FREEMASONS AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY Alphabetical List of ...

Fellows of the Royal Society who are or were Freemasons, listed alphabetically
Bishop of Durham 1771–87, 187 eldest son of Henry Egerton (1689–1746), Bishop of Hereford 1724–46, himself the
6th son of John Egerton, 3 rd Earl of Bridgwater, KB, PC (1646–1701). 188
Matric, aged 16, 27 Mar 1773, Christ Church, Oxford, [BA, 1776], Fellow of All Souls and MA 1780; ordained 24
Sep 1780 by his father to diaconate and 12 Nov 1780 to priesthood, aged 24 years and 1 day; collated and installed 13
Nov 1780, Prebendary and Canon of the 4 th Stall of Durham Cathedral, 189 Rector, Middle, Shropshire, 1781–97 and
Whitchurch in that co 1797–1829.
Because of ill health, he apparently spent a great deal of time at his Paris home, Hôtel de Noailles, la rue St
Honoré, leaving the cure of his 2 parishes in the care of paid curates, and although unmarried, he may well have had a
mistress for is believed to have fathered no less than 5 illegitimate children. Succeeded 21 Oct 1823, to titles 190 on
death of his elder brother, the 7 th Earl, together with a large fortune.
Well known for his eccentricity, his house in Paris was ‘full of cats and dogs, who were dressed as ladies and
gentlemen and taken out in his carriage and fed at his table’. 191 A good scholar and a great lover and patron of
literature. He bequeathed £8,000 for the best work on the ‘Goodness of God as manifested in the Creation’; 8
different persons, authors of 8 different treatises shared this sum. 192 His valuable MSS he bequeathed to the Br
Museum, with a sum of £12,000 of which the interest was partly for the Custodian and partly for the augmentation,
&c. thereof. These are called ‘The Egerton MSS’ and relate chiefly to French and Italian literature. 193
Member of ? L.; 4th ProvGM, Shropshire, 1 May 1786, resigning 1819; first ProvGM, Staffordshire 13 Apr 1791–
1829; 5th ProvGM, North Wales, 13 Apr 1791, resigning 1811.
Elliott, Charles, FRS [26 Nov 1835] (10 Dec 1778–4 May 1856), of Portland Place, Esquire.
Initiated 30 Mar 1829, Prince of Wales’s L. No. 493, now No. 259, London, membership ceasing by 1836.
Elliott, John, FRS [16 May 1811] (1767- 1829). Brewer
Born in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire and educated at Winchester and New College Oxford (BA 1796), he
resigned as a Fellow of New College when he married Eliza, the youngest daughter of John Coakley Lettsom FRS in
1804. He bought a share in the Stag Brewery in Pimlico and became a brewer.
Initiated in Somerset House Lodge (now Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge No 4), London on 22 nd
February 1802 and served as a Grand Steward at the Grand Feast in May 1805
Erskine, David Steuart [sic], styled Lord Cardross, later 11th Earl of Buchan, LLD (Glagow) [1763 and 1766],
FRS [27 Jun 1765], FSA [15 Feb 1766] (1 Jun 1742–19 Apr 1829).
Educ at Foulis Academy, Glasgow, and Glasgow and Leyden Universities; served for a few years in 32 nd Foot and
well known as an accomplished patron of literary men. Sec to the Br Embassy in Spain Nov 1766–67. Founder, SA,
Scot, 1780, incorporated by Royal Charter 1783.
34th GMM, Scot, 1782–84.
Erskine, Henry David, styled Lord Cardross, FRS [10 Jan 1734], later [14 Oct 1745] 10 th Earl of Buchan (17 Apr
1710–1 Dec 1767), married 31 Jan 1739 Agnes, 2 nd dau of Sir James Steuart, Bt, Scottish Solicitor-General, by Ann,
dau of Sir Hew Dalrymple, Bt. They had 3 sons, the eldest of whom, David Erskine, styled Lord Cardross (1741–
1747), died at Edinburgh on 4 Oct 1747, in his 7th year. The 2 nd son, David Steuart Erskine [qv, above], succeeded
him as 11 th Earl of Buchan, whilst the 3 rd son, Thomas Erskine (1750–1823), was created Baron Erskine on 10 Feb
1806. 194
10 th GMM, Scot, 1745–46.
187 Born in London, 30 Nov 1721, Educ at Eton and Oriel Coll, Oxford; ordained in 1745, immediately became Rector of Ross, adding, 1746,
canonry in Hereford Cathedral. In 1749 he became a chaplain to the King [George II]; in 1750 Dean of Hereford; in 1756 Bishop of Bangor; being
translated Lichfield and Coventry, 1768. It was only when he became Bishop of Durham 1771 that he resigned Rectory of Ross. Died, still Bishop,
1787 [Internet website: http://www.rtm.org.uk/rossrectors.html].
188 Father of Scroop Egerton, 4 th Earl of Bridgwater (1681–1745), created 18 Jun 1720 Duke of Bridgwater and Marquess of Brackley and
married 9 Feb 1703, as his first wife, Lady Elizabeth Churchill (1687–1714), then aged 15 years and 10 months, 4 th , but 3 rd surviving, dau and coheir
of John Churchill, 1 st Duke of Marlborough, KG, PC (1650–1722).
189 Patrick Mussett, Dept of Palaeography and Diplomatic, Univ of Durham, Lists of Deans and Major Canons of Durham 1541–1900
(Durham: The Prior’s Kitchen, The Coll, 1974), 39.
190 The Earldom of Bridgwater, this being the correct spelling, ‘as the word does not mean bridge over the water, but the burg of Walter’ [GEC,
Vol. II, 311, n. (a), written by The Hon Vicary Gibbs], created 27 May 1617 for John Egerton, 2 nd Viscount Brackley, KB, later PC (c.1579–1649).
– The Viscountcy of Brackley was created 7 Nov 1616 for his father, Sir Thomas Egerton, PC (1540–1617), whose Barony of Ellesmere had been
created for him 17 Jul 1603 on appointment 21 Jul 1603 as Ld Chan shortly after the accession of King James I on 24 Mar 1603.
191 Egerton was known for giving dinner parties for dogs, where the dogs were dressed in the finest fashions of the day, down to fancy
miniature shoes. Each day Egerton wore a new pair of shoes and he arranged the worn shoes into rows, so that he could measure the passing time.
An animal lover, Egerton kept partrridges and pigeons with clipped wings in his garden, allowing him to shoot them despite failing eyesight.
Egerton never married, and upon his death, his title became extinct [Internet website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Egerton,_8t
h_Earl_of_Bridgewater].
192 GEC, Vol. II, pp.316–7, n. (a).
193 Idem, 317.
194 Not to be confused with Thomas Erskine, styled Lord Erskine, MP [Jacobite 2 nd Duke of Mar, with 6 lesser titles (Scottish, created 1715),
KG, created 1716, 2 nd and last Earl of Mar (English, created 1717), and 2 nd and last Duke of Mar (I), created 1722)], (c.1705–1766).
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