use to genealogists and family historians alike.

newsdurhamregion.com | Masonic Lodge donates historical records to Whitby archives

"To have these documents really allows us to see something about the character of the people who made up these lodges over the years in the history of the town and some of them truly were the movers and shakers of Whitby," he said, listing several former mayors who were masons including Tom Edwards, Marcel Brunelle and Bob Attersley.

"These documents are sometimes the only source we have for information on the early history of Whitby," he said, adding that records from earlier than 1850 are extremely difficult to come by.