Dr. David Harrison

Category: Freemasonry

  • Oronhyatekha and the Independent Order of Foresters

    This article appeared in Knight Templar Magazine in November 2013, and was a leader article for a book that I co-wrote with Fred Lomax entitled Freemasonry and Fraternal Societies, which was published the following year.

    As with the other fraternal Friendly Societies of the nineteenth century such as the Druids and the Oddfellows, the Foresters had two main separate orders; the Ancient Order of Foresters, on the whole being situated in England and the Independent Order of Foresters mainly being situated in America and Canada. Both of these societies attracted working men, they had the same fraternal and beneficial benefits as the Oddfellows and Druids, and they both expanded rapidly in the changing industrial climate of the late nineteenth century. The IOF has a three level governing structure; as Freemasonry have Lodges, the Foresters have local Courts. Like the Freemasons of Lodges, the IOF members vote to elect their own Court officers who meet on a regular basis to handle the business and the running of the Court. At the second level there are the High Courts, which provide the leadership and direction to assist local Courts in their activities. High Court officers are elected representatives of the Courts within their jurisdiction. At the top of the IOF is the Supreme Court. This body governs the IOF and convenes every four years to elect the Supreme Chief Ranger and other Supreme Court officers. As a Friendly Society, the IOF is operated solely for the benefit of its members and their families, providing cover for sickness and burial.1

    During the closing decades of the nineteenth century, the undisputed leader and the person credited with the incredible success of the IOF was a Mohawk from Brantford, Canada called Oronhyatekha. Born in 1841, Oronhyatekha, which means “Burning Sky,” came to prominence among his people after giving a spirited speech to the visiting Prince of Wales; he was supposedly invited to study in England at the famous Oxford University by the Prince, an invitation that he accepted. It was his time at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford which led to the establishment of the Oronhyatekha Society at the College; a society which now consists of a group of select undergraduates going out and getting drunk while dressed in typical Native American clothing. On returning to Canada, he married the great-granddaughter of famed Mohawk Freemason, Joseph Brant,2 and studied at the University of Toronto, gaining a medical degree and subsequently opening a practice. His importance growing, he was elected as President of the Grand Council of Canadian Chiefs in 1874. He ultimately became involved in the Independent Order of Foresters, joining in 1878 and working against the racial prejudices of the period and became the Supreme Chief Ranger of the IOF in 1881, transforming the order into one of the most wealthy and successful of the fraternal financial institutions. His philanthropic work included founding a museum and an orphanage, and he also became a Freemason, becoming Worshipful Master of Richardson Lodge No. 136 GRC in Stouffville, Ontario in 1894.3 During the period of Oronhyatekha’s leadership, he passionately promoted the order, and it was claimed that the IOF distributed more than $20 million in social-welfare benefits and insurance monies to over 100,000 recipients, making the IOF a leading fraternal and financial society which specialized in assisting the poorer sections of society.4 Oronhyatekha’s philanthropic work, his revitalization of the IOF, and his work as a Freemason reveals a man who endeavoured to overcome racial prejudices and someone who wanted to change the world around him for the better. He died in 1907.

    References:

    1 See Ancient Order of Foresters official website: http://www.forestersfriendlysociety. co.uk/about-us/history [accessed 2nd of April, 2013] and the Independent Order of Foresters official website: http://www.foresters. com/UK-EN/About/Pages/our-history.aspx [accessed 2nd of April, 2013]

    2 See David Harrison, Transformation of Freemasonry, (Bury St. Edmunds: Arima Publishing, 2010), pp.186-8.

    3 See the history and past Officers of Richardson Lodge No. 136 GRC on the official website: http://www.richardsonlodge.ca/officers. htm [accessed 2nd of April, 2013]

    4 See the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online: http://www.biographi. ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=6976 [accessed 22nd of October, 2012]

    The article is taken from the book Freemasonry and Fraternal Societies by Dr David Harrison and Fred Lomax.

    Freemasonry and Fraternal Societies

  • Sir Charles Warren, a Victorian Freemason; the Search for the Temple and Jack the Ripper

    This article first appeared in Knight Templar Magazine, September, 2012.

    Freemasonry in England during the Victorian age witnessed a surge of interest in researching the origins of the order and answering questions about its connection with the historical Temple of Solomon. It was exactly this drive and desire to research the early history of Freemasonry that inspired the founding of the London based Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076 in 1884. Here the members presented papers on all aspects of Masonic research which were published in their annual Transactions. Sir Charles Warren, R.F. Gould, and many others such as Golden Dawn founders Dr William Wynn Westcott and the Rev. A.F.A. Woodford were contributors. Both Westcott and Woodford predictably produced very esoterically themed papers for the first volume of the Transactions published in 1888, Westcott discussing the Kabbalah and Woodford talking about Hermeticism.1 Sir Charles Warren presented a paper which reflected his research on the Temple itself.

    Sir Charles Warren was initiated into Freemasonry in 1859 and was involved in various lodges throughout parts of the British Empire. He was a member of the Royal Lodge of Friendship No. 278 in Gibraltar and served as the District Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of the Eastern Archipelago from 1891 to 1895. He also served as Grand Deacon in 1887 for the United Grand Lodge of England and had become the elected founding Master of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076 in 1884. Due to his departure to Africa, the lodge did not meet until his return at the end of 1885. The famed Masonic historian, R.F. Gould, also attended various lodges throughout the British Empire, being involved in lodges as far away as China and Gibraltar. He was also, along with Warren, a founder of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge and published a paper in the first volume which echoed his own search for hidden knowledge entitled English Freemasonry Before the Era of Grand Lodge. 2

    Gould went on to publish many varied papers in the Transactions, searching for the origins of Freemasonry and becoming one of the leading Masonic historians during the late Victorian period. Other famous founders of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge included the writers Sir Walter Besant and George William Speth. On Speth’s motion to form a literary society under the guidance and protection of the lodge, a Quatuor Coronati Correspondence Circle was created which promoted the work done by the lodge and ensured a wider reading of the Transactions and an increased attendance at the lodge meetings. 3

    The Victorian period experienced continued interest in the research of Solomon’s Temple, and Sir Charles Warren became personally involved in excavating a section underneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Warren excavated underneath the Temple Mount and surveyed Herod’s Temple in 1867. As an agent of the Palestine Exploration Fund, his work paved the way for a new modern approach to Biblical archaeology. He went on to present a paper concerning the Orientation of Temples to the Quatuor Coronati Lodge in 1887, a paper which also went on to be published in the first volume of the Transactions the following year. 4

    Warren also wrote further works on the Temple based on his research and archaeological work, such as The Temple or the Tomb in 1880 and The Survey of Western Palestine-Jerusalem in 1884. Both of these examined his findings in Jerusalem with notable attention to the Dome of the Rock and the chronology of the Temple itself. Warren became a leading specialist on the archaeology of the Temple, and his work went on to inspire other archaeologists in the field during the period.

    It was however by his connection with the Jack the Ripper case that Warren was to be best known, especially among the many speculative writers who have since written about the murders. These murders took place in London’s East End in the fall of 1888. Warren was working as Commissioner of the Police from March 1886 to November 7th, 1888, his post covering the Jack the Ripper murders, and as the murderer was never caught, Warren’s handling of the case has been much criticized. The fact that Warren was a Freemason has led one such writer, Stephen Knight, to put forward that there was a Masonic conspiracy to cover up the murders of the five prostitutes, a conspiracy that supposedly included other Freemasons such as Sir William Gull, the Royal physician; Sir Robert Anderson; and Prince Albert Victor, the Duke of Clarence. Gull was purported to have committed the murders in an effort to avoid a royal scandal by covering up a marriage between Prince Albert Victor to a working class girl.5 Knight’s controversial theory has since been dismissed by scholars, but his work on the Ripper case remains popular.

    Warren resigned from his post as Commissioner of the Police after coming into conflict with the Home Secretary, Henry Mathews, earlier on the day that Mary Jane (Anne) Kelly, the last murder victim attributed to Jack the Ripper, was found killed. He was also criticized for his lack of control of the Criminal Investigation Division during the case. Warren also attracted criticism as a commanding officer in the Boer War in 1899. His military background did however, assist him in his later pursuits when he became involved with the Boy Scout movement with Robert Baden-Powell. There is no evidence that Baden-Powell was a Freemason, though he was friends with the Freemason Rudyard Kipling, and there are a number of lodges named after him in Australia, all linked to the scout movement which has a similar ethos of charity, education, and duty.6

    Despite his critics and the later speculative links to a conspiracy in the Jack the Ripper case, Warren’s career has been much discussed over the years, and his Masonic work and writings on the Temple have attracted staunch praise, especially as a founder of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, which remains to this day the leading Masonic research lodge in England. His work in the early Boy Scout movement has also added to his reputation. His archaeological work inspired a new, modern approach to Biblical archaeology, his research on the Temple gaining respect and support from fellow archaeologists at the time. Warren has certainly left a lasting legacy on Freemasonry, and in light of the controversial conspiracy theories, his career is overdue for reanalysis.

    Notes
    1 See Rev. A.F.A Woodford, “Freemasonry and Hermeticisim,” and W.W. Westcott, “The Religion of Freemasonry illuminated by the Kabbalah,” in AQC, Vol. 1, (1888), pp.28-36 and pp.55-59.
    2 R.F. Gould, “English Freemasonry Before the Era of Grand Lodge,” in AQC, Vol. 1, (1888), pp.67-74.
    3 See Robert A. Gilbert, “Masonic Education: Leading the way,” in MQ, Grand Lodge Publications, Issue 11, October, 2004.
    4 See Sir Charles Warren, “On the Orientation of Temples,” in AQC, Vol. 1, (1888), pp.36-50. For more information on modern interpretations of Solomon’s Temple see Leroy Waterman, “The Damaged ‘Blueprints’ of the Temple of Solomon,” in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 2, No. 4. (The University of Chicago Press, October, 1943), pp.284-294.
    5 See Stephen Knight, Jack The Ripper: The Final Solution, (London: Harper Collins, 1977).
    7 See “Freemasonry and the Scout Movement,” published by the Baden-Powell Lodge No. 505, the United Grand Lodge of Queensland, Australia, (1982).

  • Articles by David Harrison in Masonic Magazines – Living Stones

    Articles by David Harrison in Masonic Magazines – Living Stones

    Over the years I’ve been very honoured to have my articles published in many Masonic Magazines, many of which are now available free online. This post is dedicated to an article of mine called ‘Freemasonry and Occultists’ that appeared in Living Stones Magazine, Vol 1, Issue 5 (October, 2011) – please follow the link here for the article.

    Living Stones Magazine was a US based magazine, edited by Robert Herd, and ran from 2011 to 2016, and all issues can be found free to view here. Over the years, the magazine regularly featured writers such as John Nagy and Cliff Porter, and covered an eclectic mixture of Masonic history, philosophy and Masonic news stories, starting as an online magazine and eventually being available as a hard copy.

    My particular article examined certain Victorian Freemasons who ventured into occultist avenues, authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Henry Rider Haggard and archaeologist Frederick Bligh Bond, all being inspired by occultist ideas at the time, especially spiritualism and aspects of immortality. It was a particularly interesting topic that I’ve examined further in other articles, some that are available on my website. I’m hoping to supply links to other articles of mine that are featured in other online Masonic magazines soon.

  • The Count Cagliostro Masonic E-Library

    One of the best online Masonic libraries I’ve found to date is the Count Cagliostro Masonic Library. Seventeen years in the making, this online library gives access to out-of-copyright material in pdf format such as works by Adam Weishaupt, John Yarker, Arthur Edward Waite, and Count Cagliostro himself. There are well over 5000 Masonic e-books in the collection.

    Keith Carpenter, creator of the library and a Freemason himself, described how the site developed over the years:

    ‘Even as little as 17 years ago the internet was a very different place to what it has become today and Bit-torrents became the source of earliest books; it was partly because of this that I formed the first incarnation of the library which was a Yahoo group called From “Darkness Comes Light”. This worked for a while but due to restrictions on the file size of uploads it simply was not practical so I went in search of a file-share website; my first experience of this was in using 4Shared.com. Unfortunately this did not work out and so I moved to MEGA.nz which I have been using successfully for about 6 years.’

    As the library grew, it naturally attracted Masonic researchers, and with that came recognition from the Scottish Grand Lodge:

    ‘Last year the WGM of Renfrewshire East approached me for permission to use the library for a Scotland wide project of Masonic education and I was invited to Glasgow where I met Bob Cooper and the WGM of Scotland.’

    The library is easy to use, it is free and it is a must for any Masonic researcher.

  • The Warrington Academy and Freemasonry; Education, Charity and Self-help in Warrington during the eighteenth century

    A portrait of Johann Reinhold Forster with his son George. Johann was a tutor at the Academy and a member of the local lodge in Warrington. His son George also became a Freemason.

    In May 2017 I presented a paper on the Warrington Academy and Freemasonry, to Quatuor Coronati Lodge at Grand Lodge in London, and the paper was subsequently published in the lodge’s Transactions Ars Quatuor Coronatorum Vol.130 (2017). I have recently uploaded the paper on the academia.edu site and it is available for free download on the link here.

    The Warrington Academy was a progressive educational centre located in the market town of Warrington, Lancashire, during the later half of the eighteenth century, the academy having a number of tutors that were Freemasons. The local lodge in Warrington certainly supported local education and local charity at the time, and the paper explores these aspects, looking at how certain Freemasons helped to leave a legacy of civic philanthropy on a wider social scale.

    I hope you enjoy the paper.

    The first Academy building, which still exists in Warrington.

     

     

     

  • Review of British Freemasonry 1717-1813, (Five Volume Set)

    Review of British Freemasonry 1717-1813, (Five Volume Set)

    Róbert Péter (General Editor) British Freemasonry, 1717-1813 (5 Vol Set), Routledge, London, 2016.

    I publish the occasional review on my website, and this particular review was the result of a project suggested by the late John Slifco. John had asked if I could write a number of reviews for the website of the Roosevelt Center, and passed me copies of the volumes of British Freemasonry. John sadly passed away recently and in memory to him, I decided to publish the review here.

     

    I was sat next to a Scottish brother from Glasgow at a Festive Board recently and he turned and asked me what I was working on at the moment. I replied I was writing a review for a set of five volumes entitled British Freemasonry. He was silent for a moment, though having known him for a while, I recognised that this was just a pensive moment before an extremely dark storm. As predicted he erupted angrily and in his Glaswegian accent, stated firmly that there never was, and never will be British Freemasonry; there is English and Welsh under the UGLE, Scottish Freemasonry under the Grand Lodge of Scotland and of course the Grand Lodge of Ireland that has lodges in Northern Ireland also. What followed was an interesting but lively conversation on how the editor, writers, researchers and publisher needed to seriously rethink the title and indeed some of the themes in the volumes.

    The regrettable use of the phrase British Freemasonry was also used by Margaret Jacob in her work, and it shows a gross misunderstanding of the complex historical relationships and indeed rivalries of the Grand Lodges that existed for England and Wales, Scotland and in Ireland during the past three hundred years of Grand Lodge era Freemasonry. It also shows a neglect, or indeed a lack of respect, for the separate Grand Lodges and their individual cultures, their administrations and ritualistic developments.

    Currently priced on amazon at £644.88 for the five volume set, the work itself is extremely expensive and as such would not find its way on many private bookshelves. Indeed the money would be better spent elsewhere, perhaps on a set of AQC volumes, Heredom volumes, or on a varied collection of Masonic literature, which in all fairness would bring to the reader a far better understanding of the history and development of Freemasonry.

    The context of the word ‘British’ in relation to Freemasonry tends to generalise and indeed neglects the importance and the strong individual nature of the UGLE, the Grand Lodge of Scotland and the Grand Lodge of Ireland. However, the work itself also leaves its section on Scotland underdeveloped and quite stretched. Ireland’s representation is also weak. Wales is weaker still in its representation. Indeed, General Editor Róbert Péter knew this and has tried to explain it away in a section headed ‘Limitations’. Róbert Péter feebly puts forward that they were unable to draw on the material from the Library of the Grand Lodge of Scotland as they did not get permission to reproduce certain documents.

    They also admitted that they did not included any Welsh material in their first four volumes, and the mention of Welsh Freemasonry in the fifth volume depends entirely on ‘a few English articles’. There is an incredible amount of Welsh Masonic material scattered around the libraries of Wales and in the Masonic Halls. I give talks regularly in north and mid Wales and there is an untapped rich history to discuss there, from the involvement of the Williams-Wynn family to the early lodges of the eighteenth century. This was an unfortunate and neglectful oversight and with a collection with such claims, the Masonic documents of Wales would have made it much stronger, especially with such a confident title. Thus the overall general editing and presentation of the entire work is unbalanced and neglectful, especially with the title boldly suggesting to cover British Freemasonry.

    The work is not a run through of key documents and will not teach you about ‘British’ Freemasonry as the title suggests. The general editing itself, besides being unbalanced, certainly needed more strength to pull together the work of Cécile Révauger and Jan Snoek. The work would have benefitted from more input from Scottish, and certainly Welsh and Irish Masonic scholars, which could have resulted in a richer and more detailed section for those countries. The collection certainly does not live up to its expectations, but it will however provide some source material for the researcher if he or she can afford to do so. I found volume 3 of most interest, which focused on ritual, and Jan Snoek’s discussion on the Harodim Tradition and various high degrees in particular, though again input from Scotland and Wales was weak. It is a heavy, long work, expensive and the choice of title does not do the publication any favours.

  • Seven Temple Rooms I’ve visited

    Seven Temple Rooms I’ve visited

     

    The Regular Grand Lodge of Belgium Temple Room.

     

    I was kindly invited to give a talk last Friday at Setantia Lodge which meets at Preston Masonic Hall and was lucky enough to have a tour of the Temple Rooms. Every Temple room I’ve ever visited has been unique, so I thought I’d list seven here that I’ve visited over the past couple of years.

    The Regular Grand Lodge of Belgium had a number of Temple Rooms, a fascinating history and an excellent library. Masonic artefacts could be seen along most corridors and in meeting rooms. I gave a talk here in May 2017 and my strongest memory is trying raw horse meat at the festive board, which was a local delicacy.

    The Temple Room at Neston Masonic Hall.

    A member of the general public may say that all Temple or Lodge rooms look the same, though a Mason would disagree as there are subtle differences; the size, the lodge furniture, the atmosphere and the ambience, there are indeed many differences. This Temple Room at Neston Masonic Hall in Cheshire, where I gave a talk at Cornerstone Lodge in April 2018, was very airy and was great for talks. 

     

     

    The small Temple Room at Hoyle Court.

    Some Temple rooms are small and intimate, and the small Temple Room at Hoyle Court in West Yorkshire and home to Shakespeare and Equity Lodge was a great place for a talk. It was only a small lodge but being more intimate, it was more relaxed. Temple Rooms always have interesting charters and warrants on the walls, and for a small Temple, it had a number of interesting documents. Some lodge rooms just radiate history.

     

     

    The Temple Room at the Grand Lodge of Greece.

    Back in November 2016, I gave a talk to Parthenon Lodge at the Grand Lodge of Greece in Athens, which was a great experience; a full lodge room and plenty of history around, with artefacts on display and documents framed on most of the walls. The Temple Room was airy and spacious and the ashlars were, so I was told, made from the same marble that the Parthenon itself was made from. It was a beautiful lodge room with an elegant touch.

     

     

     

     

    The Temple Room at Elwy Hall in Rhyl, North Wales.

    A talk I gave to the Welsh Installed Masters Lodge at Elwy Hall in Rhyl, North Wales, in June 2017 enabled me to see a slightly different Temple Room, one that was more modern with a modern carpet that added a slight quirkiness to the room. The squares on the carpet included a square and compass, and Masonic stained glass windows had been fitted to add an ambient light that made the room extremely relaxing. The Temple Room carried the voice surprisingly well, and even though it was full on a hot June day, the room was cool and airy. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Temple Room at UGLE, London.

    A list on Temple Rooms is not complete without including one from the United Grand Lodge of England in London, and here is a great historical Temple Room that I’ve given a few talks in. The first time was in May 2017 when I presented a paper to Quatuor Coronati Lodge. The floor is not carpeted so acoustics are great, and the room certainly has a historical feel to it.

     

     

    Temple Room at Preston Masonic Hall, West Lancashire.

    The last Temple Room I visited and a must for inclusion is the Temple at Preston Masonic Hall. There were many Temple Rooms down various corridors, and this particular room was very welcoming, having a historical feel to it. I do appreciate visiting new Masonic Halls that offer many different styles and unique histories, and a thought that always strikes me is the many Freemasons that have met in them and the ceremonies that have taken place over the many decades.

  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, his Sherlock Holmes stories and his literary references to Freemasonry

    Arthur Conan Doyle was initiated into the Phoenix Lodge, No. 257, at Southsea, Hampshire, on the 26th of January, 1887, and he made many literary references to Freemasonry in his work, especially in the Sherlock Holmes stories. According to Masonic scholar Yasha Beresiner, it was at the Phoenix Lodge that Conan Doyle met a certain Dr James Watson, who inspired the character of Dr Watson, the ever loyal companion of Sherlock Holmes.

    Conan Doyle referred to Freemasonry in his Sherlock Holmes stories, such as in The Red-Headed League (1891), when Holmes – who was obviously very familiar with Masonic symbolism – recognised that a certain gentleman was a Freemason, the particular gentleman being surprised that Holmes knew of his membership:

    ‘I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you use an arc and compass breastpin.’

    He also referred to Freemasonry in other Sherlock Holmes stories, such as The Adventure of the Norwood Builder (1903) in which Holmes referred to a character as a Freemason. In The Adventure of the Retired Colourman (1926), a character is described as wearing a Masonic pin, and in A Study in Scarlet (1887) a gold ring with a Masonic device is described. A Scandal in Bohemia (1891) has Holmes saying to Watson that ‘There is a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among the horsey men. Be one of them, and you will know all that there is to know.’ The mention of Freemasonry in these stories added to the mysterious texture and gave an element of secrecy. It also presented that both Holmes and Watson were aware of the Craft, which was popular amongst the late-Victorian middle-classes.

    The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual, published in 1893, is a story that is based on a secret ritual belonging to a family, the ritual having a noted resemblance to a Masonic catechism:

    ‘Whose was it? His who is gone.
    Who shall have it? He who will come. Where was the sun? Over the oak.
    Where was the shadow? Under the elm. How was it stepped?
    North by ten and by ten, east by five and by five, south by two and by two, west by one and by one, and so under. What shall we give for it? All that is ours.
    Why should we give it? For the sake of the trust.’

    One particular reference to a London gentleman’s club in his 1893 Sherlock Holmes short story The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (1893), is of interest here. Though not Masonic, it gives the same texture of secrecy to the story. Sherlock Holmes visits his brother Mycroft at the mysterious ‘Diogenes Club’ which he describes as:

    ‘the queerest club in London’ being for gentlemen ‘who have no wish for the company of their fellows. Yet they are not averse to comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals.’

    The bizarre rules of the club are described:

    ‘No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one. Save in the Strangers’ Room, no talking is, under any circumstances, permitted, and three offences, if brought to the notice of the committee, render the talker liable to expulsion. My brother (Mycroft) was one of the founders, and I have myself found it a very soothing atmosphere.’

    The location of the club in the story was given as being on Pall Mall, a short distance from the Carlton Club, Conan Doyle presenting its interior as having a games room and ‘a large and luxurious’ reading room. The ‘Diogenes Club’ was fictional, but with Mycroft’s secretive career in government, the club was presented as having a possible deeper and overall mysterious political agenda.

    Other Conan Doyle stories that referred to Freemasonry, though not Sherlock Holmes include The Lost World (1912), and The Land of Mist (1926), which touched on the possibility of certain occult groups:

    ‘…that is a pompous ass named Weatherby. He is one of those who wander about on the obscure edges of Masonry…’

    Conan Doyle, along with other Victorian Freemasons, such as Arthur Edward Waite, had embraced psychic research, an interest that developed after the death of his wife and several other close family members, and until his death in 1930, he ardently supported spiritualism and constantly sought proof of life after death, a curiosity which can be somewhat paralleled with writer and Freemason Mark Twain’s interest in parapsychology in the USA. Conan Doyle’s 1926 work The History of Spiritualism also lent his support to séances conducted by various psychics at the time and their supposed spiritual materialisations. One of the spiritualists that Conan Doyle supported was Daniel Douglas Home. Fellow Freemason Lord Lindsay was also a supporter of Home, having witnessed the spiritualist mysteriously levitate out of a third story window only to return through the window of an adjoining room.

    Conan Doyle certainly used references of Freemasonry to add a further texture of mystery and secrecy to his works, the Craft clearly inspiring him to add these references. During the time Conan Doyle was writing his Sherlock Holmes stories, Freemasonry was becoming extremely popular with middle-class males, and to add a touch of Masonic flavouring to his stories would of course appeal. The character of Sherlock Holmes knew about Freemasonry; he knew its signs and symbols but wasn’t a Mason himself, and therefore his knowledge of Masonry adds to the somewhat mysterious persona of Holmes, creating an extra layer to his character.

  • Chevalier d’Éon; French spy and cross-dressing Freemason

     

    Chevalier d’Éon is perhaps one of the most intriguing Masonic characters of the eighteenth century. Born in Tonnerre, Burgundy, France in 1728 to a noble family, d’Éon entered into the secret network of spies called the Secret du Roi in 1756, and frequently disguised himself as a woman quite convincingly. He fought in the Seven Years War, gained the Order of Saint-Louis, becoming a Chevalier, and continued to spy for King Louis XV in London, where he became embroiled with a French ambassador, entering into a personal dispute that saw d’Éon become an exile living in England.


    Questions about the true sex of d’Éon persisted while he was in London, and even a betting pool was started on the London Stock Exchange to determine if he was male or female. When he was allowed to return to France after the death of Louis XV, he was allowed to dress as a woman and declared that he had actually been born female but had been declared a boy so his father could inherit from his in-laws if he produced a male heir.


    In 1779 d’Éon published his memoirs, and returned to England in 1785. With the advent of the French Revolution there was a downturn in his luck; his pension from the King ceased and his properties in Tonnerre were confiscated by the revolutionary government, d’Éon having to sell his jewellery and books to make ends meet and appearing in fencing tournaments dressed as a woman. He offered to lead a division of female soldiers against the Hasburgs for the French National Assembly, but the offer was rejected, and after being wounded in a fencing tournament, he spent time in debtor’s prison, became paralyzed after a fall, and died in poverty in London in 1810. It was a sad end for one of the most colourful characters of Freemasonry, yet in light of the new transgender policy recently introduced by the UGLE, his intriguing career may well be re-evaluated.

  • Landmark Freemasons – a new mini-series by Dr David Harrison and QuisQuose Media

    Landmark Freemasons – a new mini-series by Dr David Harrison and QuisQuose Media

    Recently I have been working with QuisQuose media to produce a new mini-series on landmark Freemasons. Three have been filmed so far, the pilot episode examining Elias Ashmole, while the other two episodes look at Christopher Wren and Rudyard Kipling respectively. Further episodes will focus on a number of other Masons that were important, not just to the Craft but to the wider world.

    The pilot episode reviews Elias Ashmole’s two Masonic references in his diary, and part of the episode was filmed in the Marquis of Granby pub on Church Street in Warrington, Cheshire, built c.1600 and which would have been a pub when Ashmole came to Warrington to become a Freemason in October 1646.

    I will post more information on when the mini-series will be aired in the near future. Some clips of the pilot episode can now be seen on my YouTube channel; a clip of the opening credits, a clip of yours truly in the Marquis of Granby in Warrington discussing Ashmole and a brief clip of the legendary Ashmole Bible.