Elias Ashmole (23 May 1617–18 May 1692) was an antiquarian, politician, officer of arms, student of astrology and alchemy, and an eminent Freemason. He supported the royalist side during the English Civil War, and at the restoration of Charles II he was rewarded with several lucrative offices. Throughout his life he was an avid collector of curiosities and other artifacts. Many of these he acquired from the traveller, botanist, and collector John Tradescant, and most he donated to Oxford University to create the Ashmolean Museum. He also donated his library and priceless manuscript collection to Oxford.

Apart from his collecting hobbies, Ashmole illustrates the passing of the pre-scientific world view in the 17th century: while he immersed himself in alchemical, magical and astrological studies and was consulted on astrological questions by Charles II and his court, these studies were essentially backward-looking. Although he was one of the founding members of the Royal Society, a key institution in the development of experimental science, he never participated actively.

Solicitor and royalist

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Ashmole was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire. His family had been famous, but its wealth had declined somewhat by the time of Ashmole's birth. The family name is likely a variation in spelling of Ashmore (from "ash moor," also a place name), as the two spellings were used interchangeably in the Midlands.^* His father, Simon Ashmole, was a soldier and a saddler; his mother Anne was a cousin of James Pagit, a Baron of the Exchequer. Ashmole attended Lichfield Grammar School and became a chorister at Lichfield Cathedral. In 1638, with the help of Pagit, he became a solicitor. He enjoyed a successful practice in London, and married Eleanor Mainwaring, a member of a poor but aristocratic family, who died only three years later. Still in his early twenties, Ashmole had taken the first steps towards status and wealth. Ashmole supported the side of Charles I in the Civil War. At the outbreak of fighting in 1642, he left London for the house of his father-in-law, Peter Mainwaring, at Smallwood in Cheshire. There he lived a retired life until 1644, when he was appointed King's Commissioner of Excise at Lichfield. Soon afterwards, he was given a military post at Oxford, where he devoted most of his time to study and acquired a deep interest in alchemy, astrology and magic. He studied physics and mathematics at Brasenose College, Oxford, though he did not formally enroll as a student. In late 1645, he left Oxford to accept the position of Commissioner of Excise at Worcester. (Excise Commissioners set taxes on specific locally-produced commodities; at that time, the division between official and personal property was not as rigorously observed as it is today, so such offices could be very lucrative to their holders.)

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The earliest recorded ‘making’ of a Freemason in England is that of Elias Ashmole in 1646.
mwphglotx15a (PrinceHall Education) Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:21:59 -0000
The earliest recorded ‘making’ of a Freemason in England is that of Elias Ashmole in 1646.
Symposium debrief : review of 'Magus: The Invisible Life of Elias Ashmole' : http://scribd.com/doc/20287605 - as requested
ombos (mogg morgan) Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:32:52 -0000
Symposium debrief : review of 'Magus: The Invisible Life of Elias Ashmole' : http://scribd.com/doc/20287605 - as requested

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