Freemasons dominated the inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic and may have allowed Establishment figures to escape blame, it was claimed last night.

The investigation into the 1912 tragedy that cost 1,500 lives exonerated most of those involved, including the ship’s White Star Line owners as well as its captain.

Now the publication of a secret archive of Freemasons – containing two million names of members from 1733 to 1923 – reveals the scale of Masonic involvement across the highest echelons of British society.

The archive contains the names of three kings, statesmen, judges, military top brass and bishops.

Experts believe it could lead to a re-examination of almost 200 years of British history, revealing the scale of Masonic influence at all levels of British society when the UK was one of the world’s most powerful countries.

The investigation into the 1912 Titanic tragedy that cost 1,500 lives exonerated most of those involved, including the ship’s White Star Line owners as well as its captain

The records are due to be published online by genealogy service Ancestry.

While the Masonic connections of figures such as Sir Winston Churchill, Oscar Wilde, Lord Kitchener, Rudyard Kipling and Edward VIII are known, the records offer the first comprehensive view of the reach of Freemasonry at the height of the British Empire.

They reveal the close ties between Establishment figures involved in the investigation into the Titanic’s sinking, the Telegraph reported.

A US Senate inquiry singled out the British Board of Trade, saying the small number of lifeboats on the ship was a result of lax regulations.

However, the UK investigation, overseen by Lord Mersey, exonerated the Board of Trade.

Lord Mersey himself was a Freemason, the newly published records show. He was initiated in 1881 at the Northern Bar Lodge in London.

Crucially, so too was Board of Trade president Sydney Buxton, initiated in 1888 when he was an MP.

The names of at least two of the inquiry’s five expert assessors – John Harvard Biles, a specialist in naval architecture, and Edward Chaston, the senior engineer assessor – can also be found in the Masonic archive.

While the Masonic connections of figures such as Sir Winston Churchill (left) and Edward VIII (right, with Wallis Simpson) are known, the records offer the first comprehensive view of the reach of Freemasonry at the height of the British Empire

Irish poet Oscar Wilde (left) and Rudyard Kipling (right) were notable Freemasons and influential figures

Lord Pirrie, who was not only chairman of the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, which built the Titanic, but also one of the directors of White Star’s parent company, also appears to have been a Freemason.

Titanic expert Nic Compton said: ‘The Titanic inquiry in Britain was branded a “whitewash” because it exonerated most of those involved. Only three passengers were interviewed, and they were all from first class.’

The archive even suggests the Jack the Ripper may have been a Freemason, and his identity was shielded by fellow Masons.

A new book by Bruce Robinson, the director and screenwriter of the cult film Withnail and I, claims that the notorious Whitechapel murderer was a man named Michael Maybrick.

He argues that all of the Ripper killings bore the stamp of Masonic ritual, citing the symbol of a pair of compasses carved into the face of one of the Ripper’s victims.

HOW THE UK'S MOST INFLUENTIAL MASONS RULED BRITAIN FOR 190 YEARS Sport Douglas Robert Jardine: Celebrated England cricketer and captain during the famous bodyline tour of 1932/1933. Archibald Leitch: Architect and designer of at least 30 of Britain's most famous football stadiums including Anfield, Highbury, Villa Park, Hampden Park and White Hart Lane. Sport: England cricket captain Douglas Jardine, left, and football stadium architect Archie Leitch, right Royalty Edward VII: Queen Victoria's son wjho took the throne aged 59 in 1901 was previously known to everyone as ‘Bertie’, the playboy Prince of Wales. He was known for his insatiable appetite for women and food. Edward VIII: The Duke of Windsor abdicated as King Edward VIII after less than a year on the throne to be with his future wife Wallis Simpson in 1936. George VI: The Queen's father George VI was King after his brother gave up the throne until his death in 1952. He saw Britain through the trauma of the Second World War. Royalty: Edward VII, left, who took over the throne from his mother Victoria in 1901 and Edward VII, right, who abdicated in 1936 Westminster and Armed Forces Winston Churchill: Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Before that he was First Lord of the Admirality won the Nobel Prize for Literature and even the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States. The Duke of Wellington: Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, is considered one of Britain's great statesmen and military heroes. His thrashing of Napoleon at Waterloo has cemented his place in history. MPs and defence: Wartime prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, left, and Waterloo hero The Duke of Wellington, right Science and medicine Alexander Fleming: Scottish scientist who helped discover Penicillin and won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945. Edward Jenner: Known as the father immunisation he is also credited with saviong more lives than any other person in history after he created a vaccine for smallpox. Science and medicine: Penicillin discoverer Alexander Fleming and father of immunisation Edward Jenner Business Thomas Telford: One of Britain's great engineers he built bridges, canals and roads across England and Scotland, including the Menai Suspension Bridge and the A5 road. William Hesketh Lever: British businessman first made his money making famous soaps with brands including Lux and Sunlight. He later turned to politics and became an MP for Wirral and later sat in the House of Lords. Business: Engineer of bridges, roads and canals Thomas Telford, left, and soapmaker William Lever, right Arts and literature Arthur Conan Doyle: Writer and creator of Sherlock Holmes seen as changing the face of crime writing forever. Rudyard Kipling: Author and poet most famous for creating the Jungle Book. Arts: Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle, left, and Jungle Book writer Rudyard Kipling Advertisement

Jack the Ripper was an 'obscure singer who was protected by his fellow Masons'

Jack the Ripper may finally have been unmasked following a claim he was a singer called Michael Maybrick who was protected by Masonic police. His brother James (pictured) has previously been named as the Ripper

Jack the Ripper may finally have been unmasked following a claim he was a singer who was protected by Masonic police.

The theory was put forward by an author of a new book who believes that all of the Ripper killings were the stamp of Masonic ritual and the notorious Whitechapel murderer was a man called Michael Maybrick.

Now, in an extraordinary turn of events, new archives prove for the first time that Maybrick and his brother James - who has previously been named as the Ripper - were both Masons.

In his new book Bruce Robinson, the director and screenwriter of the classic film Withnail and I, said the cryptic graffiti daubed on a wall in Goulston Street, which he claims was 'the most flagrant clue of all'.

Robinson told The Daily Telegraph: 'It was endemic in the way England ran itself. At the time of Jack the Ripper, there were something like 360 Tory MPs, 330 of which I can identify as Masons.

'The whole of the ruling class was Masonic, from the heir to the throne down. It was part of being in the club.

'Part of the whole ethic of Freemasonry is whatever it is, however it's done, you protect the brotherhood - and that's what happened.

'They weren't protecting Jack the Ripper, they were protecting the system that Jack the Ripper was threatening. And to protect the system, they had to protect him. And the Ripper knew it.'

The book, They All Love Jack: Busting the Ripper, Robinson an obscure singer whose identity was shielded by fellow Masons.

According to the archives, the Freemasons were a 'prominent' part in the Scotland Yard inquiry, including the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren.

Other evidence to support the claim came from two coroners Wynne Baxter and Henry Crawford, who ruled on the murders and at least three of the police doctors, who examined the bodies, and claimed they were also members of the Masons.

It is believed Maybrick was on the Supreme Grand Council of Freemasons and trvalled the country as a performer.

Handwritten records, which described him as a 'vocalist', said he was a member of the St Andrew's Lodge from 1863 until 1887.

This means he left a year before the nine-week period in 1888 when five women were murdered in the East End of London, in one of the biggest unsolved crimes in British history.

Sir Charles is said to have been a senior member of the Masonic Society. He was a founder member of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge and an authority on Freemasonic history and ritual.