A secret list containing the names of two million Freemasons may have revealed an inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic was influenced by the organisation.

The archives, published by genealogy site Ancestry, reveal many people involved in a British investigation into the tragedy, including the judge who oversaw the inquiry, its leading investigators and the chairman of the ship’s parent company, participated in Masonic activity, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Diane Clements, director of the Library and Museum of Freemasonry, told The Telegraph: “The records demonstrate the extensive involvement which freemasons have had in British society.”

Names cited in the records include Lord Mersey, the judge who oversaw the inquiry and spared the British Board of Trade from blame in the disaster, despite the board being held responsible for the lack of lifeboats on the vessel in a separate US Senate inquiry.

Professor John Harvard Biles and Edward Chaston, two of the inquiry’s five expert assessors, can be found in the archives.

Lord Pirrie, chairman of the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast where the Titanic was built and director of the White Star Line’s parent company was also a Freemason.

Nic Compton, a Titanic expert and author of Titanic on Trial told History.com: “The Titanic inquiry in Britain was branded a ‘whitewash’ because it exonerated most of those involved.”

The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on Show all 24 1 /24 The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on Undated artist impression showing the shipwreck of the British luxury passenger liner Titanic, during its maiden voyage. AFP/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on The White Star liner Titanic under construction at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. F.J Mortimer/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on Lifeboats on board the Titanic. When the liner sank there were only enough lifeboats on board to hold a third of the passengers and crew. Hulton Archive/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on An overcrowded lifeboat is lowered from the stricken Titanic in a scene from Roy Ward Baker's 1958 film 'A Night To Remember', based on the sinking of the Titanic. 2007 Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on The massive anchor of the White Star liner Titanic is transported to its destination in Belfast by horsedrawn cart. Topical Press Agency/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on The only postmarked letter from mailed from the Titanic is shown at the Wall Street Rarities retail gallery 20 November 2000 in New York City. The letter, from a Ms. Cameron to her sister, is dated 11 April 1912 and was auctioned off at an event called 'The Ultimate Auction' 1 December 2000. Chris Hondros/Newsmakers The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A crowd in Devonport, Devon gathers around a survivor of the Titanic disaster to listen to his account of the sinking. A poster on the wall behind them advertises a Titanic-related event at the local Hippodrome. 1912. Topical Press Agency/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on The Re-Created Titanic Necklace 'Le Coeur De La Mer' on display at Asprey, The English Companies Store In The Beverly Hills Hotel. 1998. Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on Some of the survivors of the Titanic disaster. 1912. Hulton Archive/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A lifejacket from the Titanic that was sold during the Christie's New York annual Ocean Liner sale on 25 June 2008. The life preserver, one of only six in existence, was previously kept in a safe by a Nova Scotia family after being found immediately after the 1912 disaster. AFP Photo/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on Survivors of the Titanic disaster board a tug from the liner which rescued them. April 1912. Hulton Archive/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A hand mirror from the Titanic on display at 'Titanic - The Artifact Exhibit' at the California Science Centre on 6 February 2003 in Los Angeles, California. 2003 Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on The Titanic leaves Belfast to start her trials, pulled by tugs, shortly before her disastrous maiden voyage. Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A visitor looks at a replica of a first class stateroom on display at the Titanic exhibit 18 February 2000 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The exhibit featured more than 200 artifacts recovered from the ocean floor, including a 13-tonne section of the hull. Tannen Maury/AFP/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A cartoon depicting U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan, William Alden Smith (1859 - 1932), who chaired a Senate inquiry into the sinking of the White Star liner Titanic in 1912. The cartoon mocks the senator's supposed ignorance in asking questions such as ' Of what is an iceberg composed?'. Original publication: The Graphic, 1912. 2007 Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A woman walks down a replica of a first-class hall from the Titanic at the Aritifact Exhibition at the Metreon on 6 June 2006 in San Francisco, California. 2006 Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A newspaper depicts the lowering of lifeboats on the Titanic after the liner collided with an iceberg. 1912. Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A list of first-class passengers on board the Titanic is displayed during a press preview 22 June 2007 for the Christie’s New York Ocean Liner sale that will took place 28 June. Eighteen of the items for sale were related to the Titanic. Timothy A.Clary/AFP/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A newspaper, Illustrated London News, depicts the sinking of the Titanic. Original Publication from a special supplement of 'Graphic'. 14 April 1912. Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on Original china recovered from the wreck of the Titanic on display in a water-filled tank at the Titanic exhibit 18 February 2000 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A scene from the Hollywood movie 'Titanic', which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards on 10 February 1998. Merie Wallace/AFP/Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on Exhibition designer Mark Lach is seen through a porthole belonging to the Titanic which was on display at The Science Museum in London 5 March 2003. The exhibition showed more than 200 artefacts taken from the Titanic. Peter MacDiarmid / Reuters The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A woman looks at the 15 tonne 13-by-30 foot portion of the first-class C-Deck hull displayed as part of the Titanic Aritifact Exhibition at the Metreon on 6 June 2006 in San Francisco, California. 2006 Getty Images The sinking of the Titanic - 99 years on A replica of the upper section of the fourth funnel of the Titanic is towed along the river Thames past the O2 arena on 3 November 2010 in London. The replica funnel was created to launch a new exhibition of artefacts recovered from the wreck of the Titanic cruise liner. The exhibition is being held in the O2 Bubble until 31 May 2011. 2010 Getty Images

He said inquiries into the incident mainly heaped blame on the captain of the SS Californian, the ship that stood about eight miles off and saw flares coming from the sinking liner.

The supposedly 'Unsinkable' Titanic set sail en-route to New York on 10 April 1912, sinking on 14 April 1912 after hitting an iceberg off Newfoundland, killing about 1,500 passengers and ship personnel.

The newly disclosed list of Freemasons has also revealed the extent of the organisation’s influence in the upper echelons of society.

Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, Duke of Wellington and Lord Kitchener were all members, The Telegraph reported.